In 2022, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, faced a crucial question: Could Ethereum replace a complex component with something safer and more user-friendly? At the time, the answer was no. However, three years later, the landscape may have changed—offering fresh hope for blockchain innovation.
The Challenge:
As Ethereum seeks to scale and accommodate growing user demand and data volume, it has adopted a method known as data availability sampling (DAS). This technique allows Ethereum to verify data on the blockchain without downloading it in its entirety. Essentially, DAS helps confirm that added data is present, without requiring full access to all the information.
To make DAS function properly, Ethereum relies on KZG commitments—a sophisticated cryptographic tool designed to prove data accuracy without revealing all of it. However, KZG commitments have a significant drawback: they depend on a secure, trusted setup, which involves participants submitting arbitrary data at a specific event. If anything goes wrong during this setup, the integrity of the entire system could be jeopardized.
Although Ethereum has historically operated the largest and most secure trusted setup, involving over 141,000 users, there remains unease within the community about continuing to rely on such trust-based mechanisms.
A Promising Solution:
In response, recent research has proposed an alternative to KZG commitments: a simpler, math-based verification method that eliminates the need for complex setups and trust-based assumptions. This idea led to the development of FRIEDA, a groundbreaking approach to blockchain data verification. Unlike KZG, FRIEDA does not rely on trust and offers a more straightforward, robust solution.
The team behind FRIEDA is also working on a larger project called Mikan, which enhances blockchain security and efficiency, particularly for newer technologies like rollups or Bitcoin layer-2 solutions. Mikan offers a key advantage: it operates without the need for a trusted setup, is compatible with zero-knowledge technology, and reduces bandwidth requirements—making it suitable for smaller devices.
If successful, this innovative approach could significantly enhance the openness, fairness, and security of blockchains like Ethereum and Bitcoin, reducing their reliance on trust and setting a new standard for blockchain data verification.
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