Author: Daniel Li, CoinVoice
When it comes to the development of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Ethereum has always been a focus of attention. As the largest smart contract platform, it has been driving the development of decentralized applications. However, with the continuous evolution of blockchain technology and the growth of user demand, Ethereum faces multiple challenges such as scalability. In order to address these issues and make Ethereum more robust and sustainable, the Ethereum community is expected to carry out a major upgrade in November this year—the Ethereum Cancun Upgrade.
The Ethereum Cancun Upgrade is seen as a milestone event in the Ethereum upgrade roadmap. This upgrade will form a "dual-drive" scaling model by introducing sharding technology and the previously used Rollup solution. The Cancun upgrade can not only solve the performance bottleneck issues currently faced by the Ethereum network, but also lay the foundation for deep-level upgrades in the future. This article will focus on the new technologies and protocols introduced by the Ethereum Cancun upgrade, and explore the impact of this upgrade on the entire Ethereum ecosystem.
The Road to Ethereum Scalability
With the increase in on-chain data, Ethereum, as the world's largest smart contract platform, bears the brunt of storing and settling most of the data. This places higher demands on the transaction speed and throughput of the Ethereum mainnet, making solving Ethereum's transaction speed and scalability issues a focus of Ethereum developers and community workers. To this end, they have proposed different solutions.
The first solution is to implement sharding at Layer 1 to achieve scalability. Sharding is placed in the Ethereum upgrade roadmap after the launch and merge of the beacon chain, and it is the most crucial and important part of the entire Ethereum upgrade roadmap. The core idea of this solution is to decompose the Ethereum main chain into different shards and randomly rotate validators between these shards. Each shard is essentially its own mini-blockchain and runs in parallel with the beacon chain. Through sharding, Ethereum can significantly increase transaction throughput and scalability to meet the growing user demand.
However, implementing sharding scalability is not a simple task. It involves solving a series of complex problems such as communication between shards, design of consensus mechanisms, and allocation of validators, requiring a lot of research and experimentation, and it will take a long time to truly achieve. In the Ethereum upgrade roadmap, the sharding solution is divided into three stages: Pro-Danksharding (EIP-4844), proposer-builder separation (PBS), and complete sharding (Danksharding). The upcoming Cancun upgrade's core EIP-4844 is the first step for Ethereum to move towards sharding scalability.
The second solution is to achieve scalability at Layer 2. Among them, the mainstream Layer 2 scaling technology is Rollup. Unlike sharding technology, Rollup does not decompose the Ethereum main chain into its own mini-blockchain, but acts as a mini-blockchain on the basis of Ethereum Layer 1. Rollup works by executing a batch of packaged data in Layer 2, then compressing the execution results and transaction data and sending them back to Layer 1. Rollup significantly improves transaction fees and transaction speed. Compared to the Ethereum mainnet, transaction fees on Layer 2 can be reduced by 3 to 8 times, and transaction speed can be increased by thousands of times.
Currently, the mainstream Rollup solutions are divided into Optimism Rollup and ZKRollup. Optimism Rollup is considered a short-term solution, while ZKRollup is considered a long-term solution. However, the Rollup solution has a fatal flaw, that is, the data receipt of Rollup still needs to communicate with Layer 1. Even with compression algorithms, large-scale receipts will increase the storage cost of Layer 1 nodes. Therefore, the scalability limit of Rollup is limited by the throughput of Layer 1 and cannot achieve unlimited scalability.
In order to fully leverage the advantages of the two technological routes, Ethereum has adopted a progressive upgrade approach. First, through second-layer technologies such as Rollup to achieve rapid scalability to meet short-term and medium-term market demand. At the same time, Ethereum's development team is also advancing research on sharding technology. The upcoming EIP-4844 is focused on the scaling solution of Rollup and can be seen as an accelerator for Rollup, as well as the first step for Ethereum to achieve sharding scalability, paving the way for complete sharding in the future. By combining optimization at the second layer and sharding technology at the first layer, Ethereum has initiated a "dual-drive" scaling model, which not only lays the foundation for Ethereum to achieve greater application popularity, but also provides solid technical support for the growing market demand and sustainable development of the industry.
