2024-10-07
Ethereum Improvement Proposal EIP-7781
aims to enhance the Ethereum network's efficiency by reducing block times from
12 seconds to 8 seconds, which represents a 33% reduction.
This change is expected to boost the
overall throughput by about 50%, improving both data capacity and efficiency,
particularly benefiting decentralized exchanges like Uniswap v3. This upgrade
could save roughly $100 million in centralized exchange (CEX) to decentralized
exchange (DEX) arbitrage annually, resulting in better transaction execution
for users.
The proposal, introduced by Ben Adams
on October 5, co-founder of Illyriad Games and a researcher, the proposal also
includes increasing the capacity of "blobs," which are temporary data
structures that help reduce Layer-2 network fees.
The intention is to distribute
bandwidth usage more evenly over time, which would lower peak bandwidth
requirements without increasing the number of individual blocks or blobs. The
increased efficiency is also expected to reduce transaction confirmation times
by 33%, thereby improving user experience for Ethereum smart contracts.
However, some concerns have been raised about potential challenges for solo stakers. Reducing block times might require stakers to use more powerful hardware and higher bandwidth to keep up with the faster propagation of the blockchain state, which could lead to centralization risks if smaller, individual stakers find it difficult to comply with these requirements.
Support for EIP-7781 has been voiced by
figures such as Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake, who noted that
this aligns well with broader scaling objectives for Ethereum. He emphasized
that, beyond throughput gains, the proposal could make Ethereum’s decentralized
infrastructure more efficient and lower transaction costs for users in the long
term.
In conclusion, if the proposal is
passed, EIP-7781 will reduce Ethereum's
block times from 12 seconds to 8 seconds, which would result in a 50% increase
in network throughput. Additionally, EIP-7781 seeks to increase the capacity of
blobs, a temporary data structure that helps reduce layer-2 network fees.
This proposal is expected to enhance
Ethereum's efficiency and transaction speeds, making the network more scalable
and cost-effective.
