Vitalik Buterin proposes switching from Ethereum’s current epochs and slots mechanism to a single-slot finality system for faster transactions.
The Merge is not enough?
Since Ethereum’s transition to the proof of stake mechanism in 2022, also known as ‘The Merge,’ transaction confirmation times have decreased from several minutes to just 5-20 seconds.
While this improvement is comparable to credit card transaction processing times, Vitalik believes that additional improvements are possible and necessary for applications requiring extremely low latency.
Current Operation of Slots and Epochs
In Ethereum 2.0, transactions are validated in 12-second slots, with each slot assigned to a random ETH validator to propose a block. An epoch consists of 32 slots, involving 32 groups of validators. This structure is crucial for finality, ensuring that confirmed transactions cannot be reversed without significant penalty to validators.
Proposal for Single-Slot Finality
Vitalik suggests replacing epoch and slot-based finality with a single-slot finality system, similar to the Tendermint consensus. This change could reduce finality times to hundreds of milliseconds. However, this transition poses technical challenges, including increased communication load for validators, who would have to send two messages every 12 seconds.
Challenges and Potential Solutions
The adoption of Single-Slot Finality (SSF) presents challenges, such as increased network congestion due to the high frequency of validator messages. To mitigate this problem, solutions like the Orbit SSF proposal are being considered. This innovative approach would allow users to benefit from faster transaction confirmations while maintaining network security and integrity.
Vitalik acknowledges that the design and implementation of new systems like SSF are still in the early stages and require extensive research. The goal is to find optimal solutions that not only improve Layer 1 user experience but also simplify the work of developers on Layer 2.
