--- 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;} .ui-infobar {visibility: hidden; padding-top: 0;} .community-button {visibility: hidden;} .markdown-body {padding-top: 0;} </style> # What's New in Eth2 - 1&nbsp;July&nbsp;2022 ![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 96 at [eth2.news](https://eth2.news/) <div style="text-align:center"> :::warning :warning: There is no ETH2 coin. Anyone offering you ETH2 coins is scamming you. :warning: ::: </div> (Apparently I need to say this :man-shrugging:) ## Top picks A coupla Bankless podcasts for you. I mentioned Superphiz's [appearance on Layer Zero](http://podcast.banklesshq.com/superphiz-layer-zero) last time. I hadn't listened to it then, but I have now and it is :fire:. Pure decentralisation passion. Matt Cutler's episode on [Ethereum's Hidden Power Structures](http://podcast.banklesshq.com/125-ethereums-hidden-power-structures-matt-cutler) is also a terrific listen. Matt explores the post-Merge block production landscape, covering MEV and all that. Really good insights into where we're heading and how the landscape is evolving. ## The Merge ### Mainnet Shadow Fork 7 We performed MSF7 on the 22nd of June. Everything directly Merge-related went well. There were two issues not directly Merge related: - Erigon had some peering difficulties. These were related to the mechanics of how shadow forks are set up and would not be a problem for the real thing. A fix has been implemented. - Besu nodes had trouble with [database corruption](https://hackmd.io/@RoboCopsGoneMad/B1reW1G9c). This seems to be concurrency related (multiple threads updating the database at the same time) and has been seen outside the Merge context, but is exacerbated by the mechanics of the Merge. The team is urgently working on this -- it needs to be fixed irrespective of the Merge -- and should be done in a week or two. There was also a deadlock issue that showed up a little later in a Nethermind--Teku pair that we discussed on the consensus devs call. Basically, they got into a deadlock situation, both waiting for each other. Aiui the initial trigger was a bug in Nethermind, but it should have been recoverable had Teku retried an API call after a time-out. It seems that the spec is not entirely clear on retry behaviour and will be reviewed. In any case Teku has been updated to retry more aggressively, and this fixes things. Prysm will make the same update. Unearthing these edge cases is why we shadow fork! It's full steam ahead. Mainnet Shadow Fork 8 is scheduled to happen on Tuesday, the 5th of July. - [Config](https://github.com/eth-clients/merge-testnets/tree/main/mainnet-shadow-fork-8) - Tooling links: - https://ethstats.mainnetshadowfork8.ethdevops.io/ - https://explorer.mainnetshadowfork8.ethdevops.io/ - https://beaconchain.mainnetshadowfork8.ethdevops.io/ - https://forkmon.mainnetshadowfork8.ethdevops.io/ A reminder that Etherworld is maintaining a back catalogue of [shadow fork info](https://etherworld.co/2022/04/20/ethereum-mainnet-shadow-forking-an-overview/). ### Sepolia testnet Merge Sepolia is [all set to Merge](https://blog.ethereum.org/2022/06/30/sepolia-merge-announcement/) somewhere around July the 5th. Keep an eye on [bordel.wtf](https://bordel.wtf) for the forecast time - the timing depends strongly on how much hash rate appears on the network. Somebody has been attaching quite a lot from time to time, so the Merge point is quite uncertain. It could happen much sooner than expected. You may notice that July 5th is a week later than we had discussed on the last consensus devs' call. As a consolation, at least I get to link to [my favourite footnote](https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/wnie2_210313#fn1) again. But seriously, it was probably for the best not to be doing the Sepolia Merge at the same time as the Gray Glacier Eth1 fork. I have no sympathy, however, with delaying anything to accommodate a "long weekend" in the US, or anywhere else for that matter. Anthony Sassano will be [hosting a livestream](https://twitter.com/sassal0x/status/1542884994569277440) of the event alongside EthStaker. You can sign up for notifications from the [YouTube stream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOSYpI82_60) to be notified when it starts. Sweepstake on how long Song-a-Day man has to ad-lib for this time? ### Ropsten sync tests Syncing two blockchains managed by two separate clients presents some challenges. It is probably the trickiest aspect of the Merge that we've had to consider. For this reason the sync process between client pairs is getting some extra scrutiny. To this end the EF DevOps team is conducting a series of tests on the Merged Ropsten testnet and is [documenting](https://notes.ethereum.org/@samcm/By9o2Qg59) their findings. ### Technical bits and pieces A couple of miscellaneous items. First, Mikhail has updated the [Engine API sequence diagrams](https://hackmd.io/@n0ble/HkoYcDDt5). And Geth has been looking at how to run post-Merge [without a consensus client](https://twitter.com/peter_szilagyi/status/1541344689860890624?s=20&t=PBVMjpiP3W6dwn8laO-RQg). As the purveyor of a very fine consensus client, obviously I am not in favour of this (joke). But this actually seems a great use case for the light client capability we've been so carefully building into the consensus protocol. ## Staking [Stakehouse Community Call #17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTH47Qy_KI) was a couple of days ago. These have become a really excellent resource under the banner, "Lowering the Technical Barrier to Ethereum Solo Staking". I highly recommend watching the livestreams, or even attending the calls if you can - you'll learn a ton. The excellent [Rated.network](https://www.rated.network/)'s API now has a [Prometheus exporter](https://twitter.com/ratedw3b/status/1539630779210137601). Here's [the repo](https://github.com/rated-network/rated-cli). A 99.95% power consumption reduction when we move to proof of stake not good enough for you? Well, check