Ethereum 3.0: Beam Chain Proposal Leads a New Round of Technological Innovation

The 2024 Devcon conference successfully concluded in Bangkok, where Ethereum ecosystem projects gathered to discuss the latest developments and future directions, injecting new vitality into the global Web3 space.

Among them, the "Ethereum 3.0" proposal plan Beam Chain proposed by Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake is particularly eye-catching. This proposal aims to alleviate the computational and communication burdens of verification nodes through zero-knowledge proof technology, lowering the threshold for becoming a verification node, thereby attracting more participants to join the network, enhancing security, and optimizing overall efficiency. Drake also hopes to take this opportunity to address the historical technical debt in the Beacon chain while preparing for potential quantum computing threats in the future.

The Beam Chain proposal coincides with the The Verge roadmap previously proposed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The Verge roadmap lists the SNARKification of Ethereum as one of the important tasks, including the transformation of the consensus layer and execution layer through zero-knowledge proofs. Vitalik recently acknowledged that the transformation work of the consensus layer still faces challenges and needs continuous optimization in subsequent work. The Beam Chain proposal can be seen as a response to this challenge.

Beam Chain mainly focuses on the transformation of the consensus layer. Snarkifying the consensus layer does not mean a comprehensive overhaul of all parts, but rather Snarkifying the core State Transition Function. For the consensus layer, the State Transition Functions mainly include the per-slot transition function, per-block transition function, and per-epoch transition function. These functions encompass the execution of the consensus algorithm and staking logic, block proposal, validation of execution layer results, verification of Merkle tree root, consensus signature verification and aggregation, hash computation, and staking and redemption operations involving account storage state access.

It is worth noting that Ethereum, in the process of advancing the consensus layer to be Snark-based, still prioritizes decentralization and diversity as primary goals. Therefore, there will be no mandatory requirement to use specific ZK algorithms and protocols, but rather, block proposers will be allowed to choose independently.

The core challenge of realizing the Beam Chain concept lies in how to improve proof efficiency, compressing the currently required proof time of tens or even hundreds of seconds to the level of seconds. Justin proposed a solution using ASIC acceleration methods at the ZK Workshop II in September this year, suggesting that the entire process of zero-knowledge proof virtual machine from evidence generation to proof completion be carried out on the chip, with an expectation to enhance proof generation time by more than ten times in the coming years, achieving real-time proving.

The industry has made significant progress in the performance enhancement and application expansion of zero-knowledge proof technology. Some research teams are dedicated to accelerating ZK proofs using hardware platforms such as GPUs, FPGAs, and ASICs, covering various ZK systems. Some core operators have achieved acceleration ratios of over a hundred times. In the AI+ZK direction, breakthroughs have also been made in optimizing verifiable computing for large models, significantly reducing the generation time of the first token.

In response to the potential threats posed by quantum computers, some teams have also modified cryptographic libraries to support multiple NIST post-quantum algorithms. Through consensus processes and low-latency memory read optimizations, the TPS of quantum-resistant blockchains can reach about 50% of the original chain.

These technological explorations have already been applied in some commercial solutions, such as hardware-software integrated acceleration schemes that optimize and accelerate commonly used operators for zero-knowledge proofs, significantly improving computational efficiency.

For a long time, the Ethereum community has mainly focused on optimizing the execution layer, including strategies such as increasing BlockGasLimit and developing L2. The Snarkification of the execution layer has completed most of the work through L2 in the "rollup-centric" roadmap. The proposal of Beam Chain has opened a new chapter in the Snarkification of the consensus layer, which is expected to guide the community to pay more attention to the transformation of the consensus layer and inspire more innovative ideas.

It is foreseeable that as the Snarkification of the consensus layer and execution layer continues to advance, Ethereum's Snarkification blueprint will gradually improve, making significant contributions to enhancing scalability and decentralization. Meanwhile, virtual machines based on zero-knowledge proof technology will play an increasingly important role within the Ethereum ecosystem. By introducing SNARK proofs and post-quantum cryptography, combined with lower staking thresholds and faster block confirmation times, Beam Chain is expected to bring stronger decentralization features and higher performance to Ethereum.