Today at Devcon 2024 in Bangkok, Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake announced a new consensus layer upgrade proposal called ‘Beam Chain’. This would represent the biggest upgrade to Ethereum since ‘The Merge’ in September 2022, which saw the network move from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
In his speech at Devcon, Drake said that Beam Chain would target faster block times, smaller validator stakes, “chain snarkifaction,” such as zkVMs and as a result, make Ethereum secure in a post- quantum world.
This main stage will not be forgotten. @drakefjustin was on the stage, now Beam Chain is coming. #DevCon pic.twitter.com/YjjH9o4uNO
— ODTÜ Blockchain (@odtublockchain) November 12, 2024
Justin Drake Seems To Be In Agreement With Vitalik Buterin On What The Future Of Ethereum Should Look Like
Drake’s proposal echoed Vitalik Buterin’s ideas for Ethereum’s future in his recent blog posts. They both call for faster slot times and faster block finality regarding transaction settlement speeds.
Incorporating the other ideas from Vitalik’s recent blogs, the proposed upgrade could also reduce the required amount to become a validator on Ethereum. Current requirements are 32 ETH, and Drake is calling for a reduction to 1 ETH, making the network more accessible and more decentralized at the same time.
Vitalik is proposing some big changes to Ethereum 🤯
In a Monday blog post, he proposed:
-Lowering the Staking Threshold from 32 ETH to 1 ETH
-Changing Single-Slot Finality to a single 12-second slot from its existing 15-minute time frameVitalik pointed to polling as a… pic.twitter.com/vHfJRVYjIZ
— TylerD 🧙♂️ (@Tyler_Did_It) October 15, 2024
The proposal could substantially increase scaling on the Ethereum mainnet without Layer 2s, countering recent concerns over the impact of such networks on Ethereum. The rise of Layer 2 solutions over the past few years has helped address scaling issues and reduced the demand for Ethereum’s base layer.
Drake has been in the headlines recently after resigning from his advisor position at Restaking platform EigenLayer. He left Eigenlayer over concerns regarding substantial EIGEN token allocation payments, which presented a conflict of interest. “I want to apologise to the Ethereum community and EF (Ethereum Foundation) colleagues for the drama I caused,” Drake said on his split from Eigenlayer. He went on to say, “In hindsight, it was a bad move for me to make.”
Drake Teased His Talk At Devcon On X Yesterday, Calling It His ‘Most Ambitious Initiative To Date’
Announcement of an announcement!
Tomorrow at 5pm on the Devcon main stage I will unveil my most ambitious initiative to date. For one year I have been thinking about what a from-scratch redesign of the Ethereum consensus layer could look like. The goal is to suggest a credible…
— Justin.eth Drake (@drakefjustin) November 11, 2024
Before presenting his proposal for Beam Chain, Drake posted to X yesterday (November 11), saying, “For one year, I have been thinking about what a from-scratch redesign of the Ethereum consensus layer could look like. The goal is to suggest a credible strategy to ship what is an extremely ambitious and exciting beacon chain roadmap, all on a reasonable timeframe.”
“After months of gestation alongside researchers and consensus devs, I am finally ready to present my proposal publicly. It’s early days, and your participation is key should this new approach to tackling the consensus layer roadmap ever achieve rough consensus,” he added.
If Justin Drake’s proposal is implemented, it would be the biggest upgrade to Ethereum since The Merge in September 2022. The Merge was Ethereum’s major transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus. It combined Ethereum’s mainnet with the Beacon Chain, reducing the network’s energy consumption by over 99%.
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