The Battle of High-Performance Public Chains: Comparison and Future Prospects between MegaETH and Monad

Bitget App

Trade smarter

Bitget

News

cryptoHowe.eth2024/09/09 03:56

By:cryptoHowe.eth

Preface

Recently, a Blankless podcast about MegaETH vs Monad ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qZbLyHPErg) in which Lei Yang and Keone Hon's discussion has sparked widespread discussion, and the definition of Full node has attracted countless media discussions.

This article will sort out the ins and outs of MegaETH vs Monad, and provide relevant introductions, analysis, and opinions on them respectively.

The Battle of High-Performance Public Chains: Comparison and Future Prospects between MegaETH and Monad image 0

MegaETH vs Monad

The discussion of MegaETH and Monad in the podcast mainly revolves around the similarities and differences between the two, how to achieve decentralization and anti-censorship, and Full Node definition .

The similarities and differences between MegaETH and Monad

Speaking of the similarities between MegaETH and Monad, the first is Both have the same original intention - high-performance public chains They both believe that the current Ethereum Layer1 processing 10-15 transactions per second can no longer meet the performance requirements of the current industry. However, EVM has undergone long-term market validation and has become an important standard in the industry. Although the current EVM may be lacking in some aspects such as performance bottlenecks, there are no fundamental defects. Over time, continuous improvement of EVM will make it better, which is why both choose to build on EVM .

The differences between MegaETH and Monad are mainly reflected in the following two aspects:

The goals are different: MegaETH aims for the Highest performance; Monad aims to achieve maximum performance with minimal hardware requirements while ensuring decentralization as much as possible.

Different architectures: Based on the above goals, MegaETH conducted research on all current Layer1 and Layer2, and finally found that it is impossible to achieve ultimate high performance and achieve a balance between performance and decentralization in Layer1. It works, so MegaETH is built on ETH Layer2 and partially optimized ; while Monad resolutely chooses to maximize decentralization, making a Layer1 and optimizing it in different structural levels such as database, efficiency, execution, and algorithm.

Implementation of decentralization and anti-censorship

Before achieving high-performance public chains, both MegaETH and Monad considered how to do this while ensuring decentralization.

From the specific implementation, Monad optimizes hardware and network settings to achieve minimal hardware requirements , making it easy for everyone to run nodes, thus achieving decentralization. This is mainly because Monad believes that the original Ethereum network has high requirements for operation. Monad wants to directly optimize various structures in the network to make lower-end consumer-grade hardware run, reduce customer engagement barriers, and achieve Vitalik's ideal of "everyone can run nodes".

MegaETH optimizes performance and reduces hardware costs for users by splitting the responsibilities of full nodes into different roles Traditional full nodes need to perform multiple tasks in the blockchain network, such as state synchronization, transaction sorting, and execution, so the hardware requirements are high and many ordinary users find it difficult to afford. However, MegaETH splits these tasks into three roles: sorter, prover, and full node, with each role only responsible for specific tasks. This division reduces the burden on individual nodes, reduces hardware requirements, and allows everyone to run nodes, improving decentralization. MegaETH also optimizes computing and state reading and writing, further improving performance. At the same time, the decentralization of MegaETH mainly relies on the existing decentralized foundation of Ethereum Layer1, because Ethereum itself has tens of thousands of full nodes and has highly decentralized characteristics.

In contrast, Monad pursues a stronger belief in decentralization , all improvements and optimizations need to ensure sufficient decentralization; MegaETH believes that decentralization is just one of its characteristics , so it chooses to rely on the security of the market-verified Ethereum Layer1 as a guarantee, and it will focus more on how to improve performance.

In general, Monad optimizes the underlying structure of the blockchain network, while MegaETH reasonably allocates the hardware requirements for node operation and optimizes the existing execution, communication and other aspects of the network .

