Ethereum’s EIP-7781 to Improve Overall Throughput by 33%

The Ethereum blockchain introduced a new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-7781) to improve the network’s performance. Launched on Saturday, the proposal is set to provide various benefits to the network. Notably, it would reduce the block creation times from 12 to 8 seconds, resulting in a 50% increase in the overall throughput. 

According to an X post by a market observer, the EIP-7781 will reduce slot time for lower peak bandwidth. It would increase transaction throughput by 33% without increasing individual block or blob counts. Further, it will also distribute the bandwidth usage over time to lower the peak bandwidth requirements, thus maintaining network efficiency. 

There's a new EIP to increase Ethereum's throughput by 50%.

– 12 second block times -> 8 seconds
– 6 data blobs per block -> 9 blobs per block
– DEXes become around 1.22x more efficient

If approved, this would be a huge first step in improving Ethereum L1's performance. pic.twitter.com/MkX5gbiBFR

— cygaar (@0xCygaar) October 6, 2024

The new EIP is designed to boost blob capacity, enabling more efficient handling of large amounts of data. This will further enhance the operations of decentralized exchanges (DEXs)  where transaction throughput directly impacts user experience. It also proposed to lower the block time of the DEXs to 8 seconds so that it can handle more transactions per second and therefore lower the gas fees.

Despite receiving positive feedback from the Ethereum developer community, many were concerned about the expansion of the hardware and bandwidth. This would be a disadvantage to occupants of minor positions. 

These concerns resemble earlier discussions of the risk of centralization in the Ethereum network. Ethereum is an innovation with higher requirements, making staking less easy to access, which could lead to its dominance by large groups. By bringing in the EIP-7781, the network aims to speed up its transactions and increase data processing. This proposal came shortly after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggested that the minimum Ethereum needed to become a validator be reduced. That could supplement efforts to increase networking decentralization.