What Technologies Will the Cancun Upgrade Bring?
The Cancun Upgrade is an important upgrade for Ethereum, which will introduce multiple technologies and protocols to enhance the scalability and security of the Ethereum network. Here are some specific technologies and protocols that the Cancun Upgrade will bring, detailed as follows:
EIP-4844:
EIP-4844 is an Ethereum Improvement Proposal aimed at reducing transaction fees. It introduces a new transaction type called Blob-carrying transactions. These transactions are similar to regular transactions, but contain additional data sets called Blobs.
Blobs are relatively large (about 125KB) and more economical compared to the current calldata storage method. By temporarily storing these Blobs on the Ethereum consensus layer, EIP-4844 can significantly reduce the cost of aggregating data to the Ethereum base layer, thereby reducing transaction fees. In addition to introducing Blob-carrying transactions, EIP-4844 will also implement execution layer logic, validation rules, multi-dimensional fee markets, and other system changes to meet the requirements for complete danks sharding in the future.
It is important to note that although EIP-4844 includes most of the content of the complete danks sharding logic, it does not implement any actual sharding itself. However, EIP-4844 can still bring scalability and cost-saving benefits to Ethereum, making it closer to the cost and throughput levels required for large-scale adoption in the future.
EIP-1559:
EIP-1559 is another important proposal for Ethereum, which will be implemented in the Cancun upgrade. It aims to improve Ethereum's transaction fee model, enhance user experience, and network predictability. EIP-1559 introduces a demand-based dynamic fee market, including base fees and variable fees. The base fee is burned, which helps reduce Ethereum's inflation. Variable fees are adjusted based on the size of transaction volume to provide more reasonable transaction fees and encourage users to conduct more efficient transactions.
Shard Blob Transactions:
Under the framework of Proto-DankSharding, a new transaction type called Shard Blob transactions is introduced. This transaction type allows Rollup to submit data to Blob and attach it to the block. A Shard Blob transaction can contain up to two Blobs, and each block can contain 8 to 16 Blobs, with each Blob's size ranging from 1MB to 2MB. This new transaction type reduces the cost of data storage and transmission, bringing higher throughput and lower transaction costs to the Ethereum network.
KZG Polynomial Scheme:
During the transaction process, the KZG polynomial scheme (named after Kate, Zaverucha, and Goldberg) is introduced for verifying transaction data published in the Blob. KZG is a zero-knowledge verification system that can verify without disclosing the entire contents of the Blob. This verification mechanism ensures the integrity and trustworthiness of transaction data.
In addition to the specific technologies and protocols mentioned above, the Cancun upgrade also includes several other important EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals) to further enhance the functionality and performance of Ethereum. Here are a few noteworthy EIPs:
EIP-1159: This proposal aims to improve Ethereum's transaction structure by introducing base fees and optional expansion data to improve transaction efficiency and predictability.
EIP-3198: This proposal introduces a new transaction type called "Fat" transactions, which can include multiple operations in a single transaction, reducing the number and cost of transactions.
EIP-3541: This proposal introduces a new contract type called "Access Lists," which reduces the cost of contract interaction by optimizing contract access control.
EIP-3529: This proposal introduces a new contract creation and initialization mechanism called "Reduced Gas Cost for Empty Accounts," reducing the cost of creating and initializing contracts.
EIP-2930: This proposal introduces a new transaction type called "Repricing for state access opcodes," reducing transaction costs by repricing state access opcodes.
What Impact Will the Cancun Upgrade Bring?
The Cancun upgrade is an important upgrade for the Ethereum network and will have a wide-ranging impact. The goal of this upgrade is to prepare for a complete data sharding network and to expand the Rollup technology. This will have various impacts, including on the Ethereum network and Layer 2 networks.
