Ethereum Is Going Mobile | Hold My Beer
No, not another Ethereum bear post.
Given the growing number of smart mobile device users, I typically associate mass technology adoption with mobile efficient technology.
The most significant impediment to going fully mobile is often the inability to scale down data to fit the memory capacity of most mobile devices, and other times the inability to design larger memory without sacrificing mobility.
For context, the current size of the Ethereum blockchain is reportedly 1,174 GB, according to ycharts.
Depending on what storage type one leverages, running a full node counts up to several hundreds of dollars for storage cost alone.
In comparison, the average mobile phone has a storage capacity of 128GB, meaning it's generally impossible to run a full node or any type of node on one currently.
Ethereum ‘Verge’ upgrade to enable nodes on phones and smartwatches
Ethereum’s next upgrade, “The Verge,” will drastically reduce hardware requirements, making node operations accessible on everyday devices like phones and smartwatches.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the network’s next upgrade, called “The Verge,” is designed to make Ethereum more secure and accessible, allowing its nodes to run on devices as small as a “phone or smartwatch.”
The Verge aims to reduce hardware requirements using “stateless verification,” which will allow nodes to verify blockchain blocks without storing large amounts of data.
OK, you can give me my beer back now.
Ethereum's goal of enabling mobile-level nodes is ambitious, especially given that no one has ever achieved anything like this in reality.
I cannot help but think about how this, if successful, can help accelerate the development of decentralized physical infrastructure networks(DePINs) on Ethereum.
This is one of those emerging narratives that you should keep an eye out for because it can help decentralize the flow of data and improve accessibility.
One of the sectors that could benefit greatly from this would be "environmental monitoring and data collection" DePIN projects, which require seamless integration with mobile devices. A mobile-friendly node solution on Ethereum would open up opportunities for building a truly decentralized and distributed network of mobile nodes that collect environmental data and post it to the blockchain.
The Verge also includes proposed changes to the network’s gas cost system under Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)-4762 in preparation for stateless verification.
The proposed change would adjust gas fees for resource-heavy cryptographic operations to ensure network scalability and security while incorporating what Buterin calls “multidimensional gas.”
Ah, yes, the battle of fees will continue. At this point, I hope to see some real improvements. Frankly speaking, given recent witnessed lows, an era of low transaction costs on Ethereum may be closer than we know.
However, I do wonder what that might mean for the network's activity levels as it's no news that fees exploitation has been a thriving business on Ethereum.
At the same time, this could draw attention from builders on rival layer 1 blockchains, who've previously offered cheap alternatives with programmability. Given Ethereum’s developer and user network size, this could trigger a significant shift of where future projects decide to build and integrate and how they build.
An Ethereum bull post from badbitch?
Nahhhh, just speculations, betting against a seemingly cracked dev isn't exactly a safe bet, so it's really just better to speculate and watch closely.