Layer-Two Networks and Ethereum Security Inheritance
Not every L2 borrows Ethereum's security guarantees, the mechanical gap between those that do and those that only borrow its liquidity, explained.
№ 038SecurityKeccak-256 Preimage Resistance and Ethereum's State Trie
How Ethereum's Keccak-256 hash function blocks preimage attacks on the state trie, explained with concrete mechanics and a worked example.
№ 039AnalysisEconomic Attacks: Proof-of-Stake vs Proof-of-Work
Attack costs in PoS and PoW differ mechanically, not just in scale. A precise breakdown of what attackers spend, risk, and lose in each model.
№ 040EthereumEthereum Transaction Reverts: Mechanics and Gas Costs
State rolls back cleanly on a revert, but gas does not. A precise breakdown of what the EVM discards, what it keeps, and who collects the fee.
№ 041EthereumDecentralized Sequencers and Optimistic Rollup Trust
One company controls transaction ordering on most rollups today. Decentralized sequencers redistribute that power, and introduce tradeoffs worth understanding.
№ 042EthereumWhy Gas Estimation Undercounts Smart Contract Costs
Gas estimation fails in predictable ways. Learn the exact mechanics behind undercounts, from storage slots to dynamic calls, with a worked example.
№ 043AnalysisVRFs and Proof-of-Stake Leader Election Explained
Why proof-of-stake protocols use verifiable random functions to pick block proposers, how the math works, and what breaks without them.
№ 044EthereumEthereum Calldata Compression and Layer-2 Costs
Calldata compression cuts what rollups pay to settle on Ethereum, and still matters after EIP-4844. Mechanism, numbers, and the blob fee crossover explained.
№ 045EthereumEthereum's Sync Committee: Light Client Verification
512 validators, BLS aggregation, and rotating handoffs let Ethereum light clients verify the chain head themselves, no full node, no trusted server required.
№ 046AnalysisFinality Reversion vs. Reorganization in Proof-of-Stake
A finality reversion breaks a cryptographic guarantee; a reorg is a race condition. The difference determines whether settlement is statistical or binding.
№ 047RegulationTornado Cash After Sanctions: Why the Contract Kept Running
OFAC sanctioned Tornado Cash in 2022, but the core smart contract kept processing funds. The mechanic behind that gap, and what it means for DeFi regulation.
№ 048EthereumEthereum History Expiry: Decentralization vs Practicality
Ethereum's history expiry proposals would shrink node storage dramatically, and shift who bears the burden of keeping the chain's memory intact.