Major Innovation of the Ethereum Consensus Layer: Beam Chain

Ethereum has been using the Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism since its inception, until it successfully transitioned to Proof of Stake (PoS) in 2021. However, Ethereum core researchers believe that despite the Beacon Chain performing well in its early stages, it has accumulated some "technical debt" over the past five years. The existing design has not fully utilized cutting-edge technologies of decentralized systems, such as zero-knowledge proofs. Therefore, the consensus layer of Ethereum urgently needs a major update.

Recently, an Ethereum researcher presented a proposal called "Beam Chain" at the Devcon conference in Bangkok, aimed at completely reforming the Ether consensus layer. This is an important component of Ethereum's long-term development blueprint, with the goal of significantly enhancing the network's scalability and performance by leveraging current breakthroughs in zero-knowledge cryptography without launching a new network. There is no doubt that this will become one of the most critical upgrades for Ethereum in the next 3-5 years.

It needs to be clarified that Beam Chain is not a new blockchain in the literal sense, but a new infrastructure built within the Ethereum mainnet. It will significantly improve the transaction speed, security, and efficiency of the L1 mainnet. Some have misunderstood Beam Chain as Ethereum 3.0, but in reality, it only addresses consensus layer issues and will not change the data layer or execution layer.

The five core changes brought by Beam Chain include:

1. Faster block confirmation: Achieving 4 seconds slot time and single-slot finality
2. Maintain Decentralization: Sustain or improve the current level of decentralization.
3. Lowering the staking threshold: ETH staking requirement reduced from 32 ETH to 1 ETH
4. Protecting Ordinary Users: Eliminating MEV Based on Blockchain Reorganization
5. Future-oriented: Empowering the Ethereum network with quantum resistance

The Upgrade Ideas and Principles of Beam Chain

1. Increase block output

Beam Chain will increase block production to three times the current level to enhance Ethereum's transaction processing capacity. The introduction of the FOCIL (Fork Choice Mandatory Inclusion List) mechanism strengthens censorship resistance, ensuring that transactions are not easily excluded by malicious actors. Validators will be isolated through auction execution, which not only ensures stronger performance and decentralization but also protects more users from MEV impacts.

Ethereum will achieve single-slot finality and a 4-second block time, accelerating transaction confirmation speed and enhancing network efficiency. Notably, this means that exchanges will no longer need to wait for multiple block confirmations, as a single block will suffice to confirm transactions in the future.

2. Optimize Staking Mechanism

Beam Chain will improve the reward distribution model for validators, enhancing staking returns. The staking requirement for independent validators will be significantly reduced from the current 32 ETH to 1 ETH, making independent staking simpler and more widespread.

This breakthrough is attributed to the application of zero-knowledge technology, which enables Ethereum to increase its speed while accommodating more nodes to participate in consensus without significantly raising hardware requirements, effectively breaking through the impossible trinity of staking.

3. Enhance Security

Ethereum will implement post-quantum cryptography to ensure that the network can withstand potential threats from future quantum computing, becoming the first project among mainstream blockchains to adopt post-quantum measures. By integrating zkSNARK and zkVM, Ethereum will further enhance privacy protection, scalability, and security.

The SNARKification process of the blockchain will utilize RISC-V technology to improve the efficiency and scalability of proof generation. In short, this process can be summarized as the ZKification of the entire Ethereum chain.

In addition, Ethereum will introduce a more powerful randomness mechanism to ensure the fairness of key network processes such as validator selection. Improved censorship resistance will effectively reduce the risk of automated attacks like sandwich attacks.

4. How it works

Since the design of the current Ethereum consensus layer (Beacon Chain) was determined, cryptographers have made significant progress in the field of SNARKs. By SNARKifying Ethereum's state transition function, 4-second slot times and single-slot finality can be achieved. This not only improves the L1 transaction experience but also reduces potential value extraction by eliminating remote block reorganization strategies, while lowering the technical debt of the consensus layer.

The SNARKification will also endow the Ethereum network with quantum resistance, which is an essential feature for future blockchains. Beam Chain will promote the upgrade of Ethereum from the following aspects:

• Utilizing sharding technology to accelerate processing speed: dividing data into smaller parts to achieve parallel processing of multiple transactions, thereby reducing bottlenecks and speeding up transaction speed.
• Achieve quantum-resistant security: Utilize cutting-edge encryption technology to ensure network security even in the face of future quantum computers.
• Integration with the Ethereum roadmap: Beam Chain is an important part of Ethereum's roadmap for expansion and enhanced security over the next five years.

5. Important significance

Beam Chain is crucial for enhancing Ethereum's ability to handle increasingly complex decentralized applications. It will improve scalability, reduce transaction costs, and enhance overall security, enabling the network to support more users and complex applications.

SNARK-based proofs also allow ordinary stakers using standard hardware to achieve the aforementioned performance advantages. When the staking threshold is lowered to 1 ETH, the improvement in network performance will be accompanied by an increase in the degree of decentralization of the staker community.

In particular, the lowering of the threshold, if combined with related hardware devices, may lead to the widespread adoption of home-level validator devices, further consolidating Ethereum's status as the public chain with the most nodes and the highest degree of decentralization in the world.

Although the vision of Beam Chain will not immediately change Ethereum, it will adjust the priority of the roadmap development, accelerating the development of certain components. If sufficient community support is obtained, developers may start drafting specifications next year, write production-level code in 2026, conduct testing in 2027, and ultimately deploy it securely to the mainnet.

Overall, Beam Chain solves the past "technical debt" through the ZK route, significantly improving its L1 functionality while maintaining the high decentralization of Ethereum. Long-term solutions such as quantum resistance introduced by new ideas put Ethereum's consensus layer in a "maintenance mode", ensuring its security, efficiency, and adaptability for decades to come, laying the groundwork for future innovations.

Ethereum continues to make long-term plans, which is an exciting development for the entire blockchain industry. This also provides a solid foundation for us to maintain an optimistic attitude towards Ethereum in the current active market environment.