Blockchain Performance, Demystified

web3 with a16z crypto

with @SashaSpiegelman @Tim_Roughgarden @rhhackett

Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we’re talking about the ins and outs of blockchain performance.

How does the “speed” of one chain compare to another? What are the tricky ways that people talk about important metrics like throughput and latency? And how do design choices across things like consensus and execution result in performance tradeoffs?

Our guest today is Aptos Labs’ Head of Research Sasha Spiegelman, who is helping build out and develop technologies he originally co-created at Meta. We’re also joined by a16z crypto Head of Research and Columbia University professor Tim Roughgarden, who specializes in the intersection of computer science and economics, which is fitting as we dig into technical details throughout.

Timestamps:

(0:00) introduction

(2:48) understanding blockchain metrics

(7:59) consensus protocols: PBFT and beyond

(14:56) innovations from Meta’s Novi to Aptos

(20:51) optimizing blockchain execution (with BlockSTM)

(25:23) tech debate: dynamic vs. static parallelism

(27:55) open source and the prisoner’s dilemma

(29:15) conclusion

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