Arbitrum DAO gains unanimous support for BoLD protocol upgrade

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Arbitrum, Ethereum’s most significant layer 2 scaling project, aims to enhance its environment by introducing a novel dispute resolution mechanism known as the Bounded Optimistic Liveness Dispute (BoLD) system.

The publication dated January 6th has initiated a final round of voting within the Arbitrum Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). This proposal intends to enhance the network’s capability to withstand potential delays in transaction processing.

Currently, as I’m typing this, the proposal has received overwhelming approval from the community. Voting will come to an end on January 24th.

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Arbitrum operates two primary networks: Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova. The first, Arbitrum One, boasts a Total Value Locked (TVL) of approximately $17.70 billion, making it suitable for everyday use. It offers an affordable solution for executing Ethereum-compatible smart contracts. Conversely, Arbitrum Nova, with a smaller TVL of around $43 million, is tailored to applications that demand greater transaction speed.

Presently, Arbitrum chains utilize a group of authorized validators to authenticate transactions and minimize potential delays. These validators serve as watchdogs within the network, keeping an eye on activities to prevent illegitimate transactions from being incorporated into the blockchain.

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What is the BoLD protocol?

As a crypto investor, I’m excited about the BoLD protocol that aims to democratize Arbitrum’s validation system. Currently, only a chosen few validators have access, but with this innovation, it’s open for anyone to participate, making it more inclusive and fair.

The goal is to settle disagreements within a specified timeframe, preventing unscrupulous individuals from manipulating the process to prolong transaction verifications for an excessively long duration under the present setup.

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On Arbitrum, the present method for resolving disagreements depends on an authorized group of validators who help prevent delays caused by attackers.

According to the proposal, BoLD minimizes the dangers associated with delay attacks by establishing a maximum time limit for resolving disputes. Additionally, it’s mentioned in the proposal that there’s no longer a need for relying on a restricted group of validators.

If implemented, the system guarantees that disputes are resolved within approximately 12.8 days.

BoLD has been operational on the Arbitrum testnet since April 2024. 

Key features 

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One notable aspect of BoLD is its censorship time-out feature, which is put in place to combat issues such as sequencer censorship or downtime.

The system is constructed to manage scenarios when the transaction processor (referred to as the sequencer) either blocks specific transactions or malfunctions completely, rendering itself incapable of operation.

On December 15, 2023, the Arbitrum One platform encountered an interruption that lasted around 78 minutes. During this period, the sequencer, which is responsible for processing transactions on the network, temporarily stopped due to a substantial increase in data flow.

Introducing Infura to Nova

As a researcher examining the intricacies of Arbitrum’s ecosystem, I find myself explaining that BoLD (Build and Leverage Delegate) will facilitate permissionless validation within Arbitrum One. Conversely, Arbitrum Nova maintains its permissioned model due to its smaller Total Value Locked (TVL), which renders unrestricted validation less practical according to the proposal’s recommendations.

Instead, the plan incorporates the inclusion of Infura onto Nova’s list of approved validators for improved security.

Infura serves as an infrastructure provider for the blockchain community, granting developers effortless access to Ethereum nodes, eliminating the need for them to establish and maintain their own infrastructure.

The plan is to include Infura in the approved list of validators for Arbitrum Nova, thereby expanding the pool of active validators. This expansion should strengthen the network’s overall security, resilience, and dependability.

If approved, BoLD will be deployed on Arbitrum One and Nova on Feb. 12. 

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2025-01-10 14:41