Episode 49
The Ethereum Roadmap and Solving the Blockchain Scalability Problem | Vitalik Buterin & Vlad Zamfir
Episode 49
Vitalik Buterin & Vlad Zamfir
The Ethereum Roadmap and Solving the Blockchain Scalability Problem | Vitalik Buterin & Vlad Zamfir
summary
If contracts are the foundation of modern civilization, then our record systems are the infrastructure that keep this foundation from falling apart. These features allow our society to establish and verify identities; give value to goods and services; create and enforce laws; govern interactions between individuals, organizations, and nations — in short, they secure our social, economic, and political policies and allow us to maintain the social order.
But there is a problem with these systems, and they are beginning to buckle and crack.
The information age vastly accelerated the pace of society, allowing individuals to dramatically expand their circles of influence. People can now exchange goods and services (or even enter into contracts) with strangers on the other side of the globe instantaneously. Government agencies and international organizations can maximize processes by storing and retrieving information online. However, these processes are fraught with challenges.
Without the presence of intermediaries, digital transactions have thus far been impossible to verify or enforce. Mediators and middlemen provide accountability on the one hand, in return for higher centralization on the other. This centralization creates opportunities for companies like Facebook and Google to make billions of dollars mining and selling our data. It also presents lucrative opportunities for malicious actors looking to capitalize on our insecure digital infrastructure. The digital records kept by banks and government institutions are frequently the subject of cyber attacks, putting this same data at risk.
As the first decentralized digital currency, bitcoin promised to solve some of these issues; however, bitcoin’s use cases have remained limited to a very narrow set of financial transactions. In response, Vitalik Buterin created Ethereum. In his 2012 white paper, Vitalik outlined an ambitious vision of the future — one that would endeavor to solve the problems associated with our contracts, transactions, and records by creating a new, decentralized layer for data processing and computation on which society could run.
Whereas Bitcoin’s aim was to erect a platform for unmediated digital payments, the goal of Ethereum’s blockchain-based architecture is to entirely dismantle traditional power structures and methods of control. It attempts this by allowing decentralization to saturate all levels of society through the use of an open, distributed ledger that records transactions between parties in a more trusted way way.
In Ethereum blockchain, contracts are embedded within digital code, which are stored in transparent, shared databases. In theory, it makes intermediaries like bankers and lawyers unnecessary and allows individuals to transact freely. Ethereum increase access, transparency, and accountability, without relying on third-parties to secure the ledger.
Ethereum blockchain has opened the door to a new type of economy, yet challenges remain — specifically, challenges to scale.
The most prominent of these scaling challenges has been transaction throughput. Currently, the Ethereum network can process no more than fifteen transactions per second (TPS). This is major barrier to widespread adoption and it has prevented the blockchain from being able to support the type of network traffic that would result from the popular use of any decentralized application (dApp). In response, Vitalik, Vlad, and other key members of the Ethereum have put forward a roadmap for scaling the Ethereum network.
From sharding to Plasma to Casper, in this week’s episode, host Demetri Kofinas is joined by Vlad Zamfir, one of is the world’s leading Ethereum researchers, and Vitalik Buterin to discuss the future of Ethereum, the problems it faces on the path to widespread adoption, and the solutions that promise to carry us into a decentralized digital age.
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod
bio
Vitalik Buterin is the creator of Ethereum. He first discovered blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies through Bitcoin in 2011, and was immediately excited by the technology and its potential. He cofounded Bitcoin Magazine in September 2011, and after two and a half years looking at what the existing blockchain technology and applications had to offer, wrote the Ethereum white paper in November 2013. He now leads Ethereum’s research team, working on future versions of the Ethereum protocol.
