BNB Chain Enhances Client Diversity with Reth Integration

BNB Chain has announced the integration of Reth, a Rust-based full-node implementation of the Ethereum protocol, to diversify its execution clients on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) and opBNB networks. The move aims to enhance the network's security, efficiency, and decentralization, according to the BNB Chain Blog.

Current Client Landscape

Currently, BNB Smart Chain predominantly uses Geth and Erigon clients, with Geth holding a 56.2% market share and Erigon accounting for 43.8%. Erigon's advanced storage model and its ability to identify bugs within Geth make it a crucial component. However, the opBNB network solely supports the op-geth client, posing a risk if op-geth encounters issues.

Why Reth?

Reth, developed by Paradigm, offers a secure and high-performance alternative, leveraging Rust's programmability. The integration of Reth is expected to bring several benefits:

• Increased Security: Reth enhances the network's resistance to attacks.
• Improved Efficiency: Reth is designed to be more storage-efficient than Geth.
• Increased Scalability: Reth easily integrates with Revmc and Execution Extensions, boosting scalability.
• Greater Decentralization: Reth focuses on community governance, enhancing decentralization.

Performance Benchmarks

Benchmarking tests have shown promising results. For opBNB, Reth achieved a historical sync rate of 690 MGas/s over the last 1 million blocks. For BSC, the sync process is longer due to its earlier launch, requiring approximately 24 days for a full node and 30 days for an archive node. Despite the longer duration, the historical sync rates are encouraging, with 621 MGas/s for full nodes and 516 MGas/s for archive nodes over the last 500,000 blocks.

Stage Sync and Live Sync performance metrics were also recorded, showing significant improvements in initial sync times and storage distribution. However, live sync performance on opBNB was less optimistic due to database write challenges, which the team is actively addressing.

Future Developments

BNB Chain plans to expand Reth's usage scenarios, including its role as a validator for BSC and a sequencer for opBNB. The team is committed to advancing key features like Parallel EVM, State Expiry, and Consecutive Blocks, aligning with Paradigm Reth's vertical scaling goals.

The BNB Chain community is encouraged to explore Reth, participate in discussions, test and validate its performance, and provide feedback to the development team. This collaborative effort aims to create a more secure, efficient, scalable, and decentralized ecosystem.

For more detailed information, visit the BNB Chain Blog.