Cancun Upgrade: Significant Improvement in Ethereum Network Performance
The Ethereum network will undergo several important improvements due to the Cancun upgrade. Firstly, the introduction of Proto-Danksharding will significantly improve the scalability of the Ethereum network. Currently, the Ethereum mainnet can only process a limited number of transactions per second, leading to congestion and high gas fees. By introducing sharding technology, the Cancun upgrade will allow the Ethereum network to process multiple shards simultaneously, significantly increasing transaction throughput. This will enable the Ethereum network to meet the growing user demand and support more decentralized applications and transactions.
Secondly, the Cancun upgrade will also reduce transaction fees on the Ethereum network. In the current Ethereum network, users need to pay high gas fees to execute smart contracts and conduct transactions, which is not user-friendly for small transactions and regular users. However, the Cancun upgrade will reduce transaction gas fees by introducing data "blobs" and implementing EIP-4844. This will make the Ethereum network more cost-effective, attracting more users and promoting wider adoption.
The Cancun upgrade will also enhance the security of the Ethereum network. By taking measures such as EIP-6780, the upgrade will strengthen the network's security infrastructure. This will help protect users' funds and data, and reduce potential attack risks on the network. Security is a key element of blockchain networks, and the security enhancement measures of the Cancun upgrade will set higher standards for the reliability of the Ethereum network.
Cancun Upgrade: New Development Opportunities for Layer 2
With the upcoming Cancun upgrade for Ethereum, Layer 2 will see new development opportunities. After the Cancun upgrade, the speed of Ethereum Layer 2 will increase by 10 to 100 times, and transaction costs will decrease. This will better integrate Layer 2 into the Ethereum ecosystem, providing users with faster and lower-cost transaction experiences. Whether it's Optimistic Rollup or ZK Rollup, they will benefit from the improvements brought by this upgrade.
Firstly, the Cancun upgrade will increase the transaction speed of the Ethereum Layer 2 network and reduce transaction costs, providing opportunities for solutions such as Optimistic Rollup and ZK Rollup. For Optimistic Rollup, transaction backups will be completed faster, improving the overall network throughput and accelerating the development of its ecosystem. For ZK Rollup, although it faces some technical challenges, the Cancun upgrade provides greater opportunities. ZK Rollup offers higher privacy and security, allowing users to trade at lower transaction costs without sacrificing security. With the implementation of the Cancun upgrade, the advantages of ZK Rollup will become more significant, and it is expected to play a more important role in the Layer 2 network, providing users with more choices.
Secondly, the total value locked (TVL) in Layer 2 has surpassed $10.79 billion, up from $5 billion in October last year. This indicates a positive outlook from the market and investors for the future development of Layer 2. With the implementation of the Cancun upgrade, it is expected that this data will achieve even greater breakthroughs. At the same time, new Layer 2 projects about to be launched on the mainnet, such as Scroll and Taiko, will also have good development opportunities.
Thirdly, the improvement in speed and cost of Layer 2 networks will greatly improve the user experience, attracting more users. This has a significant impact on the development of decentralized applications (DApps). For example, Layer 2-based DeFi products will be able to process more transactions, providing a smoother experience. Additionally, industries such as gaming and social media place great importance on traffic and transaction experience, and they will also have better development opportunities.
Fourthly, due to the short storage time of Blob data, there are issues with accessing historical data. This will create a demand for decentralized storage, and Layer 2 scaling solutions will also need to use a data availability layer. Therefore, the Cancun upgrade will also have a positive impact on Layer 1 storage expansion networks (such as Eth storage, Arweave, Filecoin, and Ethereum DA layer projects), further driving the development of decentralized application projects in the Ethereum ecosystem.
In conclusion, the Cancun upgrade is the first step in Ethereum's scaling roadmap, and it will greatly promote the development of Layer 2 networks through technological improvements and their resulting effects. It is foreseeable that the Layer 2 network will become the main force in the Ethereum ecosystem, providing better services for users. However, technological improvement is only a necessary condition for the success of the Layer 2 network. The key lies in developing mature and high-quality applications that truly address user pain points. Only in this way can Layer 2 maximize its value.
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