Ethereum is in the midst of overcoming a potent challenge from an application based in its blockchain that is becoming ever more popular and demanding an increasing amount of computational resources from the existing network. The ferocious attack by the “crypto kitties” (pictured above) has caused a real reckoning moment for Ethereum developers, who must now consider how to future-proof the blockchain and protect it against its inevitable demise at the hands of ruthless digital felines.
The Ethereum network could not have asked for a better way to expose its limits than an army of kittens, yet it is undeniably amusing that such a seemingly inconsequential application is causing so much headache amongst blockchain developers around the world. The traffic originating from the birthing and raising of kittens has crippled the network, raised processing times and prices, and in doing so, provided a good reason for developers to consider the challenge of creating a system that operates better at scale. As Ethereum continues to gain favor within an exploding blockchain-driven industry, it must be designed for scalability and the kitten crisis highlights major flaws in that mission.
I’m just glad that the kittens are exposing such fundamental flaws in the network before some other, more serious application is forced to confront a similar issue.
The recent issue with the speed and scalability of the network calls back into the limelight the ongoing debate centered on the issue of switching Ethereum to a proof-of-stake system. Vitalik Burterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has been an advocate for the proof-of-stake system as the future of the verification process in Ethereum based on its ability to significantly speed up the network.
Regardless of what the solution ultimately ends up being, the necessity of change is imminent; without it, the speed at which Ethereum and blockchain technology at large will be able to grow will suffer, and the “bubble” that so many people claim blockchain tech is currently experiencing might just pop!
What do you think about the kitties? Are you raising one yourself? Comment below!