Ethereum Speedup Proposal Aims to Balance Decentralization with Efficiency
The Ethereum mainnet is set to become faster without sacrificing decentralization thanks to EIP-8198, also known as Quick Slots. This proposal, authored by Carl Beekhuizen and submitted by Barnabé Monnot, aims to include it in the Hegotá upgrade. The first step is to remove the hardcoded assumption that block time is always 12 seconds, followed by a gradual reduction of block times from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
According to Ethlabs, which aggregated feedback from approximately 20 ecosystem participants, faster block times will make on-chain markets more efficient. This means smoother experiences for users and improved conditions for market makers. DeFi Llama founder 0xngmi noted that faster slots improve the experience for real-time price aggregation tools like LlamaSwap.
Tokenized stocks and ETFs also benefit from shorter block times, reducing the risk borne by quoter providers and creating room to tighten spreads. Armand Khatri, Head of Ecosystem at Ondo, stated: 'The market pricing tokenized stocks and ETFs never waits for Ethereum to produce blocks... Shorter slots shrink this window, keeping on-chain prices closer to off-chain references.'