- Worldcoin’s Ethereum project has spent $500,000 on gas for retina scan zk-proofs within 40 days.
- This might escalate to an annual expenditure of $4.5M, likening Ethereum blockspace to “the new oil”.
Worldcoin’s Growing Appetite for Ethereum Gas
The innovative yet divisive Worldcoin digital identification initiative, powered by the Ethereum network, has raised eyebrows in the blockchain community regarding its gas consumption. According to industry projections, this venture could significantly fuel Ethereum’s corporate demand, redefining its value proposition.
On the Ethereum ledger, gas fees are associated with the computational effort required to execute operations, like making a transaction or running a contract. Ryan Sean Adams, a known Ethereum proponent, recently highlighted the potential gas consumption of Worldcoin’s initiative. He unveiled that the Worldcoin authority, responsible for zero-knowledge retina scan proofs, has already exhausted $500,000 in gas over a mere 40-day window.
Extrapolating from this rate, Adams forecasts that the yearly gas fee could surge to a staggering $4.5M. To contextualize this figure, he equated the demand for Ethereum blockspace to the demand for traditional commodities, suggesting, “Ethereum blockspace is the new oil.” Some have even paralleled Ethereum’s blockspace to digital real estate, emphasizing its escalating value due to increasing corporate integration.
Demystifying zk-proofs and Worldcoin’s Verification Process
Worldcoin’s operational model is intriguing. When a user’s uniqueness as a human is authenticated by the Worldcoin orb, this identity, dubbed the ‘World ID’, is cataloged on a public database of verified individuals. Subsequently, using the World app, a zk-proof is generated every time this identity requires validation.
For those unfamiliar with the terminology, a zk-proof, or zero-knowledge proof, is a cryptographic method that allows one entity to ascertain the veracity of a statement to another, without disclosing any auxiliary data related to the statement.
Elucidating further, developer “@DCbuild3r” detailed that the primary costs arise from insertions rather than zk-proof verifications, which predominantly take place on the Optimism platform. He also hinted at a potential reduction in costs in the near future. Once Worldcoin transitions to leveraging “storage proofs”, insertion expenses are anticipated to halve. Essentially, storage proofs are cryptographic techniques that facilitate the decentralized recording of blockchain data, enabling its dissemination across multiple chains.
Though Worldcoin’s venture has ushered in a wave of debates regarding user privacy and its token model, Ethereum’s market response has been rather muted. Despite optimistic predictions around Ethereum’s blockspace being the internet’s fiscal layer, Ethereum’s price has remained fairly static, recorded at $1,851 at the time of this update.
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