The Ethereum Layer 2 teams welcome the blockchain reform proposal
The development teams of the Ethereum Layer 2 network have welcomed the recently proposed blockchain reform proposal, believing it will help enhance the overall performance of Ethereum. The teams from zkSync and Polygon believe that this proposal will not render their auxiliary networks redundant, but rather promote their development.
Key Points
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The zkSync and Polygon teams support the Ethereum reform proposal.
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The proposal includes integrating zero-knowledge encryption technology into the Ethereum protocol.
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The reform aims to shorten block times, increase transaction speeds, and reduce costs.
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The "Beam Chain" is expected to go live in 2029.
At the Devcon conference held last week in Bangkok, Thailand, developer Justin Drake presented an ambitious plan aimed at reshaping Ethereum's consensus layer architecture. This plan, called "Beam Chain," proposes incorporating zero-knowledge encryption technology into the Ethereum protocol to improve the speed and efficiency of transactions.
In recent years, many within the Ethereum ecosystem have pushed for a rollup-centric roadmap, relying on Layer 2 networks to address Ethereum's scalability challenges. Zero-knowledge rollups are seen as a superior technology because they outperform so-called optimistic rollups in terms of speed and security.
Before Drake's Devcon speech, many were curious about what impact Beam Chain would have on zero-knowledge rollups on Ethereum, fearing they might become obsolete.
"This is actually a misunderstanding," said Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs. "The changes announced by Justin are primarily focused on the consensus layer, not the execution layer. This will not affect the execution layer."
The foundational layer of Ethereum consists of multiple layers. The consensus layer is responsible for ensuring the validation of blocks, while the execution layer is responsible for executing transactions. Layer 2 networks relay their transaction data back to Ethereum, primarily influenced by changes in the execution layer.
In addition to integrating zero-knowledge technology, Drake's proposal also aims to shorten block times, which could reduce the transaction costs of settling on Ethereum for Layer 2. Drake also stated that he hopes to introduce single-slot finality, meaning that blocks containing transaction data can be finalized immediately, and the information will become permanent right away. If everything goes as planned, Beam Chain is expected to go live in 2029 (although Ethereum has a history of delays in technical upgrades).
"All these changes are positive because we rely on Ethereum as a global settlement layer," Gluchowski said.
The Bright Future of Rollups
Brendan Farmer, co-founder of Polygon, also stated that he does not believe Beam Chain will render Layer 2 networks obsolete. On the contrary, he believes this upgrade will "make the work of rollups more efficient."
"Shorter block times, faster finality, zero-knowledge verifiability in the consensus layer—these are all factors that I believe will positively impact the usability of Layer 2 and the interoperability between different ecosystems," Farmer said.
Faster finality on Ethereum will particularly help improve the interoperability of Layer 2, which is a broad goal of scaling the network.
"A major issue with Ethereum currently is that blocks are considered finalized usually after 12 to 19 minutes," Farmer added. "If you are transferring funds between Arbitrum and Polygon: Polygon cannot safely credit those funds to user accounts until the transaction is finalized on Layer 1 after withdrawing the transaction from Arbitrum. This leads to a poor user experience, and if the finality time is reduced to 12 seconds, it will improve the user experience."
Gluchowski called Beam Chain a proof of zero-knowledge proofs as a scaling method.
"Using zero-knowledge technology really emphasizes the fact that zero-knowledge is the ultimate solution."