Ethereum Core Developers Reach Consensus: Key Points from the 107th Conference Call

On April 20, 2023, Ethereum developers held the 107th core developer consensus call. The meeting was chaired by a researcher from the Ethereum Foundation and focused on the modifications to the Ethereum consensus layer, the progress of Deneb, and proposals that may be included in the upcoming Cancun upgrade.

Deneb测试网络#5

After the successful activation of the Shanghai upgrade, developers quickly turned their attention to the preparations for the Cancun upgrade. Cancun is the next upgrade of the Ethereum execution layer, while Deneb is the corresponding consensus layer upgrade. Developers discussed the final scope of this upgrade, with the core being the implementation of EIP-4844, which is the blob transaction type.

The fifth test network of Deneb is planned to launch next week. Some clients are undergoing trial runs in preparation for the release. There is a small change in the engine API that merges two calls into one. This change will be tested on test network #5.

The developers also discussed the issue of how to reinsert blob transactions during chain reorganization. Since blob transactions are separate from regular transactions, the blobs after reorganization can only be obtained from transactions in the public memory pool. Considering that many transactions may bypass the memory pool, the developers proposed two possible solutions:

1. Let the consensus layer pass the blob data of each block to the execution layer, which will cache it until the block is completed.
2. Users who are required to submit transactions that bypass the memory pool must resubmit their transactions during chain reorganization events.

Regarding this issue, the developers have differing opinions and will continue to discuss it in the next meeting.

Deneb Additional Proposal

In addition to EIP-4844, developers also considered several other code upgrades:

1. EIP-4788: Allows smart contracts executed on the execution layer to have minimal trust access to the Consensus layer.

2. EIP-6914: Reuse of validator index numbers that have completely exited the network and have been inactive for a long time. Due to high complexity, implementation may be delayed until after Deneb.

3. Potential code changes to backfill data from the genesis block and create new "historical summary" content.

4. PR 3175: Prevent validators from being penalized for proposing blocks when exiting the queue.

5. EIP-6493: Solving the issue of how nodes handle blob transaction types that are encoded differently on the consensus layer and the execution layer.

Developers tend to include EIP-4788, PR 3175, and EIP-4844 in the next upgrade.

This conference laid an important foundation for the future development of Ethereum, and developers will continue to work hard to ensure that the security and efficiency of the network are further enhanced.