Vlad Zamfir is a researcher known in the Ethereum blockchain community for his work on blockchain-based consensus protocols, especially on proof-of-stake (Casper), and sharding. He also does research and education in other related areas, such as cryptoeconomics and blockchain governance.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Is ita vivebat, ut nulla tam exquisita posset inveniri voluptas, qua non abundaret. Varietates autem iniurasque fortunae facile veteres philosophorum praeceptis instituta vita superabat. Tamen a proposito, inquam, aberramus. Ergo et avarus erit, sed finite, et adulter, verum habebit modum, et luxuriosus eodem modo. Hoc enim identidem dicitis, non intellegere nos quam dicatis voluptatem. In his igitur partibus duabus nihil erat, quod Zeno commutare gestiret. Eiuro, inquit adridens, iniquum, hac quidem de re; Duo Reges: constructio interrete.
Ex quo, id quod omnes expetunt, beate vivendi ratio inveniri et comparari potest. Laelius clamores sofòw ille so lebat Edere compellans gumias ex ordine nostros. Restinguet citius, si ardentem acceperit. Fortasse id optimum, sed ubi illud: Plus semper voluptatis? Non dolere, inquam, istud quam vim habeat postea videro; Sic enim censent, oportunitatis esse beate vivere. Itaque hic ipse iam pridem est reiectus; Iis igitur est difficilius satis facere, qui se Latina scripta dicunt contemnere.
Tertium autem omnibus aut maximis rebus iis, quae secundum naturam sint, fruentem vivere. Qualem igitur hominem natura inchoavit? Facillimum id quidem est, inquam. Res tota, Torquate, non doctorum hominum, velle post mortem epulis celebrari memoriam sui nominis. Age, inquies, ista parva sunt. Illa argumenta propria videamus, cur omnia sint paria peccata. Tantum dico, magis fuisse vestrum agere Epicuri diem natalem, quam illius testamento cavere ut ageretur. Non ego tecum iam ita iocabor, ut isdem his de rebus, cum L. Expectoque quid ad id, quod quaerebam, respondeas. Vos autem cum perspicuis dubia debeatis illustrare, dubiis perspicua conamini tollere.
Comprehensum, quod cognitum non habet? Prioris generis est docilitas, memoria; At iste non dolendi status non vocatur voluptas. Ut alios omittam, hunc appello, quem ille unum secutus est. Res tota, Torquate, non doctorum hominum, velle post mortem epulis celebrari memoriam sui nominis.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sin dicit obscurari quaedam nec apparere, quia valde parva sint, nos quoque concedimus; Nos paucis ad haec additis finem faciamus aliquando; Cuius ad naturam apta ratio vera illa et summa lex a philosophis dicitur. Illa videamus, quae a te de amicitia dicta sunt. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Haec et tu ita posuisti, et verba vestra sunt. Nunc vero a primo quidem mirabiliter occulta natura est nec perspici nec cognosci potest. At iam decimum annum in spelunca iacet.
Atqui reperies, inquit, in hoc quidem pertinacem; Eaedem enim utilitates poterunt eas labefactare atque pervertere. Ego vero volo in virtute vim esse quam maximam; Summum a vobis bonum voluptas dicitur. Primum cur ista res digna odio est, nisi quod est turpis? Nec enim, omnes avaritias si aeque avaritias esse dixerimus, sequetur ut etiam aequas esse dicamus. Cur fortior sit, si illud, quod tute concedis, asperum et vix ferendum putabit? Quaero igitur, quo modo hae tantae commendationes a natura profectae subito a sapientia relictae sint. Apud ceteros autem philosophos, qui quaesivit aliquid, tacet; Quod maxime efficit Theophrasti de beata vita liber, in quo multum admodum fortunae datur.
Quo tandem modo? Sed utrum hortandus es nobis, Luci, inquit, an etiam tua sponte propensus es? Hoc etsi multimodis reprehendi potest, tamen accipio, quod dant. Si verbum sequimur, primum longius verbum praepositum quam bonum. Rapior illuc, revocat autem Antiochus, nec est praeterea, quem audiamus. Ex rebus enim timiditas, non ex vocabulis nascitur. Tubulum fuisse, qua illum, cuius is condemnatus est rogatione, P.
