A shift towards a extra modular design is at present taking part in out within the blockchain panorama. An increasing number of, we’re seeing knowledge, computation, settlement, and consensus changing into untangled and tackled extra explicitly, usually by totally different gamers (and layers).
This transfer in the direction of a modular stack invitations exploration into a subject that I discover notably fascinating and worthy of debate – the concept of ‘modular consensus.’
In a latest article, my co-author Brandon and I argue that embracing modular consensus may help foster a extra accessible and expressive Ethereum ecosystem. The secret is to scale back demand for computational assets wanted to confirm the worldwide state.
We briefly discover the advantages and tradeoffs of 4 totally different consensus “universes”:
International Consensus: all functions run collectively within the L1 similar universe
Sharded Consensus: some functions run collectively in a parallel universe to flee overcrowding within the L1 universe
Appchains/Native Consensus: every software runs in its personal universe
CPU-Particular Chains (Past Appchains): every software can summon a number of universes
The spectrum of consensus locality
Finally, we conclude that for the Ethereum ecosystem to change into really inclusive, we must always consciously design programs that empower DApps and customers to decide on an optimum stage of consensus locality primarily based on their very own decentralization, safety, computation, composability, and monetary concerns.
In the event you’re involved in diving deeper, you possibly can take a look at our article right here:
https://medium.com/cartesi/bananas-casinos-local-consensus-in-a-modular-stack-969f44d9b23
Or, when you’d identical to to get your toes moist, you possibly can take a look at a Twitter thread abstract right here:
https://twitter.com/ERC_Brandon/status/1600251595349839875
We consider this subject is worthy of additional exploration and would love some group suggestions!
Cheers!