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- 1 Sharding has emerged as a method of enhancing the scalability of blockchain networks.
- 2 Ethereum is already experimenting with it and may make it a permanent aspect of the network.
No matter how revolutionary a technology is, it becomes adaptable only when it gets scalable. From the telephone to the internet, they all reached the masses when they became scalable. The same concept applies to cryptocurrency as well. Thus, leading blockchain platforms started working on digital assets’ scalability long back.
To achieve that, they also came up with so many solutions. Some of them gained traction while others couldn’t leave a mark. One of the notable methods that enhanced the scalability of crypto was Sharding. In simple words, it’s the fragmentation or breaking down of one big block into many parts.
Yet, a scalable solution can’t be as easy as that, can it? So let’s explore the depths of sharding and see how it affects crypto.
Understanding The Concept of Sharding
As stated above, sharding is a technique of fragmentation. How exactly does it fragment and how does it help the network get better? To begin with, sharding apportions computational and storage efforts across a peer-to-peer network. It distributes these resources among the nodes of the blockchain.
For the uninitiated, the nodes are computers that essentially manage the whole blockchain network. By doing that, the transactional load gets divvied up among the whole network instead of going to just one. Now, just because the resources are distributed, it doesn’t mean that they are compromised.
When a large lot of data gets distributed into the network, each portion is called a shard. Among all the blockchains, Ethereum is the most notable one that adopted this technique. Hence, studying its sharding is certainly something every keen blockchain learner should do.
Insights Into Ethereum Sharding
On Ethereum, sharding doesn’t work as a standalone technique. Instead, it is implemented alongside the layer-2 rollups and smart contracts. It works on the mainnet storing and processing transaction data off-chain. This way, sharding doesn’t take the entire load of handling and storage of data.
While rollups tackle storage, sharding takes care of processing giving better results to the users. Ethereum creates an efficient system to manage on-chain and off-chain data. However, it should be noted that Ethereum hasn’t fully implemented sharding yet.
As per the speculations, it will do that by the end of 2023, but the discussions are still on. The Ethereum team has said that they’re still in the process of making sharding more efficient. They have mentioned something called danksharding which would probably deliver more efficacy to the process.
Still, some insights suggest that early shard chains will still be used. Reportedly, they will be deployed to facilitate extra data only. For handling smart contracts and transactions, the team would resort to something else. People familiar with the ecosystem estimate that it would be something combined with rollups.
Rollups and Changes Ethereum May bring
Users should know that rollups enable dApps to pile different transactions into one. It submits the transactions to the blockchain with cryptographic proof while storing them off-chain. When combined with rollups, shards deliver higher data availability. They can materialize 100,000 TPS easily while tackling the data with efficiency.
For Ethereum, the motto is to achieve high functionality while reducing the input. So they are ready to make all sorts of changes in this setting. This means that there could be some changes in the implementation of shards or rollups. Most probably, each shard will come to contain unique smart contracts and account balances.
Nevertheless, nothing has been confirmed so far in terms of technical functionality. People are guessing that shards won’t be used for handling smart contracts. They will only be deployed as data storage reservoirs. The other possibility is that shards will play a bigger role in the ecosystem.
They might be involved in the execution of smart contracts too. Last but not least, the team may wait for the zero-knowledge implementation. Zero Knowledge SNARKs are cryptographic proofs that ensure the privacy of data. If it’s implemented, the problem of cross-shared communication may be easily resolved.
Moreover, the zk-SNARKs may facilitate the verification of transfers between shards. While verifying, they also keep the data from getting exposed to anyone.
Benefits of Ethereum Sharding
There are notable advantages that sharding can bring to every network.
Decentralized Node Operation– By disseminating resources among all nodes, sharding ensures the decentralized working of the blockchain. They rule out any chances of centralization of data.
Enhanced Participation– Since sharding brings scalability, blockchain can expect more participation with its implementation. It enables networks to reach more users in a faster and more efficient way.
Performance & Efficacy– Sharding certainly succeeds in making the blockchain faster and more powerful. It amps up the performance of blockchain especially when it comes to payment.
Upshot
Sharding has the potential to make blockchains more efficient. It works with a basic concept that has been implemented in many other technologies in different ways. Since it makes crypto better, it will most probably be adopted by more tokens in the future. Yet, no one can be certain about the evolving technological landscape of blockchain.
Nonetheless, the concept will stay in some form or the other.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while pursuing his post-graduation major in blockchain development. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing, along with coding. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing skills, and a reliable craft at explaining the concepts such as blockchain programming, languages and token minting. He also frequently shares technical details and performance indicators of ICOs and IDOs.
