Key factors to consider in the Ethereum network roadmap
On December 30, 2023, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin shared the Ethereum roadmap for 2024, indicating that there are only a few minor adjustments compared to last year.
In a thread on the X social network, Buterin outlined in a series of charts and diagrams that the next focus for Ethereum in 2024 will be on six main segments – Consolidation, Storm, Scourge, Verge, Cleanup and Splurge. .
That was it from last year. Note that it is exactly the same! There are relatively few changes as Ethereum's technical future moves forward. I'll go over the important ones. https://t.co/F1MpfNdfa7
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 30, 2023
The integration is highlighted as a key part of the roadmap, which aims to maintain a simple and foolproof proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol. In September 2022, it was done by merging the Ethereum mainnet with the PoS blockchain's Beacon chain.
The Surge targets 100,000 transactions per second on Ethereum and Layer 2 networks and aims to increase blockchain scalability.
The ban focuses on mitigating risks related to maximum extractable value (MEV) and liquidity integration, addressing concerns about economic centrality in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Buterin endorsed single-slot completion (SSF) as a critical solution to Ethereum's current weaknesses and advances in Layer 2 networks and Verkle tree implementations. The ultimate goal is to ensure that changes made to a blockchain block are immutable without burning at least 33% of the total stored Ether (ETH).
A significant improvement over Surge (rollup scaling) developed this year by EIP-4844 and their own. It continues to be a great page to follow.
Also, cross-levels and interop are discussed as an area for long-term improvements. pic.twitter.com/ixUsZEo7pi
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 30, 2023
Clear aims to make the protocol easier to use, and Verge aims to facilitate simple block verification, while Splurge includes all the elements critical to Ethereum's development.
To view Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs).
Earlier on October 21, 2023, the Ethereum All Core Developers meeting gave some tentative dates on the update schedule for the next mainnet hard fork, Denkun.
Ethereum public testnets forking is scheduled for January 17th for Gurley, January 30th for Seppoli, and January 30th if “no major issues occur,” according to Ethereum developer Tim Beiko on Series X. 7 for Holeski.
So, if no major issues arise, we're looking at the following schedule.
– Gorli: January 17, 6:32:00 UTC – Sepolia: January 30, 22:51:12 UTC – Holeski: February 7, 11:34:24 UTC
…and then, mainnet pic.twitter.com/JFRt0ZHAi8
— timbeiko.eth ☀️ (@TimBeiko) December 21, 2023
This will be the last time Goerli will be included in the testing period, as the network is scheduled to be decommissioned, meaning that client developers will no longer be maintaining it.
This move is part of the strategy to activate ‘Dencun' on the Ethereum network in January 2024, which has seen significant progress in its technological capabilities.
In particular, Denkun is expected to increase the availability of Layer 2 packet data to end users through EIP-4844 – Proto-Dunksharding – Proto-Dunksharding.
Also key among the improvements to the Ethereum network are the token draft: ERC-4337 and its extension, ERC-6900. It focuses on the concept of smart billing, which has significant implications for the end-user experience and enables the reduction of transaction costs and secure social logins.
Top Upcoming #Ethereum Updates for 2024:
1. EIP-4844 (proto-danksharding): This main idea aims to reduce data delivery costs in all layer-2 solutions, which can reduce gas charges up to 100x.
2. ERC-4337 (tag summary): This step,…
— ∆mir (@hey1994amir) January 2, 2024
EIP-1153 (Transient Storage Opcodes) and EIP-6780 (Limit Suicide) are expected to reduce gas costs and increase network scalability and stability.
Related: Vitalik Buterin Reveals Ethereum Game Plan for 2024
The upcoming Denkun update could make Ethereum more competitive
There are narratives that say Ethereum's rivals are gaining ground, saying critics say the ecosystem has collapsed due to the limited capacity of scale and privacy solutions at the lower layer level.
These negatives were supported by the performance of Solana (SOL), Injective (INJ) and Avalanche (AVAX) at 863%, 2,820% and 270% respectively compared to Ether's 94% last year. Data from CoinMarketCap.
James EIP-4844 Do you think an upgrade to Eth will help Ethereum regain some of its dominance or that Eth is losing ground to Solana over time?
— Brad (@BradMiles1) December 16, 2023
One of the key parameters that determine the effectiveness of a blockchain network is the cost-effectiveness of processing transactions for users. Transaction fees take into account the amount of computing power required to process a transaction, called gas, which has a variable value measured in the protocol's native currency and is directly related to network traffic.
According to a report by BitfinityNetwork in January 2023, the average value of a transaction on the Ethereum network is 33.5 Gwei, which is more than 5 Gwei for the BNB Chain.
Other blockchains, such as Algorand (ALGO) and Internet Computer (ICP), offer a fixed fee that depends on the value of their tokens (0.001 ALGO and 0.0001 ICP, respectively), while using Polkadot does not require any fees.
However, when it comes to Ethereum layer 2 solutions, the Ethereum network is unrivaled in terms of DApps participation, which is dominated by the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Data from DAppRaddar puts Ethereum at the top in terms of DApp volumes ahead of BNB Chain, Solana and Avalanche.
In addition to the absolute dominance of Layer 1, the Ethereum network posted a 16% growth in NFT volumes over the past 7 days, distancing itself from BNB Chain and Solana, which are negative.
Moreover, the $53.32 billion Ethereum network's total value locked (TVL) makes most of the negative reviews worthless. By comparison, BNB Chain only holds $2.54 billion in TVL, while Solana's latest data is $1.47 billion, Dapradar reported.
With the Denkun upgrade expected to significantly reduce transaction costs, Ethereum is set to become more competitive, asserting its dominance over its rivals.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and business activity involves risk, and readers should do their own research when making a decision.
