What's New in Eth2 - 31 October 2020

--- tags: newineth2 description: The latest update on Ethereum 2.0 development image: https://benjaminion.xyz/f/favicon-96x96.png --- <style> a {text-decoration: underline;} a {color: #0000ee;} a:visited {color: #551a8b;} </style> # What's New in Eth2 - 31 October 2020 ![My avatar](https://benjaminion.xyz/f/ms-icon-144x144.png =32x32) Ben Edgington (Eth2 at [ConsenSys](https://consensys.net/) — all views expressed are my own) Edition 55 at [eth2.news](https://eth2.news/) ## Top picks A solid selection of three must-listen talks/podcasts this week. Not going to choose a winner. - The [Bankless Podcast](http://podcast.banklesshq.com/) has been killing it. These were both superb editions, and totally worth the time: - Danny Ryan AMA: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOgowAlKSqw), [Podcast](http://podcast.banklesshq.com/eth-20-ama-with-danny-ryan) - Vitalik, Designing Ethereum (mostly Eth2): [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R0j5AMUSzA), [podcast](http://podcast.banklesshq.com/35-designing-ethereum-vitalik-buterin) - So many good talks at EthOnline last week, but this one stood out for me: - Superphiz with [Intro to Eth2 & Staking for Beginners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpkpW031RCI&list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4wSCFiW2naDgq3tK-WjSR0&index=10), and a [web page](https://unvetica.com/ethonline/) with resources. ## Phase 0: The beacon chain So, I called the launch of the Eth2 deposit contract a touch early - I'm keen; we're ready; so sue me :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:. In the above-mentioned podcast, Danny said that deployment had been pushed back slightly to allow the audit of the [Blst crypto library](https://github.com/supranational/blst) to be completed first. I don't know why this was a blocker as neither the [deposit contract](https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/tree/dev/solidity_deposit_contract) nor the official [deposit tooling](https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-deposit-cli) use that library :man-shrugging:. The important thing is, as Danny [reported](https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/BJOIcBd_w#Open-discussion) on this week's devs' call, that the audit is going well, results are expected next week, and then we can "pull the trigger on everything". Not everyone believes that we are quite ready for deposit contract deployment. Jeff Coleman makes [fair points](https://twitter.com/technocrypto/status/1318696378063851521), mostly around the tooling. When it comes to client implementations, as someone who is responsible for one of them, I can admit that there are some rough edges and improvements still to be made. But there is absolutely nothing that will be keeping me awake at night with my own ([wife's](https://twitter.com/benjaminion_xyz/status/1310646040576614400)) Eth on the line. Every potential staker needs to do their own risk/reward calculus and come to a view. If you are not totally confident in staking at the outset, then leave it a while. There's no harm in that. ### Medalla testnet #### Medalla status The Medalla testnet ran perfectly smoothly for two months, but it's been nineteen days since the chain last finalised - we need 2/3 of the validators present and correct to achieve this. There was a large drop in participation when the Zinken network was launched (which was intended to be ephemeral), and many have not returned. This is the problem with unincentivised testnets: there's no cost to abandoning. Still, the network continues to function, and the long period without finality has been very useful for uncovering clients' weaker points around memory and CPU use. We've made some nice improvements in Teku as a result, and my own validators are running super-sweetly. The other client teams have also been improving their handling of this situation. We are not there yet. Participation on Medalla is currently oscillating between about 30% and 60% - this is likely due to a periodic performance issue in the majority client. [Diversify](https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/wnie2_201018#Staking-stuff), people! Does this all matter? I seriously doubt that we will see long periods of non-finality on mainnet: there's too much at stake (!), and people will tend their clients much more diligently. If one client has issues, its users will swap to another. In that sense, Medalla right now is highly unrealistic, and spending too much effort on optimising for its current state is unproductive. But some effort is merited: performance optimisations here often feed back into overall improvements. Jacek from Status posted a nice tweet-form [explainer](https://twitter.com/jcksie/status/1321366361348673536) about some of the challenges and wins in Nimbus. Anyway, in the next couple of days we should see non-participating validators starting to be kicked out due to the inactivity leak, and that ought to restore finality