out `@jcrpt` who is validating in [under 10 Watts](https://twitter.com/jcrtp_eth/status/1542681842469437446). ## The Great Explainers Good news from Adrian Sutton: post-Merge block production and import times are [not a problem](https://twitter.com/ajsutton/status/1541340088046878720). Pintail lifts the hood on the KZG trusted set-up [ceremony](https://twitter.com/pintail_xyz/status/1541853475998416897). This is an important prerequisite to implementing EIP-4844 (proto-danksharding) and, later, full Danksharding. Vitalik has written about [how trusted set-ups work](https://vitalik.ca/general/2022/03/14/trustedsetup.html). As Pintail mentions, [regular calls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2J6c95wk9k) are happening to plan the KZG set-up ceremonony we'll need for Eth2. The next call is [on July the 7th](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/issues/560). EthereumPools took a break from their [excellent work](https://twitter.com/EthereumPools/status/1542831385576194050) to write a great thread on what [rewards and penalities](https://twitter.com/EthereumPools/status/1542241205597134849) will look like for stakers post-Merge. The latest Ethereum Cat Herders PEEPanEIP sessions include - [Nimbus & The Merge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50xRX5OcWgo) with Zahary, and - [Go-Ethereum & The Merge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRAIiefswCY) with Marius Van Der Wijden. And I finally made a little progress on The Book. Since catching Covid at Devconnect I've been struggling a bit, but am now back and making progress. So here's a brief section on [how aggregators are selected](https://eth2book.info/altair/part2/building_blocks/aggregator) in committees. ## Media and stuff [SSV network](https://twitter.com/ssv_network) is running a series of Merge-themed Twitter Spaces ably hosted by Anthony Sassano. I think they are planned weekly until The Merge; I hope they don't run out of interviewees. Here are the recordings so far: - [Tim Beiko](https://twitter.com/ssv_network/status/1538186803961798658) (there's a [summary by Chinmay](https://mirror.xyz/0x79721a785056EF69B266094C6eFb0548584f2d31/j1prbOmaLl4NzEee4M8oDsCStvyzzttR0bMFhOGsu-k)). - [Stani Kulechov](https://twitter.com/ssv_network/status/1542448032838475776) - the Merge's impact on DeFi. - [Me](https://twitter.com/ssv_network/status/1542526927931551744). A couple of recent reports on the Merge have appeared. Axios published a clear and accurate [Merge overview](https://www.axios.com/2022/06/27/ethereum-new-version-2022-eth-ether). And Christine Kim and Arunabh Sarkar have written a [Step-by-Step Overview](https://docsend.com/view/4jqqdw5w68r8ww68) of Ethereum's Merge Upgrade and Associated Risks. ## Research In a [survey article](https://notes.ethereum.org/@vbuterin/validator_set_size_capping) Vitalik returned to the topic of potentially capping the size of the validator set. It's an interesting exploration of various trade-offs that we are faced with. ## Regular Calls ### All Core Devs ACD call #141 took place on the 24th of June. * [Agenda](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/issues/551) * [Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu5idP-JLyQ) * Notes from [Christine](https://twitter.com/christine_dkim/status/1540382924440121344), a brief summary from [Tim](https://twitter.com/TimBeiko/status/1540328722892480513), and some [notes in Spanish](https://twitter.com/Ariiellus/status/1540463160942989312). ### Consensus Implementers Call #90 took place on the 30th of June. * [Agenda](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/issues/555) * [Video](https://youtu.be/Fid8hTxkRHM?t=351) * Notes [from me](https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/HJNt57iq5) and [from Christine](https://twitter.com/christine_dkim/status/1542947591951769601). The main discussion concerned whether validators should authenticate to relays in MEV-Boost and how they might do that. The main point is that authenticating the connection could permit a blind auction format for block builders which is likely to be more optimal than an open auction. There was a lot of interesting discussion about trust models and auction formats - it's worth a listen. No conclusions on the call, but discussion continues elsewhere (primarily the `#block-builder` channel on the R&D Discord). ## Upcoming events - Thursday, July 7 at 11:30 UTC: [KZG-Ceremony Breakout Call #3](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/issues/560) - Friday, July 15 at 14:00 UTC: [Merge Community Call #5](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/issues/564). ## In other news - Flashbots has started producing weekly updates on implementation progress of MEV-Boost for validators: - [June 17-24](https://flashbots.notion.site/mev-boost-Status-Update-June-17-24-2022-d149861bd6814d94b62cc99d0c806ede) - [June 24-30](https://flashbots.notion.site/mev-boost-Status-Update-June-24-30-2022-5806f8bd969f4ec8948f2b20fd1d2563) - Prysmatic Labs Community Update: [June 2022](https://medium.com/prysmatic-labs/prysmatic-labs-community-update-june-2022-e82af8350ec9) - The Ethereum Foundation has an interesting request for proposals for [Staking Operator Documentation](https://github.com/ethereum/requests-for-proposals/blob/master/open-rfps/staking-operator-docs.md). Responses are due by the 8th of July, so get a move on. - The folk at Coinbase have resumed their [ETH2 Updates](https://www.coinbase.com/cloud/discover/insights-analysis/ropsten-testnet-successfully-merges). ## And finally... This edition brought to you with the help of Ben's mostly British mostly 80s playlist. I must say that the 1980s were an incredible time to have been a teenager in the UK - musically unsurpassed. * * * [![[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). [Advertising](https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/eth2_news/https%3A%2F%2Fhackmd.io%2F%40benjaminion%2Fadvertising) on this newsletter. 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