Any application running on Ethereum is implemented through smart contracts and specialized computer programs. Any interaction with or between these contracts is a transaction because it usually involves a fee used as remuneration for the miners of the blockchain network and hosting the smart contracts on their machines.
As the number of users and contracts grows, the Ethereum network has to process an increasing number of transactions, which isn’t free and results in higher transaction fees and slower execution.
Arbitrium is a system that allows participants of the Ethereum Blockchain to settle their transactions outside the main Ethereum network. Once executed, the transaction data is sent to the Ethereum blockchain, and everything will be logged on the main net.
Keep reading this article to learn everything you need about the Arbitrium Ethereum technology that will allow greater scalability of the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain.
What Is Arbitrium: Insight Into The Module
Arbitrium is a Layer 2 resolution designed to enhance the functionality of Ethereum smart contracts, increasing speed and scalability while adding privacy features. The Arbitrium platform allows developers to run unmodified EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) contracts and Ethereum transactions on a second layer while still providing the superior first-layer security of the Ethereum blockchain.
It was designed to address some shortcomings of existing Ethereum-based smart contracts. For example, inefficiencies and high implementation costs often degrade the Ethereum user experience and make transactions costly.
Using a transaction aggregation technique, Arbitrium records batches of transactions sent on the Ethereum main chain and executes them on a cheap and scalable secondary chain, leveraging Ethereum to ensure correct results. This process helps remove most of the computational and storage costs currently experienced by Ethereum while enabling a powerful new class of Layer 2-based DApps.
How Does The Resolution Work?
The arbitrage mentioned above is a type of technique known as optimistic accumulation. It enables the scaling of Ethereum smart contracts by sending messages between smart contracts on the main Ethereum chain and smart contracts on the second-level Arbitrium chain. Most of the transaction processing takes place at the second level, and the results of this processing are recorded in the main chain, greatly increasing speed and efficiency.
Importantly, any validator can publish aggregate blocks and check the validity of other blocks. On the other hand, the term aggregation describes how the entire history of the chain is reconstructed from event logs optimized using public information. The Arbitrium protocol ensures that code executes correctly (as intended) as long as verifiers are honest and helps networks resist collusion and other attacks.
Future versions of Arbitrium will also add two modes: Channels and AnyTrust Sidechain.
Individual nodes, like many other blockchains, have the option to participate in the arbitrage chain. Level 1 transactions are aggregated using full and validating nodes that monitor the chain’s state. The remaining user transaction fees are allocated to other participants in the network, such as validators, while collectors who move transactions to the Level 1 chain are paid ETH.
Arbitrium provides a challenging phase for aggregation blocks. In this phase, other validators validate blocks and issue challenges if they appear incorrect. Suppose the block turns out to be wrong, or the challenge turns out to be illegitimate. In that case, the fake pieces will have their stake forfeited, ensuring that the pieces always play fair or risk the outcome.
The platform also has a dedicated virtual machine called the Arbitrium Virtual Machine (AVM). It is the execution environment for Arbitrium smart contracts that run on top of EthBridge, a smart contract stack that interacts with the Arbitrium chain. Ethereum-compatible smart contracts are automatically converted to run on AVM.
What Makes Arbitrium Different From The Others?
This project is designed to provide an easy-to-use platform that developers can use to launch highly efficient and scalable smart contracts compatible with Ethereum.
However, this is not the first platform to try to push the limits of Ethereum, and dozens of other solutions want to offer similar functionality. So what sets Arbitrium apart from other offers? Well, it has some eye-catching features such as:
High EVM compatibility
Arbitrium is one of the most popular EVM-compatible suites. Compatible with other EVM modules at their bytecode level, any language that compiles on top of EVM, such as Vyper and Solidity, will work out of the box. This simplifies the development process, as developers do not have to deal with a new language before building programs in Arbitrium.
Robust developer tools
The team behind Arbitrium is doing everything possible to lower the barriers to entry when developing Tier 2 solutions. Therefore, Arbitrium’s extensive developer documentation has been created to allow developers to use the tool on Ethereum. There is no need to download anything specific to Arbitrium, such as plugins or compilers like Truffle or Hardhat.
Extremely low commissions
As a scalable Layer 2 solution for Ethereum, Arbitrium is designed to increase not only Ethereum transaction throughput but also lower transaction fees at the same time. With highly efficient pooling technology, Arbitrium can reduce fees to a fraction of Ethereum while providing ample incentives to validators.
Under testing
Arbitrium has been running several test nets since October and is currently active on the developer’s main net. Unlike many other Tier 2 scaling solutions, Arbitrium does not own a native utility token, so there will be no token sale.
Additionally, interested developers have time to get Arbitrium up and running before it opens to the public. Arbitrium recently promised to give more than 250 development teams who applied to build programs on the main net at least two full weeks of development time before launching live on Arbitrium.
Well-developed ecosystem
Since it is based on Ethereum, it has a huge support community. Arbitrium is already working with several Ethereum DApps and infrastructure projects such as Uniswap, DODO, and Sushi.
Why Is This Consent Secure?
Arbitrium uses the AnyTrust Guarantee security protocol to confirm blocks. According to this protocol, only a unanimous agreement among all chosen validators allows the acceptance of a new block. As mentioned earlier, a single validator who disagrees will cause a dispute, and a suspicious block will be re-evaluated. This mechanism contrasts with Ethereum, as the consensus reached over the network is based on what the majority thinks, while individual oppositions are rejected.
Therefore, Arbitrium relies on having at least one honest validator. Remember that since validators are assigned for a particular dApp, their malicious behavior will never affect the entire network.
Besides, not all validators are Arbitrium because some nodes simply calculate the correct state of the history chain. However, anyone can become an Arbitrium validator by running open-source code from their local machine. Some validators may decide to split ETH to propose new pool blocks.
If such a validator is found to be cheating, part of his effort will be lost and distributed to honest auditors. The required stake size fluctuates dynamically to allow malicious validators to compensate for the loss of compromised blocks.
Watchtower auditors are control auditors. They only notice blocks being formed and alert active auditors if they see suspicious activity.
Now You Know!
Only the consensus outcome is pushed to the Ethereum main net when consensus is established with Arbitrium. As a result, all of the languages used for Ethereum are compatible with Arbitrium, and all end users can’t see how it works.
This, among many other factors, explains why the Ethereum community has widely embraced Arbitrium. Just wait for the launch of the Arbitrium Minnet see to find out how it will behave.