Increase Ethereum's throughput by 50%? Quick overview of the community's new proposal EIP-7781
EIP-7781 may become the "first major" initiative to improve the Ethereum base layer.Author: Scof, ChainCatcher
Editor: Nianqing, ChainCatcher
Recently, a new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) has sparked discussions within the Ethereum community. The new EIP-7781 proposal aims to enhance the overall throughput of the Ethereum network by shortening block times and increasing data processing capacity. This proposal was introduced by Ben Adams, co-founder of Illyriad Games, on October 5, and in simple terms, it proposes to reduce the block generation time from 12 seconds to 8 seconds, increasing the data processing capacity of blocks and improving throughput by 50%. Additionally, it plans to lower the fees on the Ethereum Layer 2 network by increasing the latency based on rollups.
Ben Adams described EIP-7781 as increasing transaction throughput by about 33% without increasing the number of individual blocks or blobs; allocating bandwidth usage over time to reduce peak bandwidth demand and maintain network efficiency; this is equivalent to increasing the number of blobs from 6 to 8 or increasing the gas limit from 30M to 40M; however, this approach does not increase peak bandwidth.
Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, expressed support for this proposal. He believes that shortening the slot time to 8 seconds will significantly enhance the overall performance and user experience of the network. This change not only increases network throughput by 50%, improving the efficiency of decentralized exchanges (such as Uniswap v3), saving about $100 million annually in CEX-DEX arbitrage costs, but also optimizes the user experience of Layer 1 smart contracts by reducing confirmation times by one-third. At the same time, reducing slot times can better allocate peak loads, making resource utilization of execution clients more balanced during non-validated peak periods, aligning with Ethereum's long-term scalability goals. Despite the risk of increased time gaming, Justin Drake believes this change is a crucial step toward a more efficient and scalable network.
Source: https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/pull/8931
Currently, discussions around EIP-7781 focus on the balance between efficiency improvements and decentralization.
Shortening block times and increasing throughput can clearly enhance user experience, but it may also increase the risk of network centralization. As Web3 researcher Vikram pointed out, validating nodes will face higher hardware and bandwidth requirements, which may make it difficult for individual stakers, especially users running independent nodes, to keep up with the network's development. Increased hardware requirements could undermine the decentralized nature of the network, particularly in the Ethereum network, where decentralization has always been one of its core advantages. If the entry threshold for stakers is raised, small or individual stakers may exit the network, leading to more validation rights being concentrated in large institutions. This centralization would contradict Ethereum's original intention, making its trust model more reliant on a few nodes. Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinnehaim Ventures, pointed out that while the proposal seems "reasonable," further testing is needed to ensure it does not negatively impact investors working from home.
However, supporters of EIP-7781 argue that while there will be certain hardware requirements, these will not severely impact decentralization. Vitalik recently proposed lowering the staking threshold from 36 ETH to 16 or 24 ETH, which could attract more individuals to participate in staking. At the same time, the proposal can better balance the network's bandwidth usage, reducing load pressure during peak periods. Furthermore, this proposal signifies a more profound consideration of Ethereum's Layer 1 underlying scalability, while Layer 2 scaling solutions will continue to develop. Therefore, the implementation of EIP-7781 is not only an optimization of the existing network performance but also paves the way for future scalability. An anonymous developer, Cygaar, referred to this proposal as the "first major" initiative to improve the Ethereum base layer in an article on X. While most development focus has been on Layer 2 scaling solutions, this upgrade addresses the efficiency issues of the core network.
Overall, EIP-7781 is not only a key step for Ethereum to enhance performance but also requires consideration of its long-term impact on network decentralization. If this proposal can be successfully implemented, it will make the Ethereum network more competitive, especially in application scenarios such as DeFi and smart contracts. As of the time of publication, the ETH trading price is $2445, having increased by 1.08% in the past 24 hours.