and normality. If you have some Medalla validators that are not running, please consider either running them, or [exiting them](https://twitter.com/superphiz/status/1322165640006901761). (The link is to a tutorial on how to do voluntary exits. The current client tooling sucks, but Yorick Downe is making it easier.) #### Medalla data challenge Here's a list of known entries for the [Medalla data challenge](https://ethereum.org/en/eth2/get-involved/medalla-data-challenge/) (now closed; thanks to Superphiz for [compiling the list](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethstaker/comments/jieyg0/ethereum_studymaster_quiz_10_medalla_data/).) I haven't been through them thoroughly yet, that's a treat for next week. Based on a quick glance, one word of advice is to be a little cautious about drawing conclusions about particular client implementations. For one thing, the majority can't be identified reliably on the network. For another, all the clients have continued to improve and develop throughout the life of Medalla, so are moving targets. - [Proper Proposers and Skipped Slots: A Ranking and Segmentation Study of Validator Behavior](https://crypto.omnianalytics.io/2020/10/20/what-makes-a-top-tier-validator) - [Eth2 Medalla - a data driven deep dive](https://eth2data.github.io/) (Paul Hauner has already posted [some feedback](https://twitter.com/paulhauner/status/1320895775954464769) on this one.) - [Visualizing whales in the rough seas of Medalla, the Ethereum 2 testnet](https://medium.com/coinmonks/visualizing-whales-in-the-rough-seas-of-medalla-the-ethereum-2-testnet-f748592fc08a) - [Medalla: Exploring the data behind Eth2](https://github.com/dOrgTech/MedallaDataChallenge/blob/master/medallaClientSlashingExploration.ipynb) - [The Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Block Data Schema and Visual Documentation](https://blockblockdata.github.io/medalla-data-challenge/a001/the_ethereum_2_beacon_block_data_schema_and_visual_documentation.html) - [An Analysis of Data Propogation Latencies in Ethereum 2.0 Medalla Testnet](https://blockblockdata.github.io/medalla-data-challenge/a002/an_analysis_of_data_propogation_latencies_in_ethereum2_medalla_testnet.html) - [Clustering and Profiling Time Epochs in Ethereum 2.0](https://blockblockdata.github.io/medalla-data-challenge/a003/clustering_inclusion_delay_analysis.html) - [Comparing Eth2 Clients on the Medalla Network](https://pintail.xyz/posts/medalla-client-comparison/) - [The Medalla Network Under Stress](https://pintail.xyz/posts/medalla-network-stress/) - [Medalla Participation Rates: A Validator Taxonomy](https://pintail.xyz/posts/medalla-validator-taxonomy) - [Attesting the Health of Ethereum 2.0](https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/tips-and-tricks/attesting-the-health-of-ethereum-2-0.html) ### Tooling [Bitquery](https://bitquery.io/) has put together an open source [Eth2 explorer](https://bitquery.io/blog/eth2-explorer-api-widgets) with embeddable widgets and GraphQL APIs. Looks super - I'll definitely be investigating further. Also in explorer land, [Beaconscan](https://beaconscan.com/) is inviting you to join [Guild Warz](https://beaconscan.com/guildwarz) - win prizes in DAI for teaming up to propose blocks on Medalla. It's certainly not too late to join and do well in this. ## Roadmap This week saw a couple of nice visualisations of how things are panning out on the journey towards Eth2, and what the road ahead looks like. First, a timely [reminder](https://twitter.com/meeseeking/status/1321452219506503681) that Eth2 development is not sequential but happening in parallel across all the phases: <a href="https://benjaminion.xyz/images/201030_phases.png"><img width="640" height="473" alt="Ethereum 2.0 phases in parallel by Meeseeking" src="https://benjaminion.xyz/images/201030_phases.png"></a> Graphic by <a href="https://twitter.com/meeseeking/status/1321452219506503681">Meeseeking</a> (click to enlarge) Second, how it all [weaves together](https://twitter.com/trent_vanepps/status/1321936246332104705): <a href="https://benjaminion.xyz/images/201030_trent_roadmap.jpg"><img width="720" height="408" alt="How Eth1x, Eth2 and rollups relate, by Trent Van Epps" src="https://benjaminion.xyz/images/201030_trent_roadmap.jpg"></a> Graphic by <a href="https://twitter.com/trent_vanepps/status/1321936246332104705">Trent Van Epps</a> (click to enlarge) ## The Great Explainers Justin Drake did a very nice post about the [history of BLS signatures in Eth2](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethfinance/comments/jghide/daily_general_discussion_october_23_2020/g9sz7jm/). This is the main cryptographic innovation of recent years that makes a protocol of Eth2's ambition practical. I've written my own [homage to curve BLS12-381](https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/bls12-381). ### Ethonline Here are some of the Eth2/future-of-Ethereum talks from last week's EthOnline event. There's quality stuff here. - [Catalyst - an Eth1 engine for