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Ethereum Improvement Proposal

New Ethereum proposal aims to increase throughput by 50%

If approved, EIP-7781 may reduce block times to 8 seconds from 12 seconds, increase blob capacity and make decentralized exchanges more efficient. 

A new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) would slash block times on Ethereum by 33% and increase data capacity — increasing overall throughput by 50%, developers claim.

Introduced on Oct. 5 by Illyriad Games co-founder Ben Adams, EIP-7781 aims to slash block times on the Ethereum network to eight seconds from 12 seconds, increase the latency of based rollups and boost the capacity of blobs — a temporary data structure to reduce layer-2 network fees.

In an Oct. 6 post to X, Pseudonymous developer Cygaar said EIP-7781 would be the “first huge” step toward improving the base layer of the Ethereum network, as the bulk of developer focus is being herded toward Ethereum layer-2 networks as scaling solutions. 

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Lido assures LDO, stETH tokens remain safe despite flaw in token contract

The “fake deposit” attack enables bad actors to execute a transfer where the requested value is larger than what the user actually owns.

Ethereum staking protocol Lido Finance has assured both Lido DAO (LDO) and staked-Ether (stETH) tokens remain safe despite hackers allegedly exploiting a known security flaw in LDO’s token contract.

Lido didn’t confirm any exploits, but acknowledged the security flaw was known and reassured LDO and stETH funds remain safe in response to a Sept. 10 post by blockchain security firm SlowMist.

SlowMist said LDO’s flawed token contract allows bad actors to facilitate “fake deposit” attacks on exchanges because LDO’s token contract enables users to execute transactions even where they don’t have sufficient funds. This code deviates from the Ethereum Request for Comment 20 (ERC-20) token standard, according to SlowMist.

However, Lido Finance argued the flaw is built into all ERC-20 tokens — not just Lido’s LDO token:

SlowMist said the “fake deposit” attacks came from LDO’s token contract executing transfers where the value is larger than what the user actually owns, triggering a false return as opposed to reverting the transaction. While the firm said Lido's token contract has recently been exploited via this attack, no on-chain evidence was provided.

Cointelegraph reached out to SlowMist for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Meanwhile, on-chain analyst “Hercules” explained on Sept. 10 that the security flaw may not be picked up by cryptocurrency exchanges.

SlowMist recommends LDO holders to also check the return values of the token contract transfers in addition to the success or failure of a transaction.

The blockchain security firm concluded that token contract implementations and behaviors vary by project and to conduct comprehensive testing before integrating any new tokens.

Related: Ethereum staking services agree to 22% limit of all validators

However, Lido highlighted in the official Ethereum Improvement Proposal document — co-authored by Vitalik Buterin in November 2015 — that both the “transfer” and “transferFrom” functions must return the transfer status and are only recommended to revert a transaction in exceptional cases.

To resolve the security flaw, Lido confirmed the LDO token integration guides will soon be updated.

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‘Withdrawals are coming!’ — Ethereum devs confirm epoch for Shapella fork

Shapella will take effect at epoch 194,048, which is scheduled for 10:27:35pm UTC on April 12.

Ethereum validators will soon be able to withdraw their Ether (ETH) from the Beacon Chain, with the Shapella hard fork set to be activated on the Ethereum mainnet on April 12.

Shapella will take effect at epoch 194,048, which is scheduled for 10:27 pm UTC on April 12, Ethereum core developers confirmed.

The withdrawals will be enabled by Ethereum Improvement Proposal EIP-4895 by “pushing” staked Ether from the Beacon Chain to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), otherwise known as the execution layer.

The epoch, slot, and time were confirmed following a week-long deliberation between members of the Ethereum Foundation, which was led by Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko.

Tim Beiko suggested three epoch, slot and time combinations to members of EF two weeks ago. Source: Ethereum.org

While the hard fork will allow for partial and full withdrawals, several mechanisms are set in place to ensure a flood of Ether supply doesn’t disrupt the market.

There are now 17.81 million Ether staked on the Beacon Chain. At a current price of $1,776, which means $31.6 billion can be incrementally unlocked over time.

Staked Ether added to the Beacon Chain since it launched in December, 2020. Source: Beaconcha.in.

While the Ethereum Foundation described the last testnet run on Goerli as “smooth,” there was a notable delay in activation time due to many validators not updating their client software.

However, Beiko is confident it won’t be an issue this time, as Ethereum validators will be economically incentivized to make the update for the Mainnet.

Ethereum’s key hard forks

Because of EIP-4895, Shapella is considered the most significant hard fork on Ethereum since Paris (The Merge) changed the network consensus mechanism from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake on Sept 15.

