Five Key Trends to Follow in the Blockchain Technology Field in 2023

Important Technical Upgrade of Ethereum

In 2023, Ethereum will undergo two important upgrades:

1. Shanghai Upgrade: Opened the staking withdrawal function, which is expected to increase the staking volume and intensify competition among related projects.

2. Cancun Upgrade: Possibly the most significant technical upgrade for Ethereum in 2023, mainly includes:

   • Proto-Danksharding: Aims to significantly reduce mainnet transaction fees and pave the way for L2 development.

   • EVM Object Format (EOF): Optimize EVM performance and reduce smart contract operating costs.

In addition, Ethereum is also preparing for future technological development:

• The KZG Ceremony started in January, laying the cryptographic foundation for Proto-danksharding.

• The formulation of Danksharding standards and the resolution of technical obstacles are underway.

MEV, regulation, and anti-censorship are also important topics for Ethereum in 2023:

• Decentralized Block Builder network construction
• Cross-chain Heterogeneous Chain MEV Platform
• The protocol layer PBS achieves proposal, construction, and verification separation.

Development of the Staking Track

After the upgrade in Shanghai, the Staking track will welcome more innovations:

1. Liquid Staking: Improve the liquidity of staked tokens

2. Decentralized Staking: Existing solutions like RocketPool need to improve liquidity.

3. Restaking: The "second staking" concept proposed by EigenLayer has garnered much attention.

4. Decentralized Validator Network ( DVT ): SSV and Obol explore decentralized validator solutions

5. Staking yield stabilization: Addressing the issue of excessive yield disparity among different nodes.

In addition, multiple versions of Ethereum clients are also worth following, such as Paradigm's Reth and al6z's Helios.

Modular Blockchain Technology Progress

Modular Blockchain may make progress in multiple areas in 2023:

1. New competitors are emerging in the data availability layer.

2. A more flexible and efficient execution layer has emerged.

3. Layer2 optimization plan:

   • Modular Rollup
   • Rapidly build application-specific Rollups
   • Solve the Sequencer centralization issue

4. More Layer2 and Layer3 ecosystem development

Expansion of ZK Technology Applications

The zkEVM is expected to have multiple project mainnet launches in 2023, but the technology still needs time to mature.

The application of ZK in non-scaling areas is worth looking forward to, especially zkBridge:

• Validator Signature ZK Proof
• PoS consensus process ZK-fied

Wallet and User Application Innovation

1. MPC(TSS) technology will become a standard configuration for wallets.

2. Account abstraction (AA) design is nearing completion, and products combined with MPC are worth looking forward to.

3. There will be more innovations in applications such as payments and financial services on the Lightning Network.

4. Web3 developer tools are continuously improving:

   • New programming language ecosystem (such as Move)
   • Layer2 Development Environment
   • Low-code/No-code tools
   • Data Middleware
   • Decentralized Endpoint Service

Overall, in 2023, Blockchain technology will continue to innovate and develop in multiple areas such as infrastructure, scaling solutions, cross-chain technology, and user experience.