5 Key Directions for Blockchain Technology Development in 2023

1. Important Technical Upgrade of Ethereum

In 2023, Ethereum will undergo two important upgrades: the Shanghai upgrade and the Cancun upgrade. The Shanghai upgrade will open up staking withdrawals, which is expected to increase staking participation. The Cancun upgrade is the most significant technical upgrade of the year, including Proto-Danksharding and EVM Object Format (EOF), which will greatly enhance the performance of Ethereum.

In addition, Ethereum is also preparing for the future Danksharding upgrade. The KZG Ceremony successfully launched in January, providing the cryptographic foundation for Proto-danksharding. Although Danksharding may not be realized in 2023, its success will mark an important milestone in Ethereum's scalability.

MEV, regulation, and anti-censorship are also important topics for Ethereum in 2023. Currently, solutions such as decentralized Block builders networks and cross-chain MEV platforms are being explored, as well as technologies like crList and protocol layer PBS to prevent relayer malfeasance and achieve separation of proposal, construction, and verification.

2. Staking ( related technology and service innovations

With the advancement of the Ethereum merge and the Shanghai upgrade, the staking track will see more development in 2023:

• Liquid Staking: Solutions to improve the liquidity of staked tokens will emerge.
• Decentralized Staking: Needs to improve the liquidity issues of existing solutions
• Restaking: The "secondary staking" concept proposed by EigenLayer has garnered significant attention.
• Decentralized Validator Network ) DVT (: SSV and Obol are exploring related technologies.
• Staking yield stabilization: addressing the issue of excessive yield disparity among different nodes.

In addition, Ethereum's multiple version clients are also worth paying attention to, such as Paradigm's Reth and al6z's Helios, among other innovative designs. A self-hosted Blockchain explorer based on the new type of client is also being developed.

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3. Modular Blockchain Optimization and Layer 3 Ecosystem Development

In 2023, modular Blockchain will make progress on multiple levels:

• Data Availability Layer: More competitors will join beyond Celestia.
• Execution Layer: Fuel and others adopt a new architecture to improve the efficiency of smart contract execution.
• Layer 2 Optimization: AltLayer and others use modular Rollup, OP Stack supports rapid construction of Layer 2
• Decentralized Sequencer: Solving centralization issues through shared Sequencer and other solutions.
• Layer 3: Development tools and environments that provide further vertical scalability based on Layer 2.

More public chains will also build ecosystems through subnets and other methods, such as Avalanche Subnet and Binance Chain's Beacon Chains.

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4. The application of ZK technology in non-scaling areas

Although zkEVM still needs time to mature, the application of ZK technology in other fields is worth looking forward to, especially zkBridge:

• ZK proof verification of validator signatures
• ZK-ifying the PoS consensus process

In addition, there are the following trends in the cross-chain field:

• Multi-chain applications: such as cross-chain authentication of identity and records
• Cross-chain MEV: The MEV issues between Layer 2 and Layer 1 will be highlighted.
• Interchain Security: Shared security solutions such as Cosmos' Interchain Security

![2023 Top 5 Technology Trends to Watch: Ethereum Upgrade, Staking, Modularization, ZK Applications, and Account Abstraction])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-238b9ae3d0321358165520158098244d.webp(

5. Terminal Application Innovation: Account Abstraction, MPC and Lightning Network

• MPC)TSS( is expected to become the standard configuration for wallets, supporting more application scenarios.
• Account abstraction )AA( design is nearing completion, and the product in combination with MPC is worth looking forward to.
• Lightning Network Application Innovation:
  • Introduce stablecoins and custom assets
  • DLC enables non-custodial financial derivatives
  • Integration with the social protocol Nostr brings new traffic

In addition, Web3 developer tools are constantly being improved, including new programming language ecosystems, low-code tools, data middleware, etc., to accumulate a technological foundation for the next industry cycle.

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