Vitalik Buterin, one of the people who helped create Ethereum, recently said that the most significant challenge the network is having right now is getting everyone to work together. Scalability solutions have come a long way, but Buterin says Ethereum still needs substantial improvements to make the experience better for users.
There are two main ways that Ethereum plans to scale: layer-1 sharding and layer-2 options like rollups. Using technologies like ZK-SNARKs for transaction verification and Data Availability Sampling, both ways try to increase the number of transactions that can be done. The basic technology stays the same, but how it is used changes, which creates new problems.
Ethereum’s Four Scaling Strategies
When rollups like ZK-SNARKs are used in a sharded blockchain, they become an important part of the system. Ethereum’s core technology doesn’t change, but how it’s used does, which adds to the complexity, especially when it comes to managing and keeping a network stable that has multiple layer-2 solutions (L2s).
For some reason, it’s tough to move pieces from one L2 to another. People have to use bridges that might not be safe right now. Buterin says that the world could be safer and more stable if cross-chain trades were more smooth.
Another issue is making sure that transactions are valid across many layers, since each layer has its own way of checking if a transaction is valid. It’s harder to do things with centralized Remote Procedure Calls, even for light clients who want things to go faster and with less government oversight.
Buterin says it’s very important for the network to stay safe and united and for the layers to work well together. Getting these partnership issues fixed is very important to him for Ethereum’s future growth.
