Ethereum in 2023: Prospects and Challenges | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

Withdrawal of staked Ether looming

This will be the most pressing issue facing Ethereum developers.

Since the Ethereum blockchain’s consensus mechanism transitioned to Proof of Stake (PoS) with the “Merge” that took place last September, the Ethereum blockchain has been able to approve blocks into the blockchain. Added work now uses validators instead of miners.

And ahead of the Merge, validators staked 32 Ethereum (ETH) on the PoS Beacon Chain to meet the requirements to participate in the block approval process.

Validators were informed that their staked Ethereum and earned rewards before participating in the process would be locked up until the next upgrade, Shanghai, which is currently scheduled for March. was

Validators who have been earning rewards since December 2020, when the Beacon Chain went live, will finally be able to withdraw their rewards and their staked Ethereum.

“We are almost ready to withdraw,” said Ethereum Foundation developer Marius Van Der Wijden, and all that remains is to test the program that enables withdrawals, which is also “2 It should be mostly completed in the month to March,” he added.

Is proto-dunk sharding fall?

Another item Ethereum developers are working on is “proto-danksharding.”

“Sharding” is dividing a blockchain into multiple chains (shards) in a way that makes it more scalable. Developers have likened sharding to adding new lanes to a highway. More cars will be able to use the highways, and less congestion will (ideally) allow them to go faster.

The same goes for Ethereum trading. Sharding allows a blockchain to process more network activity, reduce gas costs (transaction fees), and enable faster transactions.

Dunk sharding is the same concept of dividing the network into shards, but instead of providing more space for transactions, it temporarily adds dedicated dedicated data to allow more data to be processed. .

However, Ethereum developers thought it would be too ambitious to do so at the same time as March’s staked Ethereum withdrawal.

Realizing staked Ethereum withdrawals as soon as possible is a priority, and Proto-Dunk Sharding has agreed to delay it until an upgrade scheduled for the fall.

Ethereum Foundation engineer Parithosh Jayanthi said proto-dunk sharding will be “the most exciting thing developers will be working on in 2023,” adding that it will “onboard millions of users.” , has the potential to bring scalability to Ethereum.”

Censorship and centralization issues

In August 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash. Since then, Ethereum developers have been busy trying to make sense of it.

Some argue that validators located outside the United States do not have to comply with the sanctions, while others are puzzled as to what blockchain activity is allowed under the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s rules.

As of this writing, 65% of blocks added to the Ethereum blockchain in the last 24 hours have censored transactions involving Tornado Cash, and community members are urging them to reverse the tide of increased censorship. and

As it stands, members of the Ethereum ecosystem have different views on OFAC sanctions compliance.

Some interpreted it as a ban on adding transactions involving Tornado Cash to the blockchain, while others saw it as censorship. Within the Ethereum community, a debate rages on how to reconcile principles and rules.

“I think the ecosystem needs to pay more attention to censorship resistance and client diversity in 2023,” Jayanti said, “both of which are not well addressed in the 2023 protocol roadmap. So we hope the community will take the initiative until the protocol can handle it satisfactorily.”

Censorship issues also raised centralization concerns. Most validators chose to add transactions to the blockchain in a way that excluded Tornado Cash.

“We have worked hard to build an Ethereum protocol that can be highly decentralized, but there are forces pushing centralization everywhere and we need to be very careful. There is,” said Ben Edgington of Ethereum client (software) Teku.

“You can’t force people to operate Ethereum in a decentralized way, but otherwise it becomes worthless,” Eddington said.

events such as devcon

Finally, Ethereum developers, market participants, policy makers and other community members will gather at various international events to collaborate on new ideas.

Devcon, the largest conference for Ethereum developers, is still scheduled to take place in 2023, although the location is yet to be determined. Held in Colombia in 2022, Devcon has become the premier event for Ethereum fans to share innovations and opinions from around the world.

Another event to watch is EthCC in Paris, scheduled for July 17-20. Last year, Layer 2 companies announced various rollup solutions.

Ethereum.org also organizes gatherings and hackathons around the world, giving Ethereum fans a chance to meet their peers.

Consensus, hosted by CoinDesk, will be held April 26-28 in Austin, Texas. Discuss various topics related to Ethereum, blockchain, crypto assets, and Web3.

｜Translation and editing: Akiko Yamaguchi, Takayuki Masuda
｜Image: Shutterstock
｜Original: Ethereum in 2023: Here’s What to Look Forward To