HackMD
EPF Report: Weeks 0 & 1 - EPF4, new opportunities, preparation and Ethereum
Abstract
Summary
I'm thrilled to join EPF4, a venture that allows me to dedicate my time and effort to understanding the Ethereum protocol and complex blockchain systems more comprehensively. My goal is to make sure that this opportunity allows me to make substantial contributions to the Ethereum protocol. To concentrate entirely on the protocol R&D, I'll be stepping down from my position as Team Leader of the Beerus Starknet Light Client.
I'll be collaborating with Lambdaclass, since our discussions have revealed a convergence of interests and goals. Three engineers from Lambdaclass are also participating in EPF. Our primary objective is to develop an Elixir-based consensus client within the framework of EPF, aiming to present a functional Proof of Concept (POC) at Devconnect in November. Glad to be part of the Lambda Familia!
Deep Dive into Ethereum
For a while, I have been captivated by blockchain systems and eagerly awaiting the chance to delve deeper into this domain. My interest in these revolutionary infrastructures was sparked when I started reading about Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2016 and setup my first nodes. Despite having switched jobs and projects over time (preventing me to make as much progress in protocol research as I would have liked to), my enthusiasm for understanding the intricacies of these systems has only grown. Through this opportunity, I aspire to understand and contribute more substantially to the Ethereum ecosystem.
New Opportunities
As a core developer of Starknet, I've had the privilege of closely observing the work of Lambdaclass, one of Starkware's crucial infrastructure partners. Lambdaclass, led by Federico Carrone, comprises highly skilled developers who undertake complex projects across various blockchain ecosystems.
During EthCC week, I had the chance to discuss the EPF opportunity with Federico and Abdelhamid Bakhta. We all agreed that it would be best for me to devote entirely to EPF. Federico invited me to join the Lambdaclass office in Barcelona, which I accepted and flew to Barcelona 48 hours later (I still don't have an apartment, yolo) to work alongside the other Lambdaclass engineers involved in EPF.
During EthCC, I also had the chance to meet other fellows, as well as mentors like Joshua Davis and Mário Havel, and learned about their exciting upcoming projects.
The Road Ahead
Our primary goal over the next four months is to build an Elixir-based consensus client. The expected benefits include:
- Increase in client diversity,
- The ability to take advantage of high availability, concurrency, fault tolerance, and efficient networking features provided by the ErlangVM (BEAM)/Elixir, and
- Production Blockchain use of Elixir.
To achieve this ambitious objective by the end of the four-month EPF period and present a working POC at Devconnect in Istanbul in November 2023, I will need to deepen my understanding of Ethereum's architecture, especially its consensus layer.
Work Done in the Initial Weeks
In the first two weeks, I have devoted my time to reading the consensus specs and gauging the amount of work that needs to be done in the coming months. I have also explored and learned from other implementations of the consensus specs, such as Lighthouse and Prysm. This enabled me to scope the project and understand what were the next steps we needed to undertake on this journey.
Attending EthCC has also been an enriching experience. I have had the privilege of meeting some great people and presenting on stage at a major Ethereum event. (Recording)
Motivated for the coming weeks.
Resources
- Ethereum consensus specs - Specifications of the consensus layer
- Eth2Book - Ethereum consensus Knowledge
- Lighthouse consensus client - Rust consensus client
- Prysm consensus client - Go consensus client
