Originally published on: October 07, 2024
Developers in the Ethereum community are buzzing about a groundbreaking new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) that promises to shake up the network. According to developers, EIP-7781 is set to slash block times by 33% and increase data capacity, resulting in a whopping 50% increase in overall throughput.
Unveiled on October 5th by Ben Adams, the co-founder of Illyriad Games, this proposal, EIP-7781, proposes reducing block times to just eight seconds from the current 12 seconds. Additionally, the proposal aims to enhance the latency of based rollups and boost the capacity of blobs, a temporary data structure that aims to reduce layer-2 network fees.
Pseudonymous developer Cygaar highlighted the significance of EIP-7781 in an October 6th post, describing it as a monumental step towards enhancing the base layer of the Ethereum network. While most attention has shifted towards layer-2 networks for scaling solutions, this proposal seeks to fortify the foundation of the Ethereum network.
EIP-7781 not only promises to improve mainnet throughput but also aims to distribute bandwidth usage more evenly over time to reduce peak bandwidth requirements. By optimizing individual block and blob counts, this proposal could revolutionize the Ethereum experience for users and developers alike.
The Ethereum Foundation researcher, Justin Drake, showed his support for EIP-7781 on GitHub, emphasizing its alignment with the broader goals laid out by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and other scaling organizations. Drake pointed out that reducing block times could significantly benefit decentralized exchanges like Uniswap v3, making them more efficient and enhancing user experience across the board.
However, some developers have raised concerns about the potential impact of shorter block times on solo stakers. The faster block times could lead to increased execution state growth, necessitating more powerful hardware and bandwidth for maintaining the blockchain’s state in real-time.
Despite these challenges, many in the Ethereum community see EIP-7781 as a step in the right direction. Cinnehaim Ventures partner Adam Cochran commended the proposal in a recent post, noting that it seems reasonable as long as gas limits per block remain unchanged.
The introduction of EIP-7781 comes at a pivotal moment for Ethereum as the network continues its quest towards decentralization and scalability. With ongoing discussions about reducing the minimum validator requirement and other key changes, Ethereum is evolving to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
