Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, has laid out a long-term plan for the decentralization and scalability of Ethereum. Buterin put forth a solution based on Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3668 in response to worries regarding the growing complexity of operating light clients in an ecosystem that is rollup-centric.
The efficiency and decentralization of Layer-2 (L2) networks’ state proof verification could be revolutionized by this method. As Ethereum scales horizontally through rollups, the Ethereum community raised the question of how wallets and apps will manage numerous light clients. Without depending on centralized third parties, developers are struggling with how to effectively embed and validate state proofs in light of the anticipated growth of rollup-based scaling solutions.
Using an Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC) akin to EIP-3668 is Buterin’s suggested remedy. This would enable L2 networks to establish an on-chain configuration contract that outlines the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) code used to validate state proofs. Put more simply, Ethereum would enable a universal L2 light client by giving L2 networks a standardized means of communicating proof verification mechanisms.
Using a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, this universal light client would request proofs and use the on-chain EVM code to verify them. In addition to increasing efficiency and decentralization, this approach lessens dependency on outside middlemen. A few developers have identified possible issues such as the absence of uniformity for provers and proofs across various rollups.
To guarantee compatibility across Ethereum’s heterogeneous L2 ecosystem, implementing a universal light client would necessitate considerable wrangling constant updates and a strong specification. Buterin retorted that the proof format would be byte-based, enabling the proof verification function of each L2 to interpret the data as required. Buterin claims that this adaptability makes the process easier and guarantees that verification stays decentralized and flexible.
