Research Summary
The report announces the beta release of Reth, an Ethereum execution node, after 21 alpha releases. The report discusses the core features, performance, and stability of Reth Beta and its future plans. It also provides an update on the adoption of Reth and its readiness for Ethereum’s Cancun hardfork and the upcoming Ecotone hardfork.
Key Takeaways
Reth Beta Release
- Transition to Beta: After 21 alpha releases, Reth is entering its beta phase and preparing for a 1.0 “production ready” release once audits are completed in the next few months.
- Performance Metrics: Reth Beta has shown promising performance metrics, with live sync benchmarks exceeding 1K transactions per second (TPS) and historical sync surpassing 10K TPS. The fastest archive sync is now at 49 hours.
Adoption and Compatibility
- Adoption Rate: Despite being in the alpha stage, Reth is found in about 2-3% of all Ethereum nodes. The report anticipates this number to grow with the beta release.
- Compatibility: Reth Beta is ready for Ethereum’s Cancun hardfork and the upcoming Ecotone hardfork on Base Mainnet, Zora Network, and other OP Stack networks.
Performance and Stability Improvements
- Database Improvements: Reth Beta introduces V2 of its Database, which brings significant improvements in initial sync time, access speed to historical data, and disk usage for historical data.
- Resource Usage Improvements: The networking interface has been reworked to speed up Reth’s responsiveness to I/O, make it more resistant to DoS attacks, and improve the performance of the transaction pool.
Audits and Production Readiness
- Audits: Reth has contracted Sigma Prime to perform an audit on its critical components. A community-driven audit of Revm, the Rust EVM behind Reth, is also underway.
- Production Readiness: Once both audits are complete and all findings have been addressed, Reth 1.0 is expected to be released by the end of Q2, marking its first production-ready release.
Future of Reth
- Contribution to Client Diversity: Reth aims to contribute towards client diversity and help experiment with new technologies for the Ethereum protocol.
- Modularity and Proliferation: Reth’s modularity is expected to drive its proliferation in EVM-centric infrastructure, with early signs of adoption already visible in Layer 2s such as OP Stack.
Actionable Insights
- Consider Reth for High-Performance Use Cases: Professional node operators may consider switching to Reth in production for use cases where high performance with great margins is required, such as Rollups, RPC, MEV, Indexing, Simulations, and P2P activities.
- Monitor Reth’s Progress: Stakeholders should keep an eye on Reth’s progress, particularly the results of its audits, as it prepares for its 1.0 release.
- Explore Reth’s Potential in EVM-Centric Infrastructure: Developers and companies should explore the potential of Reth’s modularity in building a new wave of EVM-centric infrastructure.
