- The paper demonstrates that EIP-4844 boosts rollup efficiency by increasing data posting by 116.8% and reducing fees by up to 72% while lowering gas costs by 82%.
- The study finds that consensus security is impacted, with average fork rates nearly doubling and slot synchronization times rising by approximately 140 ms.
- The paper introduces the blob gas fee market, using VAR model analysis to highlight its volatility and its role in aligning fees with user demand.
Impact of EIP-4844 on Ethereum: A Comprehensive Empirical Analysis
Introduction
The Ethereum Improvement Proposal 4844 (EIP-4844), implemented on March 13, 2024, introduces significant modifications aimed at enhancing Ethereum's role as a data availability (DA) layer. This paper presents an extensive empirical paper evaluating the impact of EIP-4844 on consensus security, Ethereum usage, rollup transaction dynamics, and the blob gas fee market. The authors meticulously gather and analyze data to address concerns regarding network stability and to assess the broader implications of this protocol upgrade on the Ethereum ecosystem.
Consensus Security
EIP-4844 introduces blobs, a new data structure designed to reduce the cost of data posting by rollups. One major concern is the potential impact on Ethereum's consensus security due to the increased data propagation sizes. The paper’s empirical analysis reveals several key findings regarding consensus security:
- Increase in Fork Rate: The average fork rate increased from 3.097 to 6.707 slots per 2000 slots post-4844, indicating a potential impact on network stability.
- Slot Synchronization Times: The average synchronization time for slots increased by approximately 140.065ms. Notably, receive time contributes significantly to this increase, highlighting the impact of EIP-4844 on validator performance. Conversely, data availability (DA) time showed minimal impact, averaging only about 13.417 ms overall.
- Component Analysis: Detailed examination of synchronization time components identified receive time as the most affected, with an average increase of 80.966 ms post-4844.
These findings suggest that while EIP-4844 has led to increases in slot synchronization times and fork rates, the primary cause is related to the increased load on proposers handling blob data rather than the propagation delays of blobs themselves.
Ethereum Usage
The primary goal of EIP-4844 was to enhance the efficiency of Ethereum as a DA layer for rollups. The paper reveals several significant changes in how rollups utilize Ethereum:
- Data Posting: Total data posted by rollups increased by 116.8%, from 0.084 MiB to 0.183 MiB per block. The reduction in calldata size by 56.8% and greater data usage incentives reflect a positive shift towards using blobs.
- Fees and Costs: There was a substantial reduction in the total fees paid by rollups, with costs decreasing by 72\%. Additionally, the cost per MiB of data posted on Ethereum dropped by 82%, from 1.304 ETH to 0.231 ETH.
- Gas Consumption: The total gas used by rollups significantly decreased, particularly among optimistic rollups, which saw an 80.74% reduction.
These results indicate that EIP-4844 has successfully reduced the cost and increased the efficiency of using Ethereum for data availability, particularly benefiting optimistic rollups.
Rollup Transaction Dynamics
The paper also investigates changes in rollup transaction volumes and user delays:
- Transaction Volume: The number of rollup transactions increased across all six examined rollups, with Base experiencing a 224% rise. However, to isolate the impact of EIP-4844 from pre-existing growth trends, a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) was employed, confirming statistically significant increases attributable to the protocol change.
- User Delay: User delay increased notably in four rollups, though Arbitrum and zkSync Era saw significant reductions. The variability in user delay times also increased, indicating a greater unpredictability in transaction settlement times.
The increased transaction volumes and the varied user delay times suggest that while reduced fees have incentivized more activities, the introduced delays necessitate further optimizations, such as blob-sharing protocols among rollups.
Blob Gas Fee Market
The blob gas fee market, a new multidimensional fee market introduced by EIP-4844, was analyzed to understand its dynamics and impact on predictability:
- VAR Model Analysis: The Vector Autoregression (VAR) model revealed that while the gas base fee has a small yet significant initial impact on the blob gas base fee, this effect diminishes over time.
- Blob Gas Priority Fee: A novel metric for blob gas priority fee was introduced, validated through VAR analysis, indicating its effectiveness in reflecting user demand in the blob gas market.
- Market Volatility: The blob gas fee market exhibited higher volatility than the traditional gas market. Despite this, the lower ratio of priority fees to base fees for blobs suggests better alignment with actual demand.
These insights propose that while the blob gas fee mechanism effectively captures user demands, its volatility presents challenges for predictability, requiring further improvements to enhance market stability.
Conclusion
EIP-4844 has significantly impacted the Ethereum network by increasing data posting efficiency and reducing associated costs. However, it has also introduced new challenges related to consensus security and user delays. The comprehensive dataset and analysis provided in this paper offer valuable insights into the broader implications of protocol changes, guiding future optimizations to secure and enhance Ethereum's role as a DA layer.
The findings underscore the need for ongoing research and iteration to balance scalability, security, and cost-efficiency within Ethereum's evolving infrastructure. Such studies will be crucial in refining the implementation and functionality of forthcoming Ethereum upgrades like Danksharding.