Draft:Ben's Scaling Law

Ben's Scaling Law: Sharding as a Fundamental Principle

Ben's Scaling Law

Ben's Scaling Law, proposed by Beniamin Mincu on July 11, 2024, posits that any sufficiently advanced and scalable system—whether in nature, society, or computation—must employ sharding... According to this principle, non-sharded systems are inherently unsustainable and likely to fail. This concept has implications for various fields, particularly blockchain technology.

Principle Overview

• Fundamental Principle: Ben's Scaling Law suggests that scalability and sustainability in advanced systems depend on sharding. This principle applies universally, encompassing nature, society, and computational systems. Systems that do not incorporate sharding mechanisms are prone to eventual breakdown.
• Analogy: Consider a pizza restaurant that tries to serve everyone from a single kitchen. Without sharding, the kitchen becomes overwhelmed, leading to customer dissatisfaction. By adding more kitchens, each serving a portion of the customers, the restaurant can efficiently handle increased demand and continue to grow.

Application in Blockchain Technology

• Blockchains and Sharding: In blockchain technology, sharding is considered essential for sustainable scalability. Without it, claims of scalability may disregard inherent limitations, leading to potential system failure. Sharding allows for the distribution of the blockchain workload across multiple nodes, enhancing efficiency and capacity.
• Realization of Limitations: Some blockchain architectures recognize that without sharding, they may face sustainability challenges. This realization is viewed as critical for ensuring long-term viability and scalability.
• Incremental and Monolithic Scaling: Incremental and monolithic scaling methods are seen as temporary solutions with inherent limitations.

Types of Sharding

• Synchronous and Asynchronous Sharding: Sharding can be implemented in both synchronous and asynchronous manners. For example, MultiversX utilizes a dynamically adaptive sharding method.
• Sovereign Chains: MultiversX has introduced Sovereign Chains, built on asynchronous sharding. This method aims to enhance scalability and interoperability, providing a framework for decentralized applications.

Enhancements and Technological Innovations

• ZK Rollups and ZK Proofs: Sovereign Chains may be enhanced by zero-knowledge rollups (ZK Rollups), zero-knowledge proofs (ZK Proofs, and new compression methods. These advancements aim to expand the feature set of this plug-and-play acceleration and interoperability layer.
• EGLD Digital Currency: EGLD is the currency used in the MultiversX network, supporting various ecosystems enabled by Sovereign Chains.

Reconsidering Assumptions

• Impact on Major Blockchains: As the principles of Ben's Scaling Law gain acceptance, major blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana might be scrutinized regarding their scalability and long-term viability

Counterpoints and Defense

Some argue that Layer 2 solutions can address scalability without sharding. However, critics suggest that these solutions are temporary fixes rather than long-term solutions. True scalability and decentralization, according to Ben's Scaling Law must be achieved at the Layer 1 level.

Conclusion

Understanding and discussing Ben's Scaling Law is considered important for those involved in blockchain technology. It highlights the potential importance of sharding for sustainable scalability and sets the stage for future advancements.

"Any sufficiently advanced and scalable system—whether in nature, society, or computation—must by necessity, be sharded."

-Beniamin Mincu (July 11, 2024)