Meeting Summary:
The meeting covered technical discussions about hosting permissions and devnet updates, including progress on various development tasks and implementation challenges across different clients. The team addressed several technical issues including binary SSZ transport implementation, reorg behavior fixes, and PTC attestation validation approaches. Performance benchmarking efforts and potential changes to the ACDT meeting format were also discussed, with the team focusing on testing existing structures before introducing new features.
Click to expand detailed summary
The meeting began with technical discussions about hosting permissions for a stream, where Parithosh confirmed danceratopz had been made co-host. The meeting then transitioned to ACDT number 73 on March 9th, 2026, with danceratopz noting that devnets would be a major topic of discussion. The conversation ended as danceratopz was about to discuss the status of the blob devnet 0, but the transcript cut off before this topic was addressed.
The team discussed a proposal to implement binary SSZ transport for the Engine API to address bottlenecks with high blob counts. Giulio reported implementing the specification for multiple clients and running benchmarks, finding it works effectively as an optional feature. The team agreed to leave further discussion for the ACD meeting, with the proposal designed to be implemented optionally to allow gradual adoption.
Stefan reported adding new nodes with different configurations to devnet 2, including prefetch and BALA optimizations, and mentioned plans to update the Grafana dashboard with these nodes. The team discussed ongoing local testing in Kurtosis for devnet 3, particularly focusing on gas changes and consensus issues related to the Blocker access list. Daniel provided an update on Besu, noting that 7 out of 5.3 spec tests were passing, with only two false positives requiring fixes for execution specs. The team also discussed the recent release of ExecutionP 5.3, which includes all forks including Osaka, and encouraged participants to report any issues with the tests in Discord.
The team provided updates on various development tasks, with Dragan working on 837 and making good progress, while Ben reported that all features are implemented with testing in progress. Marius expressed concerns about meeting the Wednesday deadline for version 8037, explaining that while some parts are implemented, significant issues remain with test cases and the overall logic, making completion by Wednesday unlikely. The team acknowledged that while the current version might be able to participate in a network, it would not handle complex transactions well.
The team discussed progress on BAL devnet 3, with Stefan indicating more work would be done until Wednesday before determining specific deadlines. Ben explained that the implementation has been a significant change affecting multiple aspects of their system. The group also discussed parallel I/O optimization status across different clients, with Geth and Besu already ready, Nethermind nearly complete but not showing major benefits in current experiments, and Reth working on pure implementation without optimization focus. Parithosh provided an update on ePBS DevNet Zero, which launched last week with some early issues documented in a blog post by Potuz, though more serious testing is planned for ePBS DevNet 1.
The team discussed an issue with the Engine API where EL (Execution Layer) clients ignore fork-choice-updated messages for previous heads, which affects ePBS functionality. Marius and Łukasz confirmed that their implementation currently ignores such messages, though Marius suggested they could potentially modify the behavior by allowing re-orgs to older payload parameters or specifying new fork-choice parameters. The group agreed this was a necessary feature rather than optional, as chain re-orgs will occur, and Marius committed to preparing a branch to remove the current check for testing on testnets.
The team discussed two main topics: reorg behavior implementation and PTC attestation validation issues. Potus explained that a reorg behavior fix had been implemented, and the team agreed to continue testing existing structures on the devnet before introducing new features like PTC attestations. regarding PTC, the group debated different approaches to handle epoch validation, with Potus presenting a PR that would add 256 kilobytes to the state. The team decided to continue discussing this solution, with Justin suggesting they should aim to make a decision within the week. The meeting also covered updates on the Performance devnet 3 benchmarking efforts, with Louis reporting that plotting for EOA accounts and ERC20 had been completed, and Jochem providing details on snapshot management across different clients. Finally, the group discussed potential changes to the ACDT meeting format, with Parithosh and others suggesting a more flexible approach that would allow for focused technical discussions on specific topics as needed.
Next Steps:
- Giulio: Present SSE implementation work and benchmarks on ACD call
- Stefan Starflinger: Update Grafana dashboard with new nodes for BAL DevNet2 benchmarking
- Erigon team: Provide update on devnet 2 progress
- Daniel (Besu): Make PR to execution specs to fix false positive error messages in spec tests
- Stefan Starflinger: Update Kurtosis configuration and Ethereum Genesis generator for devnet 3 testing
- Marius (Geth): Complete 8037 implementation and testing by Wednesday target
- Toni: Post benchmarking tests into Discord for parallel I/O optimization testing
- Emma (Reth): Benchmark batch I/O work and report back
- Potuz: Follow up on EL fork-choice-updated to previous head issue with EL teams
- Marius: Prepare branch removing fork-choice check for ePBS devnet testing
- Potuz and Justin: Make decision on PTC look ahead solution this week
- Justin: Make spec release with PTC look ahead change
- Parithosh: Create thread on ETH R&D ePBS channel with list of testing items for ePBS devnet zero
- Parithosh: Set up local tests for withdrawals, deposits, blobs, and missed slots on ePBS devnet zero
- Parithosh: Set up test to turn on/off block production via Assertoor to trigger missed slots
- Stefan Bratanov (Teku): Work on checkpoint syncing for ePBS devnet
- Toni: Get feedback on SNAP2 draft specification
- Louis and Jochem: Continue generating payloads and collecting benchmark data for Perf DevNet 3
- jochem-brouwer: Take snapshots once clients are synced on Perf DevNet 3
- Parithosh and Mario: Take weekly call on whether to hold ACDT or defer to breakout sessions by Wednesday/Thursday
Recording Access: