A groundbreaking upgrade proposal for the Ethereum (ETH) network aims to reduce transaction times and close the performance gap with faster competitors like Solana (SOL).
The proposal, formally known as EIP-7781 and submitted by Illyriad Games co-founder Ben Adams on October 5, suggests decreasing Ethereum block times from 12 seconds to eight seconds. This change could potentially boost the network’s transaction processing capability by up to 50%.
Additionally, the upgrade seeks to enhance the network’s data storage capacity by increasing the number of “blobs” per block from six to nine. This would provide layer 2 networks like Arbitrum (ARB) and Optimism (OP) more space to store transaction data on the main Ethereum blockchain.
Notable figures within the Ethereum community have already expressed support for the proposal. Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake believes that the shorter block times could make decentralized exchanges like Uniswap 22% more efficient, potentially saving users up to $100 million annually.
The proposal aligns with previous suggestions made by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who recommended increasing the blockchain’s “gas limit” to enhance network capacity.
Despite the significant benefits, there are concerns about the upgrade putting strain on network validators, potentially requiring hardware upgrades to handle the increased processing load.
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