Author: Four Pillars Source: X, @FourPillarsFP Translation: Shan Oppa, Golden Finance

Key points

At the 2024 Devcon conference, Ethereum proposed the Beam Chain proposal, which aims to enhance network performance and security through the following improvements:

Change the block generation time from 12 seconds reduced to 4 seconds;

Reduce minimum staking requirement from 32 ETH to 1 ETH;

Expand zero Application of knowledge technology (ZK);

Significantly increase gas limit (10x to 100x increase).

Although the proposal was praised as an important step to improve scalability and decentralization, the rollout was hampered by insufficient community engagement and a too-slow target timeline ( The target completion date is 2029), triggering widespread criticism.

The Beam Chain proposal demonstrates significant progress in efficiency and decentralization, but the Ethereum community and industry experts expressed disappointment following the announcement. The main problems focus on the following aspects:

The timetable is too long and cannot quickly respond to the rapid changes in the blockchain industry;

Lack of agility and innovation may weaken Ethereum’s competitiveness.

José Maria Macedo of Delphi Ventures and Mert of Solana's Helius development platform expressed concerns about Beam Chain's lack of competitiveness and slow progress. The Ethereum Foundation’s Péter and Abstract’s Cygaar stressed that careful and phased planning is necessary given technical stability and governance risks.

As a leading blockchain ecosystem, Ethereum needs to revisit its strategy to maintain community trust and maintain a competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving industry. Beam ChainThe proposal demonstrates Ethereum’s potential while also reminding it of the need to strike a balance between decentralization and rapid innovation.

1. Background - Ethereum Beam Chain

November 12 to 15, 2024 , Devcon 2024 held in Bangkok, Thailand has become a high-profile event. Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake introduced the Beam Chain proposal at the meeting.

In the speech, Drake described the future plan of Ethereum and proposed to use Beam Chain to Replace or improve the existing Beacon Chain to improve network performance and security. These improvements include:

Expanding the application of zero-knowledge virtual machine (ZK-VM);

Shorten slot time;

Increase gas limit and other upgrade measures.

According to the introduction at the event and The Rollup YouTube channel, the main features of Beam Chain are as follows:

Main features

Faster block generation time: Reduce Ethereum block generation time from about 12 seconds to 4 seconds, improve transaction throughput and Network efficiency.

Lower validator staking threshold: Reduce the minimum staking requirement from 32 ETH to 1 ETH to encourage more users to participate in network verification.

Active application of ZK technology: On the basis of shifting from PoW to PoS, Beam Chain integrates ZK technology and uses ZK proof of each block to provide higher security and scalability to build an environment worthy of the trust of users and developers.

Higher gas limit: Beam Chain proposes to increase Ethereum’s current gas limit of 30 million per blockThe limit is increased by 10 to 100 times to accommodate more transactions, greatly enhancing the scalability of the network. Drake emphasized that this is a critical step for Ethereum to compete with other Layer 1 blockchains.

Stronger L2 interoperability: Beam Chain is designed to improve interoperability between Layer 1 and Layer 2. By introducing single-slot finality, the transaction processing delay problem caused by L2's reliance on L1 block confirmation is solved, thereby accelerating and enhancing the operating efficiency and security of L2.

Resistant to quantum computing attacks: The proposal includes security protections against future quantum computing threats.

$ETH’s valuation model: Drake proposed a long-term valuation framework for Ethereum, based on two core elements:

ETH's fee cycle (derived from network fee income);

Currency premium (role as a reliable store of value).

He believes that these factors are the basis for Ethereum’s continued value.

Drake explained that the goal of Beam Chain is to solve the problems in the current Beacon Chain design of Ethereum. identified issues and emphasized that community consensus is the key to the implementation of the proposal.

Depending on the timetable, initial specification work could begin as early as next year, with follow-up work including:

2026: Start of development;

2027: Full testing phase;

At least two years stability verification.

According to the plan, the official launch of Beam Chain is expected to be completed in 2029.

2. Main gains - Ethereum and Beam Chain: light and shadow

Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has continuously upgraded its system through hard forks. An important milestone is "The Merge", which marks the switch from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. As Ethereum enters the phase often referred to as Ethereum 2.0, subsequent upgrades such as Shapella and Dencun) was designed to improve network efficiency and user experience, but these updates did not bring revolutionary changes, leaving the community waiting for more transformative improvements.

The release of Beam Chain comes at just the right time. When the community is tired of focusing too much on L2 solutions and external developments, it draws attention back to Ethereum itself and brings it important internal milestones. This has caused widespread concern. Interest.

Also, Beam Chain As part of the post-Ethereum 2.0 development roadmap, it was released under the name "Ethereum 3.0", further enhancing the significance of the announcement. However, Justin Drake made it clear that Beam Chain is limited to improvements in the consensus layer and has nothing to do with the execution layer. Calling it Ethereum 3.0 is not entirely accurate

Highlights of Beam Chain

Beam Chain There are many aspects of the proposal that are worthy of recognition, especially in improving the consensus layer, improving network efficiency and decentralization. Here are some key elements:

Faster. Block Generation Time

Many competing Layer 1 blockchains have already implemented shorter block generation times, while Ethereum has reduced block generation times from 12 seconds The reduction to 4 seconds marks a catch-up to this trend.

Although it is still slower than Solana, this shows that Ethereum is getting rid of its past attitude of sacrificing speed for stability, reflecting an important shift.

