Abstract:
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin issued a document on Sunday, proposing Ethereum’s transformation vision by 2030, planning to expand the network from a traditional blockchain to a system that combines cryptographic proofs and external computing networks. Buterin said in an article titled "Computers in the Cryptozoological World" that the network may still be called a blockchain by then, but the way it operates will be completely different from the current version.
Buterin pointed out that the current Ethereum network requires each computer to repeatedly verify the calculations behind transactions, which helps keep the network honest, but also means that adding computers will not automatically increase transaction processing capabilities, because each computer is busy verifying a lot of the same activity. He believes that new cryptographic tools could overcome this limitation: One computer processes a transaction and generates a short mathematical proof that it follows the rules, and other computers can check the proof more quickly without having to repeat the entire original calculation. Independent spot checks can help confirm that transaction records are still available for anyone to inspect. This would allow different computers to handle different tasks while simultaneously checking each other's results.
Buterin wrote that Ethereum developers wanted to distribute work in this way a decade ago, but at the time it was difficult to ensure that each participant completed his task correctly. “It wasn’t feasible at the time, for one major reason: the missing element was verification,” he said. Early attempts to distribute the work among smaller groups, coordinating those groups added latency, and if one group failed, the wider network could have difficulty recovering. Buterin believed that mathematical proofs provided a way around this problem. After the computer completes the task, it can provide proof of compliance with the rules, allowing others to check their answers without having to repeat the entire calculation. Computers can then handle different tasks simultaneously, bringing more capacity and more independent verification to Ethereum.
Ethereum still needs to solve issues involving order, such as which comes first when two payments use the same funds. Buterin suggested that more work behind these payments could be done in advance, with less information recorded on the blockchain through proof-of-merging.
Privacy-wise, Buterin's plan also covers information people reveal simply by using their wallets. Checking a balance typically involves asking an external server for an address, whose operators can learn which accounts a person follows, even if the payment itself is private. Buterin envisioned these requests being hidden along with payment details and the rules for approving expenditures from the account. Businesses can then keep payments confidential without exposing their accounts when employees verify balances.
Other cryptocurrency developers are pursuing similar goals. Zcash already allows users to send payments using encrypted addresses and amounts. According to previous analysis of ZecStats data, about 4.9 million ZEC were held in its shielded pool on Friday, and the token was trading around $1,660 on Sunday after rising about 15%. Researchers in the "Shielding Bitcoin" paper published Thursday propose borrowing the Zcash payment design for Bitcoin, with specifications that leave the actual Bitcoin deposit and withdrawal mechanisms to be studied separately.
Ethereum’s own plans still require significant engineering work. Generating proofs needs to be efficient enough to be widely used. Computers handling different tasks must also coordinate updates to the same balance and application records without interfering with each other. Buterin's 2030 comparison still lays out the cost and privacy limitations of complex applications, and envisions payments being finalized in about 8 to 32 seconds, with the network treating them as irreversible. He predicts that next year’s planned Hegotá upgrade will be Ethereum’s last “normal” fork, built on technology familiar to network workers in 2015. Subsequent upgrades will increasingly rely on mathematical proofs, tools to check for software bugs, and security designs designed to withstand future quantum computers. "This transformation will be the main story of Ethereum starting after Hegotá," Buterin wrote. The end result: "high-security computing that is cheaper, scalable, and private than anything possible with last-generation technology alone." "Cryptozoology World Computer."
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