Protocol-Enforced Proposer Commitments - cam kết người đề xuất được giao thức thực thi

Protocol-Enforced Proposer Commitments (PEPC)

Protocol-Enforced Proposer Commitments (PEPC), a conceptual extension and generalization of PBS, introduces a more flexible and secure way for proposers (validators) to commit to the construction of blocks. Unlike the existing MEV-Boost mechanism, which relies on out-of-protocol agreements between proposers and builders/relays, PEPC aims to enshrine these commitments within the Ethereum protocol itself, offering a trustless and permissionless infrastructure for these interactions¹².

Enhanced Security and Trustlessness:
- Benefit: Enforces agreements within the protocol, reducing reliance on external parties and minimizing the potential for manipulation.
- Trade-off (Security vs. Overhead): While security is enhanced, this internalization increases computational demands, potentially impacting network efficiency and scalability.
Increased Flexibility in Block Construction:
- Benefit: Enables programmable contracts between proposers and builders, supporting diverse block construction scenarios.
- Trade-off (Flexibility vs. Complexity): This flexibility introduces complexity, which could limit participation to technically advanced users and raise barriers to entry.
Decentralization of MEV Opportunities:
- Benefit: Promotes a more equitable distribution of MEV among validators.
- Trade-off (Decentralization of MEV vs. Risk of Centralization): While aiming to decentralize MEV, the complexity required might still favor larger, more sophisticated operators.
Scalability and Efficiency Improvements:
- Benefit: Streamlines block construction and validation processes, enhancing overall network scalability.
- Trade-off (Long-term Scalability vs. Short-term Performance): Initial impacts on network performance may occur as validators adjust to new complexities.
Economic Innovation:
- Benefit: Fosters novel economic models by allowing new types of transactions and block constructions.
- Trade-off (Economic Innovation vs. Stability): Introduces economic models that could disrupt established revenue structures and impact stability.

How would PEPC work?

Figure – PEPC flow.

The operation of PEPC involves several key components and steps, which together ensure its seamless integration into the Ethereum ecosystem. Here’s an overview of how PEPC would work in practice:

Step 1: Commit Phase

Proposal Creation: A validator (proposer) prepares to create a block by defining a set of commitments. These commitments represent agreements or contracts that specify how the block will be constructed. This could include, for example, commitments to include certain transactions, not to include others, or to structure the block in a specific way.
Commit Block Generation: The proposer generates a commit-block that includes these proposer commitments (PCs) alongside the usual consensus data like attestations. This commit-block does not yet contain the full execution payload but specifies a payload template or placeholders for the expected content based on the commitments.

Step 2: Reveal Phase

Builder Submissions: Builders, in response to the commitments published by the proposer, submit their proposed blocks or block parts to fulfill the commitments. This might involve submitting specific transactions, execution payloads, or other block components as defined by the initial commitments.
Commitment Verification: Upon receiving submissions from builders, the proposer or the protocol itself verifies that these submissions satisfy the proposer commitments. This verification process ensures that only those blocks or block parts that meet the predefined criteria are considered for inclusion.
Block Finalization: Once a submission from a builder is verified to fulfill the proposer commitments, the proposer finalizes the block by incorporating the builder's submission into the payload template or placeholders defined in the commit phase. The finalized block is then published to the network.

Step 3: Validation and Inclusion

Network Validation: Other validators on the network validate the finalized block, ensuring it adheres to the Ethereum protocol rules and the specific proposer commitments. This step may involve standard block validation procedures, along with additional checks for commitment fulfillment.
Block Inclusion: Upon successful validation, the block is included in the blockchain. This inclusion is contingent on the block satisfying both the usual Ethereum consensus rules and the specific proposer commitments outlined in the commit phase.

PEPC's Mechanisms for Flexibility and Security

Programmable Contracts: PEPC allows proposers to enter into various programmable contracts with builders, ranging from full blocks to partial blocks, and even future slot auctions. This versatility enables a tailored approach to block construction, maximizing efficiency and optimizing block space usage.
Atomicity and Trustlessness: The commit-reveal scheme ensures that either all parts of a commitment are fulfilled, or the block is rejected, maintaining atomicity. This process is enforced by the protocol, reducing reliance on external trust and minimizing the risk of manipulation.
Dynamic Block Construction: By enabling a dynamic approach to block construction, PEPC allows for the real-time adjustment of block contents based on network conditions, user demands, and emerging opportunities, such as MEV extraction.

