Vitalik Buterin: Exploring Ethereum’s New Techniques for Faster Transaction Confirmations

Ethereum
co-founder
Vitalik
Buterin
has
detailed
new
techniques
aimed
at
reducing
transaction
confirmation
times
on
the
Ethereum
network,
according
to
a
recent
post
on
his
blog

vitalik.eth.limo.
The
proposed
methods
include
single-slot
finality
and
rollup
preconfirmations,
which
aim
to
enhance
user
experience
by
significantly
speeding
up
transaction
confirmations.

Overview
of
Existing
Ideas
and
Techniques

Ethereum’s
current
consensus
mechanism,
known
as
Gasper,
employs
a
slot
and
epoch
architecture.
This
involves
validators
voting
on
the
head
of
the
chain
every
12
seconds,
with
finality
achieved
after
12.8
minutes.
However,
Buterin
notes
that
this
approach
is
complicated
and
the
finality
time
is
too
long
for
practical
use.

Single-slot
finality
(SSF)
is
proposed
as
a
solution
to
replace
the
existing
architecture.
Inspired
by
Tendermint
consensus,
SSF
aims
to
finalize
blocks
before
the
next
one
is
created.
This
would
significantly
reduce
the
finality
time,
although
it
would
require
validators
to
publish
two
messages
every
12
seconds,
a
load
that
might
be
challenging
for
the
network
to
handle.

Rollup
Preconfirmations

Ethereum
has
been
following
a
rollup-centric
roadmap,
focusing
on
supporting
data
availability
and
functionalities
that
layer
2
(L2)
protocols
can
utilize.





Rollups
and
other
L2
solutions
can
offer
users
the
same
level
of
security
as
the
Ethereum
base
layer
(L1)
but
at
a
higher
scale.
However,
these
L2
solutions
often
require
faster
confirmation
times
than
the
current
5-20
seconds
offered
by
L1.

To
address
this,
Buterin
suggests
decentralized
sequencing
networks
where
a
smaller
group
of
validators
would
sign
off
on
blocks
more
frequently.
This
approach,
however,
has
been
slow
to
develop
in
a
decentralized
manner.
As
an
alternative,
Justin
Drake
has
proposed
a
shared
Ethereum-wide
preconfirmation
mechanism
known
as
based
preconfirmations.

Based
Preconfirmations

The
based
preconfirmation
approach
leverages
the
sophistication
of
Ethereum
proposers,
incentivizing
them
to
offer
preconfirmations-as-a-service.
Users
can
pay
an
additional
fee
for
an
immediate
guarantee
that
their
transaction
will
be
included
in
the
next
block.
If
proposers
fail
to
meet
this
promise,
they
face
penalties.

This
method
provides
guarantees
to
L1
transactions
and
can
be
extended
to
L2
transactions
if
rollups
are
integrated
into
the
mechanism.
This
could
significantly
improve
the
user
experience
by
reducing
the
need
to
wait
for
transaction
confirmations.

Future
Prospects

Buterin
envisions
a
future
where
single
slot
finality
and
rollup
preconfirmations
are
implemented
together.
Techniques
like
Orbit
SSF
could
reduce
the
number
of
validators
signing
per
slot,
potentially
increasing
slot
times
to
16
seconds
while
maintaining
the
goal
of
reducing
the
32
ETH
staking
minimum.

For
some
applications,
a
12-second
block
time
is
sufficient.
However,
for
applications
requiring
faster
confirmations,
a
slot-and-epoch
architecture
remains
essential.
Buterin
outlines
three
strategies
for
L2s:

1. Adopting
   a
   technology
   and
   value-based
   approach.
2. Using
   a
   server
   with
   blockchain
   scaffolding.
3. Implementing
   a
   hundred-node
   fast
   chain
   with
   Ethereum
   providing
   extra
   security
   and
   interoperability.

Ultimately,
the
goal
is
to
explore
the
design
space
of
slot-and-epoch
architectures
more
fully,
especially
those
like
Orbit
SSF.
This
will
provide
better
options
for
both
L1
and
L2
users,
simplifying
the
job
of
L2
developers
and
enhancing
the
overall
Ethereum
ecosystem.

Image
source:
Shutterstock