Ethereum explores post-quantum blobs of up to 512 KB
📋 Summary
An Ethereum Foundation researcher has proposed replacing PeerDAS’s KZG proofs with Merkle commitments and STARK proofs, focusing on quantum resistance. The draft also introduces variable-sized blobs, from 2 KB to 512 KB, but has no activation schedule yet.
A new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) draft aims to redesign an essential part of Ethereum’s data infrastructure. The proposal, published by Ethereum Foundation researcher Francesco Risitano this Sunday (the 1st), replaces the KZG commitments used in PeerDAS with a combination of Merkle trees using Keccak-256 and STARK proofs.
The document also suggests variable-sized blobs, ranging from 2,048 to 524,288 bytes — from 2 KB to 512 KB. The change would allow rollups to publish batches of data better suited to their own needs, rather than relying on a single format. For now, however, this is a draft open for discussion, with no activation date or hard fork defined.
What changes in PeerDAS
Blobs are temporary data spaces used mainly by layer-two networks to send information to Ethereum at a lower cost than conventional storage. PeerDAS allows validators to verify data availability through sampling, without requiring each node to download all the content.
In the current design, Ethereum uses KZG commitments to prove that each queried fragment belongs to the correct blob. The technology is efficient, but depends on parameters generated in a trusted setup ceremony. Risitano’s draft, on the other hand, proposes individual Merkle commitments for each blob, verified through authentication paths.
A LeanDA STARK proof would be used to recompute the Merkle root, check the Reed-Solomon encoding, and confirm that the commitment matches the published data.
📋 Summary
An Ethereum Foundation researcher has proposed replacing PeerDAS’s KZG proofs with Merkle commitments and STARK proofs, focusing on quantum resistance. The draft also introduces variable-sized blobs, from 2 KB to 512 KB, but has no activation schedule yet.
A new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) draft aims to redesign an essential part of Ethereum’s data infrastructure. The proposal, published by Ethereum Foundation researcher Francesco Risitano this Sunday (the 1st), replaces the KZG commitments used in PeerDAS with a combination of Merkle trees using Keccak-256 and STARK proofs.
The document also suggests variable-sized blobs, ranging from 2,048 to 524,288 bytes — from 2 KB to 512 KB. The change would allow rollups to publish batches of data better suited to their own needs, rather than relying on a single format. For now, however, this is a draft open for discussion, with no activation date or hard fork defined.
What changes in PeerDAS
Blobs are temporary data spaces used mainly by layer-two networks to send information to Ethereum at a lower cost than conventional storage. PeerDAS allows validators to verify data availability through sampling, without requiring each node to download all the content.
In the current design, Ethereum uses KZG commitments to prove that each queried fragment belongs to the correct blob. The technology is efficient, but depends on parameters generated in a trusted setup ceremony. Risitano’s draft, on the other hand, proposes individual Merkle commitments for each blob, verified through authentication paths.
A LeanDA STARK proof would be used to recompute the Merkle root, check the Reed-Solomon encoding, and confirm that the commitment matches the published data.