PEPC Use Cases

PEPC offers several compelling use cases²:

Full-Block Auctions

Validators auction the right to construct entire blocks to builders. This mirrors the current MEV-Boost mechanism but with enhanced security and trustlessness by embedding the auction within the Ethereum protocol.
Ensures a transparent and fair process for block construction, potentially leading to more competitive bidding and better rewards for validators.

Partial Block Auctions

Validators can auction portions of a block's space to different builders, allowing multiple parties to contribute to a single block's construction.
Increases block space utilization efficiency and encourages diversity in transaction inclusion, mitigating potential centralization in block construction.

Parallel Block Auctions

Similar to partial block auctions but with the auction focused on separate, parallel components of block space, enabling a more granular approach to block construction.
Offers validators more control over block contents and structure, potentially optimizing for various factors like gas usage, transaction priority, and MEV extraction.

Slot vs. Block Auctions

Validators commit in advance to using blocks or block parts from specific builders, differentiating between commitments to "slots" (who will build) versus "blocks" (what will be built).
Enhances predictability and planning for both validators and builders, potentially leading to more strategic block construction and MEV extraction opportunities.

Future Slot Auctions

Validators auction the rights to construct blocks for future slots, essentially creating futures contracts for block space.
Provides market participants with more tools for speculation and hedging, potentially stabilizing income for validators and offering builders advanced planning capabilities.

Inclusion Lists

Validators commit to including specific transactions in their blocks, either through direct listing or by adhering to lists provided by third parties.
Increases transparency and predictability for transaction inclusion, potentially reducing gas price volatility and improving user experience.

Dynamic Block Configuration

Validators use PEPC to adjust block configurations dynamically, responding to real-time network conditions and demands.
Enhances network responsiveness and efficiency, potentially improving throughput and reducing congestion during peak periods.

Censorship Resistance

By making commitments to include certain transactions or follow specific inclusion patterns, validators can provide guarantees against censorship.
Strengthens Ethereum's censorship-resistant properties, ensuring that the network remains open and accessible to all users.

Protocol Upgrades and Feature Testing

PEPC can be used to test new protocol features or upgrades in a live environment without risking network stability, by making commitments to include transactions that utilize these features.
Offers a safer pathway for innovation and evolution within the Ethereum protocol, allowing for more experimental approaches to development.

Relationship and Differences to EigenLayer

PEPC and Eigenlayer have a complementary relationship, each addressing different aspects of Ethereum's scalability, security, and decentralization, while also sharing a common goal of enhancing the network's efficiency and flexibility³.

Security Layering: Eigenlayer introduces a mechanism to extend Ethereum's security to additional layers and services. In contrast, PEPC focuses on embedding more sophisticated and flexible commitment mechanisms within the Ethereum protocol itself. While Eigenlayer seeks to augment Ethereum's security model externally, PEPC aims to enhance the internal workings of the Ethereum main chain, specifically around block proposal and transaction inclusion processes.
Validator Commitments: Both PEPC and Eigenlayer involve validators making certain commitments, but the nature and scope of these commitments differ. In Eigenlayer, validators might commit to securing additional layers or services by restaking their ETH. In PEPC, validators make commitments regarding the construction of blocks, such as including certain transactions or adhering to specific block construction criteria.
MEV and Transaction Inclusion: Both projects indirectly address issues related to MEV and transaction inclusion fairness. Eigenlayer can facilitate solutions that mitigate the negative aspects of MEV or improve transaction inclusion through additional consensus layers. PEPC, by allowing for more dynamic and programmable proposer-builder agreements, could lead to a more equitable distribution of MEV opportunities and more transparent transaction inclusion mechanisms.

Economic Bound to Security in Eigenlayer

In principle, if the value at stake in activities or assets secured by Eigenlayer exceeds the value of staked ETH in Ethereum, the economic incentives could potentially become misaligned, leading to concerns about the sufficiency of security provided ².

In a broader Ethereum ecosystem context, PEPC and Eigenlayer could be seen as complementary, with Eigenlayer expanding Ethereum's security and utility beyond its core protocol and PEPC enhancing the efficiency and flexibility within the core protocol itself. Implementing both could lead to a scenario where Ethereum not only becomes more efficient and adaptable in handling transactions and block construction but also extends its security guarantees to a broader range of decentralized applications and services.

PEPC

Protocol-Enforced Proposer Commitments (PEPC)

How would PEPC work?

PEPC Use Cases

Relationship and Differences to EigenLayer

Resources

References

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