Ethereum’s co-creator, **Vitalik Buterin**, is on a quest to enhance the speed of transactions on the Ethereum network. His goal is to leverage innovative tools that could slash the time taken for layer-1 (L1) confirmations from several seconds down to mere milliseconds.
On June 30, Buterin unveiled a blog entry entitled “Epochs and slots all the way down: ways to give Ethereum users faster transaction confirmation times.” Within this piece, he advocates for a shift from the existing epoch-and-slot framework to a single-slot finality (SSF) system, highlighting the significant hurdles that accompany such a transition.
Post-Merge, L1 confirmations have dwindled to 5–20 seconds, Buterin observes
Buterin points out that the **Ethereum Merge**—the platform’s transition from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus model in 2022—has trimmed the L1 transaction confirmation window to a brisk 5–20 seconds. This pace, he remarks, is on par with the typical credit card payment experience, hinting at the possibility of further accelerating these transactions. He suggests:
A potential route to expedite Ethereum transactions might involve revamping the slots and epochs architecture, which is integral to **Ethereum 2.0** and its foundational Ethereum Gasper consensus protocol.
Understanding slots and epochs in Ethereum 2.0
In the realm of **Ethereum 2.0**, a slot is defined as a 12-second interval wherein a selected ETH validator, or staker, is allotted the opportunity to propose a block. An epoch is composed of 32 such slots, necessitating 32 distinct committees—or validator groups—to finalize the validation process on the Ethereum blockchain.
The architecture of epochs and slots in Ethereum 2.0. Credit: Ethos.dev
The Gasper consensus mechanism is designed to uphold a pivotal Ethereum principle known as finality. This concept ensures that once a transaction, slot, or epoch is finalized, altering or excising a block from the blockchain would require incinerating 33% of the total Ether (ETH) staked.
Buterin proposes a shift to single-slot finality
Buterin reveals that the Ethereum Foundation is increasingly wary of the existing slot-by-slot voting system and the epoch-by-epoch finality method. He criticizes this framework for its susceptibility to numerous bugs and complexities, and for its protracted finality timeline, currently clocking in at 12.8 minutes.
To address these concerns, Buterin proposes a transition to single-slot finality, akin to the Tendermint consensus protocol. He clarifies, “The primary divergence from Tendermint is the retention of the ‘inactivity leak’ mechanism, which permits the chain’s ongoing operation and recovery should over one-third of validators become inactive.”
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Buterin underscores that SSF poses a considerable challenge due to its potential ramifications, such as obliging every Ethereum staker to dispatch two messages every 12 seconds, potentially congesting the network.
“There are ingenious strategies to alleviate this, like the recently introduced Orbit SSF proposal,” Buterin notes, although he concedes that such frameworks still necessitate a 5–20 second wait time for users.
Buterin concludes by acknowledging that Ethereum has yet to uncover definitive solutions to the myriad challenges posed by prospective transaction acceleration techniques.
“Concepts like Orbit SSF are nascent, indicating that the design landscape for slot-and-epoch configurations, where models akin to Orbit SSF serve as the epoch, remains largely uncharted,” the developer states, adding:
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