Ethereum can speed up by processing 65% of transactions in parallel

Ethereum could significantly increase its transaction speed by processing nearly 65% of its transactions in parallel, according to a recent study by Sei, a layer-1 blockchain network.

Currently, Ethereum processes transactions sequentially, meaning each one must finish before the next one starts. For example, if Bob sends 1 ETH to Alice and then someone else sends 1 ETH to Bob, these transactions need to be processed one after the other. However, Sei’s study reveals that many Ethereum transactions don’t depend on each other and can be processed simultaneously without causing any issues. In fact, the study found that 64.85% of Ethereum transactions could be handled in parallel, which would allow the network to handle more transactions at once and speed up its operations.

Sei’s analysis showed that, on average, each Ethereum block contains 60.77 transactions that are dependent on each other, suggesting there’s considerable room for improvement with parallel execution. While this approach could significantly boost Ethereum’s performance, there are still challenges, as 35.15% of Ethereum’s transactions rely on others and need to be processed sequentially.

One potential solution to improving Ethereum’s transaction speed is called “optimistic concurrency control.” This method, used by Sei’s protocol, allows transactions to occur simultaneously with the assumption they won’t conflict. After processing, the system checks for any issues. If conflicts occur, the system reverts the problematic transactions and tries again. This technique could help Ethereum process transactions faster while simplifying development.

Additionally, Sei notes that Ethereum could benefit from implementing sharding in the future. Sharding divides the network into smaller sections, allowing for more efficient transaction processing and improved scalability.

In conclusion, Sei’s study indicates that Ethereum has a significant opportunity to increase its transaction throughput and speed by leveraging parallel processing for many of its transactions, alongside other potential improvements like optimistic concurrency control and sharding.