Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has recently articulated his ambitious vision for the platform’s forthcoming enhancement phase, termed “The Surge.”
In a blog post dated October 17, Buterin laid out essential goals for this new phase, with an eye toward surpassing 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) across both Ethereum’s mainnet and its various layer-2 solutions.
He also made a point of addressing the critical need for improved interoperability between layer-2 networks, while ensuring the decentralization and resilience of Ethereum’s foundational mainnet remain intact.
Adopting a Rollup-Centric Strategy
Buterin remarked that Ethereum’s current scaling strategy follows a rollup-centric methodology, establishing Layer 1 (L1) as a secure and decentralized base, while Layer 2s are designated for the network’s scaling capabilities.
Nevertheless, this approach is fraught with challenges. Buterin underscored the necessity of addressing these hurdles judiciously to preserve Ethereum’s core values of decentralization and security.
He also noted that users often struggle to navigate the Layer 2 ecosystem effectively. To tackle this, Buterin emphasized the importance of creating a seamless experience that makes users feel as if they are interacting with a single cohesive ecosystem, rather than a fragmented network of 34 different blockchains.
“If we are serious about the notion that Layer 2s are part of Ethereum, we must ensure that the experience of using the Layer 2 ecosystem feels indistinguishable from engaging with a unified Ethereum environment.”
To realize this vision, Buterin highlighted several areas ripe for innovation, including:
- Data availability sampling
- Enhanced data compression
- Improving the trustlessness of Layer 2 networks
- Refining user experience across blockchains
Strategies for Scaling Ethereum
Buterin also stressed the urgent need to scale Ethereum’s base chain in response to escalating demand. He cautioned that if Layer 2s develop effectively while Layer 1’s transaction processing capacity remains constrained, the network could face significant risks.
He suggested that increasing Ethereum’s gas limit would be the most straightforward route to scale the network; however, this action could lead to centralization risks, potentially undermining the blockchain’s credibility as a robust foundational layer.
Another approach might involve making specific features and computations less expensive while maintaining decentralization and security traits. Innovations could include new bytecode formats like EOF and multidimensional gas pricing, as well as reducing the gas costs associated with certain opcodes.
“A third option is the integration of native rollups (or ‘enshrined rollups’): effectively producing multiple copies of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) that operate concurrently, thereby mimicking the benefits of rollups while achieving deeper integration within the protocol itself.”
However, Buterin urged caution against drastically increasing the gas limit, which could jeopardize Layer 1’s decentralization without delivering substantial improvements in overall scalability.
“We must ensure that we do not create a scenario where we amplify the gas limit tenfold, severely compromise the decentralization of Ethereum L1, and find ourselves in a situation where instead of 99% of activity occurring on Layer 2, only 90% engages with Layer 2, yielding similar outcomes, albeit with an irrevocable loss of what makes Ethereum L1 unique.”