Vitalik: Ethereum’s L1 Will Not Encounter Issues Interacting with zkEVMs!

• Ethereum aims to solve the Layer 2 scaling problem with Matic zkEVM.
• The Ethereum blockchain will expand to a three-layered client.
• Delay and data efficiency are still a problem.

A few years ago, Ethereum [ETH] faced transaction delays and network congestion issues. However, it has been a pioneer in solving these difficulties with most scaling solutions in blockchains. The latest of these is zero-knowledge integration with the Ethereum Virtual Machine [zkEVM] launched by Polygon [MATIC].

Although Mainnet Beta was launched on March 27th, many participants did not understand how L1’s project would interact with its L2 counterpart. Due to this uncertain view, Vitalik Buterin published a blog post on the subject.

Ethereum (ETH) Founder Shares the Time!

According to Vitalik, one of Ethereum’s founders, the nodes consisting of consensus and execution clients have been reduced to allow zkEVM participation. The execution client uses the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism to verify data on the blockchain. On the other hand, the consensus client is responsible for protecting the latest database and executing transactions.

Normally, these clients make up two-thirds of the network. However, with the introduction of zk rollups, this situation seems to be changing! Therefore, developers are allowed to intervene while ending chain blocks. Vitalik stated as follows,

“As of today, no consensus or execution client makes up more than two-thirds of the network.”

In addition, Vitalik stated that the vacant space would mean that zkEVM would become the third Ethereum client. However, he noted that this would not happen immediately, as L1 would need to work on using them for verification.

Challenges and Solutions for Ethereum Layer 2

Despite the zk capability, Vitalik stated that there were problems that no L2 could solve. He showed the delay problem as an issue that could allow the chain to break after a late-released block. And data efficiency was shown as a problem that could reveal verifying signatures. However, he stated that there were possible solutions in the long term and said,

“The delay problem can be addressed by designing a careful single-nest certainty protocol. The data efficiency problem requires a separate protocol to collect verification-related data.”

More information in the broadcast provided information about zk Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge (zk-SNARKS). Zk proofs allow parties to verify a correct statement without revealing any other information, while zk-SNARKS provide ownership proof without interaction between the verifier and the prover.

Vitalik stated that zk-sNARKS and ERC-4337 could also solve the data efficiency problem, which allows creating contracts and transactions on the blockchain.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum founder acknowledged that the entire process would take a long time. He also acknowledged that slow block execution and verification processes could be a problem initially.