Ethereum Researcher Justin Drake Introduces ‘Beam Chain,’ a Total Redesign of the Network’s Consensus Layer

Essentially, since then, the fundamental structure of Ethereum’s blockchain hasn’t undergone significant changes. Developers have introduced a sequence of enhancements to foster the expansion of speedy and affordable “layer-2” blockchains. However, the Ethereum community has been lacking a unifying vision—one that has sparked as much excitement as The Merge did.

That might soon change.

At the Ethereum Devcon conference held in Bangkok on Tuesday, Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake unveiled his blueprint for a significant overhaul of Ethereum’s underlying agreement mechanism, which he calls “Beam Chain.

Drake stated during his talk at Bangkok’s Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre that Beam Chain is a proposed overhaul of the consensus layer, integrating all cutting-edge concepts from Ethereum’s development plan.

As a crypto investor, I find the Beam Chain vision of Drake fascinating, as it consolidates a suite of significant improvements for Ethereum’s consensus layer into one cohesive package. This bundle encompasses adjustments to Ethereum’s block production mechanism, optimizations in staking procedures, and enhancements in zero-knowledge cryptography techniques.

Everyone had been eagerly waiting for Drake’s presentation, as it followed several months of buzz and discussions online and in cryptocurrency communities about the significant project that this renowned Ethereum researcher (who played a crucial role in the 2022 Merge upgrade) was supposedly developing. In the end, Drake spoke to a crowded convention hall, with spectators even spilling out into the hallway outside of the main stage.

As a crypto investor, I want to clarify that Beam Chain doesn’t bring any immediate modifications to Ethereum, nor anything drastically dissimilar from what’s already planned in its roadmap. However, it does propose a significant shift in the way Ethereum’s future updates are structured and managed.

Yearly, Ethereum undergoes significant updates to its fundamental code. Drake suggests making minor adjustments annually to tackle easy improvements, followed by a major overhaul in several years’ time, all at once.

As a crypto investor, I’ve been keeping an eye on Beam Chain, which primarily focuses on Ethereum’s consensus layer, often referred to as the Beacon Chain. This critical part of the network is responsible for managing how transactions are processed and recorded. Five years have passed since its specification was finalized, and during that time, a lot has changed in the crypto landscape.

As per Drake, contemporary Ethereum developers have significantly improved their grasp of methods to optimize maximum value extraction – tactics employed by seasoned traders to squeeze additional profits from Ethereum, which may sometimes negatively impact regular users. Over the past five years, notable advancements in zero-knowledge technology have also emerged, according to Drake, and the Ethereum blockchain has accumulated “technical debt” that hinders developers’ speed and security in further developing the chain.

One of the key priorities for Beam Chain lies in enhancing “quick block confirmations” and “swift settlement,” which translates to increasing the rate at which new blocks are added to the chain and expanding the number of transactions processed per block. Over time, this might lead to the adoption of “instant finality,” a feature where data-containing blocks can be finalized instantly, ensuring that the information becomes permanent and unalterable immediately.

Reducing the time it takes for a block to finalize from approximately 15 minutes on Ethereum could significantly boost the efficiency of applications or exchanges with high transaction volumes. This is because shorter finalization times reduce the chances for delays, which in turn can help minimize opportunities for MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) extraction and lower the risk of blockchain reorganizations (reorgs).

However, there are some concerns about centralization with faster finalization times, since there’s more computing power needed, with expensive hardware. Developers will need to balance the tradeoff between shortening finalization times and computing power.

The Beam Chain plan suggests integrating zero-knowledge cryptography more profoundly within the core structure of Ethereum’s fundamental network.

Developers working on Ethereum have adopted a strategy that includes using layer-2 rollups, essentially secondary blockchain systems built on top of Ethereum. These systems enable faster and less expensive transaction processing. The transactions carried out on these rollups are eventually settled back onto the main Ethereum chain.

In this context, rollup platforms have adopted an innovative technology called zero-knowledge proofs to address the issue of scaling within blockchain networks. Over the past two years, numerous ZK rollups have emerged, such as Polygon‘s zkEVM and Matter Labs’ zkSync, which have drawn significant attention and spurred growth for these novel blockchains.

By incorporating Zero-Knowledge Proof functionality directly onto Ethereum’s primary blockchain with Drake’s Beam Chain idea, it’s worth pondering about potential effects on the burgeoning sector of ZK-enabled Layer 2 networks.

During his presentation on Tuesday, Drake expressed hesitation to label the Beam chain as “Ethereum 3.0,” as some have previously termed Ethereum’s 2022 Merge upgrade as “Ethereum 2.0.” Drake clarified that the Beam Chain primarily focuses on its consensus layer, while ongoing research is being conducted into Ethereum’s execution and data layers—the key network components that facilitate applications and layer-2 data.