Key Points
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin introduces “The Splurge” roadmap, aiming to enhance the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
- The update could lead to improved EVM performance, optimized transaction fees, and advanced cryptography explorations.
Vitalik Buterin, one of the creators of the Ethereum network, has announced a new roadmap called “The Splurge”.
This announcement comes amid ongoing discussions about the underperformance of Ethereum. The new roadmap is designed to address these concerns, with a particular focus on improving the performance of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Objectives and Implications of “The Splurge”
The primary focus of “The Splurge” is to enhance the Ethereum protocol to ensure its long-term viability. The roadmap outlines several key objectives, including optimizing the EVM, refining transaction fees, and exploring advanced cryptography.
Buterin has pointed out that the current EVM is challenging to analyze statically, making it difficult to develop highly effective implementations, validate code, and introduce new features. However, if it is supported by precompiles, the EVM could become more efficient, enabling the implementation of many modern cryptography techniques.
The first step towards addressing these challenges is the introduction of the EVM Object Format (EOF), a set of EIPs that define a new version of EVM code with unique characteristics. These characteristics include code separation, banning dynamic jumps for enhanced code safety, and introducing a new explicit subroutine mechanism.
After implementing the EOF, the team plans to introduce additional upgrades such as EVM Modular Arithmetic Extensions (EVM-MAX) and potential integration with Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) capabilities.
EVM-MAX introduces a new set of operations exclusively for modular arithmetic, facilitating the adoption of optimizations like Montgomery multiplication. SIMD, on the other hand, can accelerate many forms of cryptography, including hash functions, 32-bit STARKs, and lattice-based cryptography. Therefore, EVM-MAX and SIMD are considered performance-oriented additions to the EVM.
Currently, transaction verification primarily relies on ECDSA signatures, complicating key security management. The proposed EIP-7702 will include features beneficial to all users, particularly those using Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs). The Ethereum EOF is scheduled for inclusion in the next hard fork.
Potential Challenges and Trade-Offs
Buterin acknowledges that the introduction of EOF and account abstraction could bring new challenges associated with the complexity of the EVM and infrastructure. However, he believes these advancements will simplify higher-level programming and enhance the efficiency of other Layer 2 solutions.
Furthermore, EVM-MAX and SIMD could lower gas fees for many proof systems and improve overall performance. They could also reduce the burden of using precompiles by replacing them with EVM codes capable of performing the same operation.
The announcement of “The Splurge” follows the recent unveiling of Ethereum’s “Scourge” upgrade. These strategic enhancements aim to solidify Ethereum’s position as a leading blockchain platform and ensure the network’s security and relevance in the evolving technical ecosystem.
The announcement of “The Splurge” appears to have sparked a rally in the price of ETH. At the time of the announcement, the price was $2,624, up 4.64% in the past 24 hours. The daily trading volume also increased by 78.5% to $21.5 billion, indicating renewed investor interest.
