What are Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs)?

Ethereum is the most innovative blockchain that exists today. Backed by a strong team of developers, software engineers, and researchers, it constantly upgrades over time. But, have you ever wondered who is deciding and implementing these upgrades?

A decision or a proposal to make a change to the network has to be agreed upon by the entire development community of Ethereum. Only then, they can put it into action. The Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) concept was introduced to make this process smooth. Let us help you understand everything about Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) in this article.

What are Ethereum Improvement proposals (EIPs)?

Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) are standard potential changes, new features, or processes that improve the Ethereum ecosystem as a whole.

They were first introduced in October 2015 following the footsteps of the Bitcoin Improvement Protocols (BIPs) process, which itself followed Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs). EIPs have all the information of an upgrade and act as a “source of truth” to the community.

Decentralization is the core feature of Ethereum and hence anyone can suggest a change to the network. But, you must follow the guidelines included in EIP-1 to suggest a proposal. Till now, most of the EIP authors are application developers or protocol developers. And, EIP editors like Gavin Wood and Vitalik Buterin, review them, correct them, and format issues.

Significance of Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs)

Whether it’s the transition of Ethereum from a PoW network to a PoS network or the creation of non-fungible tokens, everything started with an EIP. They play a key role in every upgrade happening around the Ethereum network.

Some of the top Ethereum Improvement Proposals that were already implemented are EIP-1559 (fee market change), EIP-20 (ERC-20 token standard), and EIP-721 (ERC-721 standard). The historical “The Merge” event was proposed by the EIP-3675. Similar to these, every upgrade happening on the network consists of a set of EIPs.

EIPs allow the network to change, improve, and adapt to the increase in its usage. This makes Ethereum flexible and constantly updates to changes in the industry and meets changing demands of the users. By going through the review process by the whole community, EIPs make sure that these decisions are inclusive and accurate.

Types of Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs)

There are 3 types of EIPs which we are going to discuss here.

• Standards Track EIP

The Standards Track EIPs change almost all of the Ethereum implementations. These proposals make changes directly to the Ethereum network protocol. They include changes in block or transaction validity rules, changes that affect the interoperability of Ethereum dApps, etc.

Standards Track EIPs have 3 parts of implementation – a design document, an implementation, and an update to formal specification. Furthermore, we can categorize these EIPs into Core, Networking, Interface, and ERC proposals.

• Meta EIP

Unlike Standards Track EIPs, Meta EIPs do not make direct changes to the Ethereum network protocol. These are more like procedures, guidelines, or changes in the decision-making process. We can also call them Process EIPs and these changes require community consensus as they are more than just recommendations.

• Information EIP

These EIPs neither make changes to the network protocol nor require community consensus. These proposals suggest general guidelines or information to the Ethereum community. Members of the community and implementers can ignore informational EIPs or follow their advice based on their choice.

How are EIPs Processed?

Similar to how a law must pass some stages to be finally implemented, an EIP must also go through some stages. Every EIP must pass through the following steps.

• Draft – In this phase, the EIP is still in the hands of the author. Once it follows all the guidelines of proposing an EIP like having no errors, proper format, and making technical sense, it can now be submitted to the Ethereum repository on GitHub for review.
• Review – After being checked officially by an editor, the author can publish the EIP on GitHub. The next step is to mark the EIP as suitable for peer review. After passing through the early stages of review, the proposal needs a review by a wider public.
• Last Call – Any EIP must at least be in the review stage for a minimum of 2 weeks so that the community has enough time to read, review, and suggest changes. In this stage, the proposals can be sent back and forth for changes by the author. If the EIP remains in this phase for more than 6 months, it will move to “stagnant.”
• Final stage – When the EIP clears all the stages of review, non-core EIPs reach the final standard. But, core EIPs need to go through another phase. The core development team will implement the approved proposal into the software to enable it.

Conclusion

Ethereum Improvement proposals (EIPs) are an important part of Ethereum’s development over the years. The network is still under various upgrades to improve the overall scalability. All of these upgrades started with EIPs and are now making huge changes to the network. Overall, EIPs bring flexibility and adaptability to Ethereum which are essential to increase its adoption.

FAQs

What is the most popular EIP?

EIP-20, EIP-721, EIP-137, and EIP-1559 are popular EIPs. However, many EIPs exist today that are included in the upgrades of Ethereum.

What is the purpose of EIPs?

Ethereum Improvement Proposals make changes to the network to make Ethereum better. They make the network flexible, efficient, and adaptable to the changing needs of users.

What is the difference between EIP and ERC?

EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals) make changes to the network’s protocol to improve Ethereum. On the other hand, ERC (Ethereum Requests for Comments) is one type of EIP. It helps in creating new tokens for projects built on Ethereum.