A new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP), EIP-7781, introduced by Ben Adams, co-founder of Illyriad Games, on October 5, could significantly boost Ethereum transaction throughput by reducing the network slot time from 12 seconds to 9 seconds. The proposed change aims to increase transaction throughput by approximately 33%.
The motivation behind this proposal is to better distribute bandwidth usage over time, thus lowering peak bandwidth requirements. By facilitating bandwidth needs, Ethereum can maintain greater efficiency and reduce pressure on node operators, especially those with limited bandwidth capacity. According to Adams, this modification is designed to improve throughput without compromising network accessibility.
Is the proposal to improve Ethereum possible?
In his official letter an offer “Reducing Ethereum slot time from 12 seconds to 9 seconds could reduce backlog latency and increase transaction throughput by approximately 33% without increasing the number of individual blocks or the number of large binary data,” Adams explained on GitHub. “This would spread out bandwidth usage over time, reducing peak bandwidth requirements while maintaining network efficiency.
Implementation of EIP-7781 is based on two other EIPs—EIP-7623 and EIP-7778. These proposals are crucial to ensuring the stability of the network as the rate of block production increases. They are designed to mitigate any potential negative effects of reduced breakout time, such as increased isolation rates or network instability.
The EIP-7781 aims to create a balance between throughput and network accessibility by maintaining node efficiency without burdening the system. This is especially important for maintaining the spirit of decentralization in Ethereum, ensuring that even participants with less developed infrastructure can continue to run nodes.
Justin Drake, a senior researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, commented on the proposal, expressing cautious support. In a comment, Drake said: “My initial reaction would be to support reducing aperture times to 8 seconds for several reasons: it increases throughput by half, which is an effective increase to the 45 million gas limit and 9-point maximum. This is roughly consistent with the proposed maximum for gas which is 40 million from Pumpthegas.org and the maximum of 8 points by Vitalik and others.
Drake also pointed out the benefits of decentralized exchanges (DEXs), noting that the change would make decentralized exchanges like Uniswap v3 “about 1.22 times more efficient,” potentially saving nearly $100 million in centralized exchange (CEX) arbitrage. DEX annually.
However, Drake also mentioned a potential drawback: “One downside to reducing slot times is that it will make game timing a little more accurate due to the lower slot-to-ping ratio. Assuming a ping time of 80 ms and a slot time of 9 seconds, the slot-to-ping ratio The connection test will still be good.
Adam Cochran, Partner at CEHV, Express He supported it but added a note of caution, especially for smaller stakeholders. He wrote on “Some major players, but it seems like it should be within the range for most people.”
However, not all voices in the community are quite so optimistic. Researcher with alias 0xSmit He grew up Concerns regarding current smart contracts that rely on a 12-second block time. According to him, “A lot of contracts have encoded the year’s value into blocks based on 12-second block times. This could break things if this is passed, especially for contracts that don’t have upgrade mechanisms.”
At press time, Ethereum was trading at $2,463.
Featured image created with DALL.E, a chart from TradingView.com
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