In this discussion topic, Lei repeatedly mentioned the term anti-censorship Anti-censorship refers to the fact that transactions and data on a blockchain cannot be easily censored, manipulated, or suppressed by any single party In this regard, MegaETH differs greatly from Monad. For MegaETH, although it uses a single active sorter to verify all transactions in the entire network, it relies on tens of thousands of verification nodes in Ethereum Layer1 to ensure the network's anti-censorship ; while Monad reduces the threshold for node operation and increases the number of network nodes to ensure the network's anti-censorship .

Full Node Definition

During the discussion of "who has a higher degree of decentralization", Lei and Keone have different opinions on the definition of Full Node. The reason for the disagreement is mainly because everyone expresses different starting points .

The full node mentioned by Lei from MegaETH refers to the full node role within the system after MegaETH decouples and splits the full node role. Its main responsibility is to synchronize the latest state copy of the system, but it is not responsible for executing all transactions in the system. Keone from Monad refers to the broad definition of a full node, which is a node that can access all states and execute all transactions. Due to the lack of prior knowledge of MegaETH's node splitting improvement, ambiguity arises.

Introduction and Analysis of MegaETH and Monad

MegeETH and Monad, as emerging representatives of high-performance public chains, will be introduced and analyzed in this section from their technical characteristics, community culture, and advantages and disadvantages to help readers better understand the positioning and development direction of these two major projects.

MegaETH: Improving performance through node specialization

One of the core innovations of MegaETH in terms of technical features is to professionalize the responsibilities of traditional full nodes, which is called node specialization Usually, full nodes undertake multiple tasks, including state synchronization, transaction sorting, execution, etc., which leads to high hardware requirements and hinders the participation of ordinary users. MegaETH divides nodes into three categories: sorters, provers, and full nodes, each performing their own duties, thus greatly reducing hardware requirements and improving overall performance. In addition, MegaETH ** has introduced a series of optimization techniques to further improve the efficiency of computation and state processing:

Real-time EVM Engine: MegaETH introduces the first real-time EVM execution engine, which can quickly process a large number of transactions when they arrive and reliably publish state changes (state diff) in as little as 10 milliseconds.

Smart contract real-time compile: Using just-in-time compile (JIT) technology, smart contracts are dynamically converted into native machine code, eliminating the inefficient process of interpreting EVM bytecode. This technology can improve the performance of computationally intensive applications by up to 100 times and is suitable for building complex DApps with high real-time performance requirements.

State Tree Improvement: MegaETH replaces the traditional Merkle Patricia Trie (MPT) with a new state tree, greatly reducing disk I/O operations and solving performance bottlenecks in state tree maintenance. This new design not only maintains EVM compatibility, but also efficiently scales to TB-level state data.

State Synchronization Protocol: MegaETH uses an efficient peer-to-peer protocol to propagate state updates from the sorter to the full node with low latency and high throughput. Even nodes with poor network connections can maintain the latest state synchronization at an update rate of 100,000 TPS.

In terms of community culture, MegaETH pays attention to its community culture construction. Rabbit, as its mascot image, frequently appears in various community activities, and related cultural shirts, hats and other peripheral products also create a sense of belonging for community members. In addition, MegaETH has incubated a brand called MegaMafia , aiming to provide support for developers and ecosystem builders to help them build projects or design ecosystem peripherals on MegaETH. To motivate developers, MegaETH has launched the 10x Builders program to promote high-performance projects on its platform.

Therefore, MegaETH has the following three advantages:

Node specialization: effectively allocate hardware resources, reduce the pressure on individual nodes, and lower the hardware access threshold.
Relying on the security and censorship resistance of Ethereum Layer1: MegaETH maintains the decentralization and censorship resistance of Ethereum, while focusing on the Performance optimization of Layer2, achieving a balance between performance and security.
Emphasize developer experience: Encourage developers to participate in ecosystem construction through various tools and ecosystem plans, and reduce user participation barriers.