Prior to that, London introduced EIP-1559 in August, 2021, which introduced a base fee that users must pay instead of the old price auction method. While the validators still receive a block reward and tip, the base fee is burned, which is intended to make Ether deflationary over time.

Related: Ethereum’s Shapella transition is “on the horizon”

Berlin optimized gas costs for some EVM actions in April 2021, while Beacon Chain Genesis marked the first block that was produced on the proof-of-stake chain on Dec. 1, 2020.

Finally in December 2019, Istanbul served to improve denial-of-service attack resilience and make layer-2 scaling solutions based on SNARKs and STARKs more performant.

The Ethereum Foundation also announced last week that it doubled rewards for any bugs found in the Shapella code. Successful bounties may receive a reward anywhere between $2,000 and $250,000, depending on how “critical” the bug is.

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Ethereum Upgrade to Implement Beacon Chain Withdrawals Scheduled for April 12

Ethereum Upgrade to Implement Beacon Chain Withdrawals Scheduled for April 12During the Execution Layer Meeting streamed on March 16, 2023, Ethereum developers announced that the blockchain is scheduled to upgrade on April 12, in 27 days. The upgrade, known as the Shanghai-Capella upgrade or Shapella, will include the implementation of Beacon chain push withdrawals. This will enable Ethereum network validators to support withdrawal operations following […]

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Ascending channel pattern sets Polygon (MATIC) up for a potential 30% rally

A bullish technical analysis pattern and the potential approval of the EIP-1559 proposal could back MATIC’s attempt to rally to a new all-time high.

Polygon prices look poised to rise by at least 30% in the wake of a key Jan. 18 upgrade that would push a considerable portion of its native MATIC token out of circulation.

Dubbed EIP-1559, the improvement proposal originally came to light as part of Ethereum's so-called London Hard Fork upgrade on Aug. 5. The proposal effectively started destroying, or "burning," a part of the fees paid to miners via Ether (ETH).

Traders and investors raised their bids for Ether before and after the EIP-1559 upgrade, noting that it made Ether a deflationary asset for the first time in history. For example, a model created by Ethereum co-founder Justin Drake claimed that EIP-1559 would reduce Ether's annual supply by 1.6 million ETH.

MATIC looks for new record highs

Polygon, which acts as a layer-2 protocol built to scale Ethereum's prevailing scalability issues, rolled out a testing implementation of EIP-1559 on Dec. 14, 2021. After the test net launch, MATIC price rallied by almost 30% to $2.35, which includes a brief run-up to its record high near $3.

MATIC/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

In theory, a lower supply against a rising demand would make the asset more valuable in the eyes of its bidder.

This classic economic reference has assisted in boosting demand for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) before. Issuance would be halved every four years against a limited supply cap of 21 million units. This begs the question, could the MATIC price rally in the same way? Mineplex co-founder Alexander Mamasidikov thinks yes.

Mamasidikov told Cointelegraph that EIP-1559 would impact MATIC price positively, adding that it could easily rally toward its current record high following the technical upgrade.

"In periods of price recovery, investors are often on the lookout for both technical and fundamental features to hang onto in order to back a coin, and Polygon brandishes both," he said, adding:

"While Polygon remains a better version of Ethereum in terms of lower transaction costs, it is also the delight of retail investors with respect to its low price at this time when compared with Ethereum or other smart contract networks."

What do Polygon's technicals say?

MATIC has been trending higher inside an ascending channel pattern since July 2021, confirmed by at least two reactive highs and two reactive lows.

The token recently retested the channel's lower trendline around $1.89 as support, a move that was followed up with a bullish retracement toward $2.50. It now acting as resistance and the $2.50 level also turned out to be near the 1.00 Fib line near $2.44.

MATIC/USD daily price chart featuring ascending channel pattern. Source: TradingView

That being said, MATIC may attempt a break above the $2.44-resistance around the EIP-1559 upgrade on Jan. 18. The move would set itself on a course to test its interim upside target near $3, which is approximately a 30% jump.

Related: Polygon network activity spikes as NFT sales reach new height

Meanwhile, if the EIP-1559 factor plays out any longer than anticipated, MATIC price may even attempt an extended run-up toward the 1.618 Fib line around $3.52. Conversely, a rejection at $2.44 could have Polygon retest the ascending channel support for a negative breakout.

Such a move would risk invalidating the bullish setup, as discussed above. All of this is in conjunction with exposing MATIC to a correction toward $1.77 or lower.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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