Update from Ethereum ACDC #139 meeting

Ethereum’s ACDC #139 meeting, which took place on August 8, 2024, marked a major step forward in the ongoing development of the leading blockchain network. Developers focused on a number of important aspects, from Pectra updates to advances in PeerDAS and new research.

Pectra, one of Ethereum’s most important upgrades, is progressing well. The alpha.4 release is imminent, promising to fix many of the bugs from previous releases. Devnet 2 has achieved significant stability with 85% network participation, while Devnet 3 will focus on implementing and testing EIP 7702 and its interactions with other core EIPs. Of particular note is the discussion of switching from mplex to yamux for data transmission, to improve network performance and reliability.

PeerDAS, an important mechanism for improving Ethereum's scalability, is also being discussed extensively. Developers are considering removing sampling to reduce the complexity of the upgrade. However, this also raises the question of the impact on the blob gas limit in Pectra, an issue that needs to be further studied.

In the research area, developers have looked at edge cases related to merging staked ETH balances, as well as discussed adding a “quic ENR entry” to Ethereum’s network layer. These studies are aimed at improving the stability and efficiency of the network.

Another notable point of the meeting was ProbeLab’s report on the state of Ethereum nodes. With 8,335 active nodes, 42% of which use the Lighthouse client and 36% are operated from the US, these figures show the diversity and decentralization of the Ethereum network. The fact that about half of the nodes are run through data centers also raises questions about the level of centralization of the network.

Finally, the meeting also covered the consideration of EIP 7688 and its possible inclusion in Pectra, as well as discussion of changes to the execution payload structure. These issues, while seemingly technical, are of great importance to the future development of Ethereum.

In summary, ACDC #139 demonstrated the continued and robust development of Ethereum. With a focus on improving performance, security, and scalability, Ethereum is steadily cementing its position as one of the world's leading blockchain platforms.

Watch the full meeting at: https://www.youtube.com/live/o8p47gIt7Bs?t=187s