EIP Fun Weekly #86: NTT Precompiles for Quantum Security, Delayed Block Validation
A weekly resource exploring the latest EIPs, ERCs, key updates in the Ethereum protocol.
Welcome to read the 86th issue of EIP Fun Weekly. Let's take a look at what happened in the EIP community last week.
Meeting Updates
Ethereum All Core Developers Consensus Call #151
Pectra Devnet 6: Clients are stable, and MEV testing is going well, with some issues in the Flashbots builder being resolved.
Blob Count Increase in Fusaka: Developers aim for a theoretical max blob limit of 50, with discussions on using Blob Parameter-Only (BPO) forks if needed.
EIP 7872 and EIP 7870: Both EIPs were finalized, focusing on local builder blob limits and hardware/bandwidth recommendations for validators.
PeerDAS Devnet 5: Changes to the execution layer (EL) and a new design for outsourcing blob proof computation were discussed.
Testing and Future Meetings: Developers are preparing for further testing on a shadow fork of Ethereum mainnet and scheduling alternating PeerDAS breakout meetings.
Weekly EIP & ERC Highlights
EIP-7885: Precompile for NTT Operations
Introduces a set of precompiled contracts for Number Theoretical Transformations (NTT) and their inverse, optimizing polynomial multiplication for Post-Quantum and STARK applications.
Purpose: This aims to mitigate quantum computing threats and improve Ethereum's scalability.
Key Benefits:
Post-Quantum Security: Supports fast polynomial multiplication critical for quantum-resistant signature algorithms like Falcon and Dilithium.
STARK Optimizations: Enhances STARK verification performance, benefiting Ethereum's scaling efforts.
Efficient Computation: Reduces the complexity of polynomial multiplication, achieving faster operations compared to classical methods.
Key Components:
NTT_FW: Precompiled contract for forward NTT transformation, with a gas cost of 600.
NTT_INV: Precompiled contract for inverse NTT transformation, with a gas cost of 600.
NTT_VECMULMOD: Precompiled contract for vectorized modular multiplication with gas cost proportional to the input size.
NTT_VECADDMOD: Precompiled contract for vectorized modular addition with gas cost proportional to the input size.
EIP-7886: Delayed Execution
Introduces a mechanism where blocks can be validated before execution, allowing validators to attest to a block's validity based on its structure and upfront payment for inclusion costs.
Purpose: This reduces bottlenecks in the consensus process, enabling more efficient block validation.
Key Benefits:
Asynchronous Block Validation: Allows block validation to occur before the full execution of transactions, reducing the time it takes for validators to confirm a block.
Efficiency: By skipping invalid transactions instead of invalidating the whole block, it enables quicker validation and increases overall throughput.
Upfront Payment for Inclusion Costs: Ensures that even skipped transactions pay their resource costs by having the
COINBASEpay for inclusion upfront.
Key Components:
Deferred Fields in Block Header: Fields such as
state_root,receipt_root,bloom,gas_used, andrequests_hashare deferred to allow for block verification without executing transactions.COINBASE Signature: The
COINBASEaddress signs the block header to authorize the upfront payment for transaction inclusion costs.Static Block Validation: The block is validated without executing transactions by checking structural correctness, verifying transaction signatures, and confirming that
COINBASEcan pay the total inclusion cost.Transaction Validation: Each transaction undergoes static checks to ensure valid gas prices and that the inclusion costs do not exceed block limits.
Other EIPs and ERCs:
Upcoming EIP Events
eth_simulate Implementers' Meeting
Date & Time: Feb 24, 2025, 12:00 UTC
For more details about the meeting agenda, you can visit here.
PeerDAS Breakout Room #19
Date & Time: Feb 25, 2025 , 10:00 UTC
For more details about the meeting agenda, you can visit here.
All Core Devs - Execution (ACDE) #206
Date & Time: Feb 27, 2025, 14:00-15:30 UTC
For more details about the meeting agenda, you can visit here.
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