Aliter homines, aliter philosophos loqui putas oportere? Atqui iste locus est, Piso, tibi etiam atque etiam confirmandus, inquam; Atqui, inquit, si Stoicis concedis ut virtus sola, si adsit vitam efficiat beatam, concedis etiam Peripateticis. Etsi ea quidem, quae adhuc dixisti, quamvis ad aetatem recte isto modo dicerentur. Quo invento omnis ab eo quasi capite de summo bono et malo disputatio ducitur. Duarum enim vitarum nobis erunt instituta capienda. Nulla profecto est, quin suam vim retineat a primo ad extremum. Quis, quaeso, illum negat et bonum virum et comem et humanum fuisse?
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Indicant pueri, in quibus ut in speculis natura cernitur. Atqui reperies, inquit, in hoc quidem pertinacem; Praeterea sublata cognitione et scientia tollitur omnis ratio et vitae degendae et rerum gerendarum.
Sic, et quidem diligentius saepiusque ista loquemur inter nos agemusque communiter. An vero, inquit, quisquam potest probare, quod perceptfum, quod. Atqui iste locus est, Piso, tibi etiam atque etiam confirmandus, inquam; Tanti autem aderant vesicae et torminum morbi, ut nihil ad eorum magnitudinem posset accedere. Recte, inquit, intellegis.
Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Sed tempus est, si videtur, et recta quidem ad me. Verum tamen cum de rebus grandioribus dicas, ipsae res verba rapiunt; Eadem nunc mea adversum te oratio est. Vitiosum est enim in dividendo partem in genere numerare. Varietates autem iniurasque fortunae facile veteres philosophorum praeceptis instituta vita superabat. Sed eum qui audiebant, quoad poterant, defendebant sententiam suam. Quod autem satis est, eo quicquid accessit, nimium est;
Non dolere, inquam, istud quam vim habeat postea videro; Nescio quo modo praetervolavit oratio. Nec lapathi suavitatem acupenseri Galloni Laelius anteponebat, sed suavitatem ipsam neglegebat; Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Quid est igitur, cur ita semper deum appellet Epicurus beatum et aeternum? Hoc sic expositum dissimile est superiori.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quae cum dixisset, finem ille. Vestri haec verecundius, illi fortasse constantius. Cur deinde Metrodori liberos commendas? Nos quidem Virtutes sic natae sumus, ut tibi serviremus, aliud negotii nihil habemus. Sic enim censent, oportunitatis esse beate vivere. Fatebuntur Stoici haec omnia dicta esse praeclare, neque eam causam Zenoni desciscendi fuisse.
Sed quae tandem ista ratio est? Hoc positum in Phaedro a Platone probavit Epicurus sensitque in omni disputatione id fieri oportere. At ille non pertimuit saneque fidenter: Istis quidem ipsis verbis, inquit; Sic consequentibus vestris sublatis prima tolluntur. Ita credo. Apud ceteros autem philosophos, qui quaesivit aliquid, tacet; Numquam facies. An hoc usque quaque, aliter in vita?
Quo modo? Refert tamen, quo modo. Quae quo sunt excelsiores, eo dant clariora indicia naturae. Atqui iste locus est, Piso, tibi etiam atque etiam confirmandus, inquam; Non laboro, inquit, de nomine. Apud ceteros autem philosophos, qui quaesivit aliquid, tacet; Nihil acciderat ei, quod nollet, nisi quod anulum, quo delectabatur, in mari abiecerat. Nam si propter voluptatem, quae est ista laus, quae possit e macello peti? Illa sunt similia: hebes acies est cuipiam oculorum, corpore alius senescit; Ita enim vivunt quidam, ut eorum vita refellatur oratio.
Tum Piso: Atqui, Cicero, inquit, ista studia, si ad imitandos summos viros spectant, ingeniosorum sunt; Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Duo enim genera quae erant, fecit tria. Quodsi ipsam honestatem undique pertectam atque absolutam. Iubet igitur nos Pythius Apollo noscere nosmet ipsos. Philosophi autem in suis lectulis plerumque moriuntur. Quamquam id quidem licebit iis existimare, qui legerint. Quamvis enim depravatae non sint, pravae tamen esse possunt. Egone quaeris, inquit, quid sentiam? In qua si nihil est praeter rationem, sit in una virtute finis bonorum; Primum cur ista res digna odio est, nisi quod est turpis?