Increase block gas limit

Increase the gas limit of each block by 10 to 100 times. This improvement is beneficial to users and developers. and L2 projects are particularly attractive.

higher gas limit allows more data to be accommodated per block, significantly enhancing Ethereum’s usability and versatility.

Lower the pledge threshold for validators

Currently, becoming a validator requires a minimum pledge of 32 ETH, which means Equivalent to approximately $100,000 (as of November 19, 2024), this high threshold prohibits many individual participants.

This has also led to the rise of liquidity staking platforms such as Lido and Rocket Pool, which instead centralize staking activities within their ecosystems.

Beam Chain reduces the minimum pledge requirement to 1 ETH, which is expected to allow more individuals to directly participate in verification and further promote the decentralization of the Ethereum network.

However, the Beam Chain proposal has not been fully affirmed. While Ethereum’s price stagnation may be one of the reasons, the lackluster community response also reveals deeper concerns.

The proposed changes address pressing issues that Ethereum needs to address, so the individual recommendations are not inherently flawed. The problem is the lack of a coherent narrative about Ethereum’s direction — a strength that has guided its development. This lack left many people disappointed.

In addition, the roadmap’s slow timeline, targeting a 2029 launch, is inconsistent with the rapid pace of development in the blockchain industry. This raises questions about whether the Ethereum Foundation fully understands the urgency of staying relevant in such a dynamic environment. While the Beam Chain proposal contains innovative elements, its lengthy timeline has some questioning Ethereum’s ability to adapt quickly enough to remain competitive.

In a Telegram channel I often follow, there is a comment that resonates with me:

"If the goal of Ethereum is to advocate decentralization, why was this not clearly and transparently demonstrated from the beginning? The Ethereum community and the EIP framework have long been formed. Why was there such a lack of transparency in the preparation and release of this proposal?”— (ABCDEF) AI & Blockchain DailyExpertise Forum

I completely agree with this view. Since its inception, Ethereum has always placed decentralization at its core, even at the expense of scalability. However, the feedback collection and release process of the Beam Chain proposal appears to be contrary to this principle.

One ​​of Ethereum’s greatest strengths is its large and active community and the wealth of ideas generated within its EIP ecosystem. By bypassing these channels and allowing the Ethereum Foundation to unilaterally decide and announce its next blueprint, this process could undermine the community’s momentum and reduce the value of the EIP system.

Furthermore, proposals developed internally without public discussion risk not incorporating the perspectives of actual users and developers of the Ethereum network. The result could be a situation similar to that of an autocratic company that ignores customer feedback and ultimately loses industry competitiveness.

Beam Chain’s announcement drew sharp criticism from many prominent figures and community members in the blockchain space. However, such intense criticism shows that people still have high expectations for Ethereum. After all, criticism is a form of engagement—those who don’t care won’t bother voicing their concerns.

Of course, the heavy responsibility lies on our shoulders. As the leader in smart contract platforms and a pioneer in the Web3 ecosystem, Ethereum must face every obstacle head-on and continue to prove itself. It requires listening carefully to the most trenchant criticism and ensuring that every idea in the EIP framework, no matter how small, is not wasted.

Ethereum is a blockchain network that I personally support and a very large project with a strong narrative. However, even projects like this are bound to fall into complacency or lose their edge in the face of competition. In this rapidly changing industry, even a moment of slacking off can result in being left behind.

Crisis is inevitable and everyone will encounter challenges at some point. How Ethereum responds to current challenges will be a critical turning point that determines whether it will be revived or fade into oblivion.

3. Others’ opinions 3.1 José Maria Macedo (Delphi Labs) - Disappointment with Beam Chain

Jo, founding partner of Delphi Venturessé Maria Macedo expressed disappointment with the Beam Chain proposal. He criticized the proposal for having very limited core improvements, merely a reorganization of the code base, a 4-second block time, and “quantum attack resistance.”

Moreover, he noted that these improvements are not expected to be realized until 2029-2030. He believes that such incremental changes are not enough to allow Ethereum L1 to maintain a leading position in the blockchain competition, let alone achieve long-term competitiveness.

3.2 Mert (Helius) - Beam Chain lacks competitiveness

Mert, CEO of Solana development platform Helius, also expressed concerns about the development schedule of Beam Chain. He predicted that if Beam Chain is not released until 2029, Ethereum will struggle to maintain its competitiveness in the rapidly developing blockchain field.

3.3 Péter (Ethereum Foundation) - Gradual improvement of Ethereum

Péter, a core member of the Ethereum Foundation, raised different concerns about the Beam Chain proposal. He believes the proposal attempts to bundle too many changes together, which increases the likelihood of errors from a technical perspective.

From a governance perspective, he warned that this approach may ignore details and cause controversy. He suggested that simple improvements should be implemented on Beacon Chain first, and then more complex changes should be gradually introduced.

3.4 Cygaar (Abstract) – Enough time to ensure a safe transition

Abstract developer Cygaar emphasized the need for a five-year timeline for Beam Chain. He pointed out that Ethereum, as the world's second largest blockchain, carries $60 billion in TVL (total value locked), $400 billion in asset value, and thousands of applications that rely on its network.

Implementing large-scale changes in such a decentralized and real-time ecosystem is extremely risky, so thorough preparation and testing are essential. He believes that these changes can only be introduced in a safe and responsible manner if sufficient time is invested.