Bitget App
Trade smarter
Buy cryptoMarketsTradeFuturesCopyBotsEarn
Ethereum Beam Chain Proposal Overview: What is the Vision? How is the Technical Layer Constructed?

Ethereum Beam Chain Proposal Overview: What is the Vision? How is the Technical Layer Constructed?

ChaincatcherChaincatcher2024/11/13 03:00
By:Foresight News

After PoW and PoS, we may be entering the era of Ethereum consensus with zero-knowledge proofs.

Author: Karen, Foresight News

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake proposed the final design of Ethereum at today's Devcon conference, which centers on a large-scale redesign of the Ethereum consensus layer. He named this proposed design and fork "Beam." So, what vision does Beam Chain carry? How is its technical architecture and implementation plan laid out?

Beam Vision

Why is a large-scale redesign of the consensus layer necessary? Justin Drake believes that the current beacon chain is outdated, having had its specifications frozen five years ago. Additionally, in recent years, there have been many breakthroughs in areas such as MEV mitigation, SNARKS (Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge), and zKVMs (Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machines), making the redesign of the consensus layer particularly urgent.

Ethereum Beam Chain Proposal Overview: What is the Vision? How is the Technical Layer Constructed? image 0

It is important to note that since the launch of the beacon chain in 2020, Ethereum has undergone a significant fork upgrade each year. From the addition of the sync committee in 2021, to the completion of the merge in 2022, to the support for staking withdrawals in 2023, and the proto-danksharding in 2024, each step has witnessed Ethereum's growth and transformation. In 2025, Ethereum will implement the Electra fork, which includes the implementation of EIP-7251 (MaxEB). In the coming years, Ethereum will also undergo some incremental forks.

However, after these incremental forks, Justin Drake believes we may face an unprecedented challenge—the Beam fork. This represents a "quantum leap" for the consensus layer, capable of integrating multiple upgrades into a single fork.

Ethereum Beam Chain Proposal Overview: What is the Vision? How is the Technical Layer Constructed? image 1

It is worth mentioning that Beam specifically targets the consensus layer, excluding the blob and execution layer (which includes the EVM), because the opportunities to modify the blob and execution layer are quite limited. On the other hand, the consensus layer is not directly used by applications, providing a greater opportunity for design and change.

The roadmap for the Beam Chain consensus layer includes three categories: block production, staking, and cryptography. In terms of block production, resistance to censorship is achieved through the introduction of inclusion lists, decoupling validators from the block production process, and ideas like execution auctions. Additionally, it may be possible to shorten the current 12-second slots time.

Regarding staking, researchers widely believe that optimizing the current issuance curve could improve Ethereum's overall health. Furthermore, reducing the amount of Ethereum required to become a validator and achieving faster finality are also key research focuses. In terms of cryptography, the main areas are chain abstraction, quantum safety, and strong randomness.

Ethereum Beam Chain Proposal Overview: What is the Vision? How is the Technical Layer Constructed? image 2

Beam Chain Technical Layer

Justin Drake believes that "after PoW and PoS, we may be entering the era of zero-knowledge proofs for Ethereum consensus. In the ZK era, SNARKS will become an indispensable technology. The entire Beam Chain, and even the entire consensus layer, can be SNARKified. This is when zKVM can shine."

It is important to note that the part that needs to be SNARK processed is primarily the state transition function, which is the core of the consensus client. All infrastructure surrounding the state transition function, such as networking, syncing, cache optimization, or fork choice rules, does not need to undergo SNARK processing. Ultimately, the state transition function is just a subset of the entire system.

Ethereum Beam Chain Proposal Overview: What is the Vision? How is the Technical Layer Constructed? image 3

Another area where SNARKS are heavily utilized in Beam Chain is in aggregated signatures—using hash functions to achieve post-quantum aggregatable signatures. Justin Drake explains that thousands of signatures can be collected and compressed into one proof, resulting in a hash-based post-quantum aggregatable scheme, which can also be aggregated multiple times.

In addition, Ethereum will continue to use existing infrastructure, including libp2p, SimpleSerialiZe, PySpec, and Protocol Guild.

Ethereum Beam Chain Proposal Overview: What is the Vision? How is the Technical Layer Constructed? image 4

Beam Chain Roadmap

Justin Drake has developed a detailed plan for the launch of Beam Chain, starting with the specification drafting process in 2025, construction beginning in 2026, and testing starting in 2027 to ensure Beam Chain meets production-level standards and can be safely deployed to the mainnet. From the roadmap below, the mainnet deployment may occur in 2029 or after.

Ethereum Beam Chain Proposal Overview: What is the Vision? How is the Technical Layer Constructed? image 5

Justin Drake intends to begin drafting executable specifications next, which will ultimately be streamlined to about 1,000 lines of Python code.

Ethereum Beam Chain Proposal Overview: What is the Vision? How is the Technical Layer Constructed? image 6

Additionally, two client development teams (the Zeam team from India and the Lambda team from South America) have expressed interest in developing the Beam Chain client.

0

Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

PoolX: Locked for new tokens.
APR up to 10%. Always on, always get airdrop.
Lock now!