The year 2022 has been an eventful year for the Ethereum network. This completed the transition from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, one of the most important milestones in its history. Additionally, the network has seen the rise of second-tier solutions, especially rollups.
Ethereum roadmap for 2023
Like many other players in the cryptocurrency world, Vitalik Buterin has also submitted to the game of predictions. For 2023, the co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain seems particularly optimistic about improvements to the network. But also for the broader field of cryptocurrencies.
On Dec. 31, hours before the start of the new year, Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase and partner of investment fund a16z, took to Twitter to ask netizens for their predictions for 2023.
Among all the answers, we find the answer of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. In fact, he says he’s excited to reach the “basic rollup scaling” stage.
While there was talk of implementing EIP 4844 in March 2023, as part of the Shanghai Update, this step was delayed. It is part of “The Surge”, the second phase of the new Ethereum roadmap announced last November.
This blockchain enhancement is expected to introduce “proto-danksharding,” an element that should significantly improve the scalability of layer 2 rollups.
While not mentioned by Vitalik Buterin, 2023 will also mark the launch of the Shanghai hard fork.
It is one of the most awaited hard forks by the community, as it opens up the possibility of withdrawing ETH deposited as collateral. In fact, all ETH deposited as collateral is currently blocked from launching the beacon chain.
Therefore, the developers have decided to prioritize withdrawals over any other development for users to get their funds back. Indeed, this hard fork is expected to be implemented next March.
That is why EIP-4844 is one of the most anticipated improvements in 2023 for the Ethereum community. And the same goes for the entire crypto community.
EIP-4844 the most important event of the year for ETH?
In detail, EIP-4844 must allow to create more space in a block to store accumulations. All without paying extra petrol. Schematically, the protocol provides for the introduction of a new type of transaction on the network.
A post on the “Ethereum Magician” forum explained that the trust model has three levels, depending on the state of the project’s technology.
Referring to the document, Buterin said this will include removing some of the rollups from the training wheel, at least in phase 1. All transactions must be on-chain in phase 0.
The ethereum developer went on to explain how the different stages work and what updates are needed.
Some cryptocurrency predictions for 2023
If Buterin talked about the evolution of his blockchain in 2023, he also added a word about the entire crypto space, which concerns him too.
In this tweet posted on Dec. 30, Vitalik spoke of a “good future for digital assets.”
To write this bright future of digital assets, Buterin also mentioned the priorities of the year. That is, blockchain expansion and privacy. Don’t forget about user experience or account security.
Given the recent FTX events that rocked the cryptocurrency world, we wanted to add some transparency.
According to Buterin, the use of digital assets as a means of payment will be a good indicator of the prospects for the entire industry. Just like deploying DAO.