However, it should be noted that MegaETH has a potential security risk, that is, its network relies on a single active sorter to verify transactions . Although some security guarantees are provided through optimistic Rollup and economic models, the essence is still a trust assumption, which may affect the decentralization and security of the system in extreme cases .

Monad: Breaking through the limitations of the Ethereum architecture

The core highlight of Monad in terms of technology lies in its deep optimization of blockchain architecture. By introducing the following four major technological innovations , transaction processing efficiency has been greatly improved, and consumer-grade hardware can also participate in the operation of network nodes, significantly reducing the participation threshold, making Monad's ecosystem more open and popular:

Parallel Execution: The original transaction execution was to execute the next transaction after completing a complete transaction. Monad achieves parallel processing by dividing tasks into a series of smaller tasks that can be processed in parallel , and can also solve the problems of state storage, transaction processing, and distributed consensus in the transaction processing process. As shown in the figure below, when washing four clothes, the simplest strategy is to wash, dry, fold, and store the first clothes first, and then start the second clothes. Monad's parallel mechanism starts washing the second clothes when the first clothes enter the dryer.

Image source: https://docs.monad.xyz/technical-discussion/concepts/pipelining

MonadBFT: Simply put, it is the consensus mechanism for parallel execution mentioned above, which is more efficient than the traditional Byzantine consensus mechanism.

Delayed execution: ** The traditional transaction on-chain process is as follows: 1) The node executes the transaction first, and 2) The verification node consensus on the transaction on-chain. The performance bottleneck in this process mainly lies in the execution part. Delayed execution can verify and execute the transaction within a certain time range, greatly improving the efficiency of transaction on-chain.

MonadDB innovates the database used by most Ethereum clients to improve state access efficiency and better support parallel execution of transactions.

Also not to be ignored is the Monad community, the three mascots, unique community slogans and Meme culture form a distinct brand perception . Unlike other projects, Monad does not rely on task platforms or testnet nodes for marketing, but interacts with users through rich community activities, creative contests and mini-games.

Therefore, Monad has the following three advantages:

Breaking through the bottleneck of Ethereum architecture: Monad is not limited by the original design of Ethereum, and can perform underlying optimization while maintaining EVM compatibility, so that consumer-grade hardware can also participate in the network.
EVM compatibility: Monad can directly leverage the existing EVM ecosystem to help developers migrate and build DApps more easily.
The community has a high active level: Monad has accumulated a group of loyal community users, and a good community culture provides a solid foundation for ecological development

However, the current number of verification nodes in Monad is still very small compared to the number of nodes in Ethereum, about 200-300. Over time, large-scale expansion may pose new challenges to its parallel processing capabilities and network consistency. As the number of nodes further increases, whether Monad can continue to maintain its high performance and how effective its performance improvement is still to be verified .

Summary

MegaETH and Monad each promote the optimization and development of blockchain networks through different paths. MegaETH maintains the decentralized foundation of Ethereum through node specialization and optimization of existing architecture, and achieves significant performance improvements. Monad optimizes the underlying architecture while ensuring decentralization, reduces hardware barriers, and provides efficient development experience for the community.

Therefore , regarding the strength of MegaETH and Monad, Eureka Partners believes that it is currently impossible to make a hasty judgment . Firstly, the perspectives of the two are not the same. MegaETH aims for the Highest performance, while Monad is committed to maintaining decentralization and reducing user barriers. Secondly, the routes of the two are completely different. MegaETH is Layer2, and Monad is Layer1.

But one thing is certain, the high-performance public chain track they pursue will be one of the trends in the future development of the industry The current infrastructure has been criticized for its low efficiency and high cost, which limits the entry of many DApps with high-frequency interaction needs. The arrival and improvement of high-performance public chains in the future will gradually make up for this shortcoming and make the entire industry ecosystem more prosperous.

Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

PoolX: Earn new token airdrops

Lock your assets and earn 10%+ APR

Lock now!