There are a number of things that most cryptocurrencies improve on. A lot of people find Bitcoin inefficient since it still can’t be used for daily purchases. In order to become adopted by stores, it is crucial that it can process transactions for a minimal amount and it should also be fast.
There have been questions regarding the ability of the Ethereum blockchain to process transactions. There are those saying that the Ethereum network is running in full capacity ever since the time that it was clogged by the CryptoKitties. Recently, Vitalik Buterin who is the co-creator of Ethereum mentioned his plan to scale things up for the Ethereum network.
What this brings to the table is that the Ethereum network could accommodate 3,200 percent more transactions without relying on the use of a second layer tech such as that of Plasma.
ZK-Snarks Can Help Scale Ethereum
Buterine mentioned that Ethereum can borrow tech innovations from Z-cash which is known for its privacy-centric cryptocurrency. According to Buterin, borrowing the ability of Z-cash to “mass validate” ETF transactions can make a huge impact on how the network confirms transactions.
ZK-Snarks according to Buterin will be relaying nodes to “verify the correctness of computations without having to execute them” or “learn what was executed”. What it does is basically compress the amount of data that will be stored within the blockchain while still keeping all the transactions on-chain.
He wrote in the Ethereum blog: “There are two classes of user: (i) transactor, and (ii) relayer. A relayer takes a set of operations from transactors, and combines them all into a transaction and makes a ZK-SNARK to prove the validity, and publishes the ZK-SNARK and the transaction data in a highly compressed form to the blockchain. A relayer gets rewarded for this by transaction fees from transactors”.
It is estimated that the integration of ZK-SNARKS will allow the Ethereum network to boost the number of transactions that it gets to process to around 500 transactions per second. Right now, the current cap is at 15 transactions per second. What it does is boost the majority of transaction capacity while still retaining the overall security within the network. Now, if Ethereum then decided to use this technology with its second layer technology, that can easily provide a much bigger scaling improvement.
Struggle Against Ripple
Ripple from a bearish market is now looking bigger. It was able to take Ethereum’s second spot momentarily. However, Ethereum was able to get it back. Many are anticipating regarding the availability of xRapid, which is a product that could potentially increase the adoption of XRP. What it does is provide a faster and more reliable means of moving money from one country to the next. Ripple has also built partnerships with Western Union and banks such as Santander.
Ethereum is currently in a position wherein if it is now forced to address scaling issues if it wants to achieve mass adoption. As decentralized applications that run on Ethereum struggled to achieve adoption, this could be the solution that can help Ethereum to get adopted.