Eth2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jFMYU9FG8A&list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4wSCFiW2naDgq3tK-WjSR0&index=2), Guillaume Ballet - [A Developer's Guide to Account Abstraction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKPo-Y74ces&list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4wSCFiW2naDgq3tK-WjSR0&index=3), Sam Wilson & Ansgar Dietrich - [The Future of Solidity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aSMCa4O7mg&list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4wSCFiW2naDgq3tK-WjSR0&index=4), Alex Beregszaszi - [EIP 1559 Overview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEQPSJbZsq0&list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4wSCFiW2naDgq3tK-WjSR0&index=6), Tim Beiko - [Secret-shared validator infrastructure for Eth2.0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awBX1SrXOhk&list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4wSCFiW2naDgq3tK-WjSR0&index=9), Aditya Asgaonkar - [Intro to Eth2 & Staking for Beginners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpkpW031RCI&list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4wSCFiW2naDgq3tK-WjSR0&index=10), Superphiz - [Eth 2 sweet tooth: rollups and date-a availability](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q42NZw6Gle0&list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4wSCFiW2naDgq3tK-WjSR0&index=11), Ben Jones And a [YouTube playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4wSCFiW2naDgq3tK-WjSR0), and a [tweet-form summary](https://twitter.com/ETHGlobal/status/1321105079840215040) ### EthStaker The EthStaker [community call #10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xxTzEyiv3w) took place last Thursday, with Alon Muroch from [Blox Staking](https://www.bloxstaking.com/) talking about how they are building a completely non-custodial staking service using the second and third best clients :wink:. But seriously, this is very cool. Other staking services require custody of your signing key, and possibly your withdrawal key as well. Blox's trustless pooled staking requires neither: you retain control of both keys at all times. ## Research Vitalik is calling for help with an open problem: [incentive-compatible sub-second latency via staggering](https://ethresear.ch/t/open-problem-incentive-compatible-sub-second-latency-via-staggering/8171?u=benjaminion). How to make this big UX improvement game-theoretically stable? ## Regular Calls ### Implementers Call #51 took place on the 29th of October. * [Agenda](https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-pm/issues/189) * [Video](https://youtu.be/_4Ry2AEzXGU?t=63) * My [quick notes](https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/BJOIcBd_w) Most of the substance was discussion about a few remaining networking loose ends. ## Upcoming events - Sunday 1 November, 2100 UTC: The [Ethereum 2.0 Quiz Show](https://unvetica.com/ethereum-2-0-quiz-show-presented-by-the-eth-staker-community/) presented by the ETH Staker Community. Looks like enormous fun, and a good learning opportunity. Here's the [YouTube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN2feR5rH7Q) for watchers. Protolambda will [be there](https://twitter.com/protolambda/status/1322631450261377024)! (This is a new section suggested by Joseph Chow. [Let me know](mailto:ben@benjaminion.xyz) if you have something Eth2-related coming up.) ## In other news - Lighthouse has been through a [branding exercise](https://medium.com/empireventures/discovering-lighthouse-branding-the-eth2-0-client-d3a6bb503a6b), and the [Sigma Prime crew](https://twitter.com/paulhauner/status/1319624363231117312) released a deeply funky video to celebrate: [Hello Danny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bE7XJqSfTE)! ## And finally... Thank you all so much for the feedback I solicited a month or so ago. I mainly learned that my readership is extremely kind and generous :heart: The most commonly requested feature was an email signup to receive new editions. I've always been hesitant to do this as (a) I'm too lazy to set it up, and (b) I don't really want responsibility for all your addresses. But I'll think it through some more. In the meantime, there is an [RSS feed](https://benjaminion.xyz/newineth2/rss_feed.xml) that I keep up to date, and there appear to be services out there that act as RSS to email gateways. I'm going to give [Feedrabbit](https://feedrabbit.com/) a try and will let you know how it goes. * * * [![[Twitter]](https://benjaminion.xyz/newineth2/img/twitter.svg =40x40)](https://twitter.com/benjaminion_xyz) Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/benjaminion_xyz) to hear when the next edition is out 🙌. [![[RSS]](https://benjaminion.xyz/newineth2/img/rss.svg =32x32)](https://benjaminion.xyz/newineth2/rss_feed.xml) We also have an [RSS feed](https://benjaminion.xyz/newineth2/rss_feed.xml). [Give feedback](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfkESc4CmNfRGHHjWfNeF3ceLwrXDvynetda4sKfJFJ71Oabw/viewform)