Ethereum validators have begun using Optimum’s mump2p networking protocol on mainnet, with the developer reporting faster block delivery through a data-sharing method that operates alongside existing consensus clients.
Summary
- Optimum’s mump2p networking protocol has operated on Ethereum mainnet since its October 20, 2026 launch.
- Optimum reports Ethereum block propagation speeds up to 3.5 times faster through network coding technology.
- The protocol runs alongside existing Ethereum consensus clients without requiring changes to consensus rules themselves.
- Optimum reported that participating validators represented 7.8% of Ethereum’s total staked ETH by November.
- Vitalik Buterin identified erasure-coded networking among proposed improvements supporting Ethereum’s future post-quantum security roadmap.
According to Optimum co-founder and MIT professor Muriel Médard, the protocol uses Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) to transmit coded combinations of data across Ethereum’s peer-to-peer network. In a November 10 statement, she said approximately 90% of blocks were reaching participating validators around twice as fast.
Ethereum’s mump2p protocol reduces repeated data transfers
Optimum launched mump2p on Ethereum mainnet on October 20, introducing an alternative route for delivering blocks and attestation messages between validators.
Under Ethereum’s existing GossipSub networking system, nodes receive and forward messages to peers, sometimes receiving duplicate copies of the same information. Network connections and differences in bandwidth can affect when individual validators receive a proposed block.
The new protocol uses RLNC, a coding technique that combines pieces of information before sending them through the network. Receiving nodes can reconstruct the original data once they collect enough independent coded combinations.
According to Optimum’s technical documentation, mump2p connects through a gateway that runs alongside the validator’s existing consensus client. The gateway forwards blocks and attestations between the normal Ethereum network and Optimum’s separate communication system.
Participating operators do not need to replace their consensus software or introduce changes to Ethereum’s consensus rules. The gateway supports clients including Prysm, Lighthouse, Teku, Nimbus, and Lodestar.
Because mump2p operates as an additional networking service, validators can continue receiving messages through Ethereum’s standard peer-to-peer connections.
Optimum reports faster Ethereum block propagation
In its October 20 launch announcement, Optimum reported block delivery speeds between two and four times faster than the existing GossipSub baseline.
The company said early mainnet measurements showed a 7.88-fold reduction in arrival-time variance. Its system delivered blocks before the conventional networking route in nine out of ten measurements.
A separate company analysis covering 50,292 Ethereum slots reported an average delivery advantage of 335 milliseconds, equivalent to a 3.3-fold speed improvement in that comparison.
However, an independent test conducted by StereumLabs across 36 Ethereum mainnet nodes produced less consistent results.
The researchers observed earlier block arrivals on Lighthouse, Prysm, and Grandine, while Teku showed little change and Nimbus recorded slower results. Their analysis did not establish statistically significant improvements across the sample.
Optimum subsequently explained that its global acceleration system had been active during the testing period, potentially allowing untreated nodes to benefit from the same networking improvements.
Further testing through Lido’s evaluation program measured block arrivals 407 milliseconds sooner over mump2p during a September 17 to October 15 testnet window. The evaluation covered 180,327 slots, although the researchers cautioned against treating testnet results as direct estimates of mainnet performance.
Ethereum validators adopt mump2p networking service
At launch, Optimum reported 16 participating node operators managing approximately 22,000 validator keys and more than 1.4 million staked ETH.
The company valued the connected stake at approximately $3.4 billion, describing the figure as Total Value Boosted.
Participating operators included Blockdaemon, Everstake, P2P.org, Stakefish, Luganodes, InfStones, and Validation Cloud.
Restaking provider ether.fi required its 12 node operators to use mump2p, while Stakefish confirmed that it had integrated the gateway into its Ethereum validator infrastructure.
By November 3, Optimum said adoption had reached 7.8% of all staked ETH, compared with more than 3% at the October launch.
The service remains available free of charge for validator block propagation, with participating operators connecting through Optimum’s gateway and onboarding system.
Vitalik Buterin links faster networking to Ethereum roadmap
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has identified erasure-coded peer-to-peer networking among several technical improvements supporting the network’s longer-term security and consensus roadmap.
In a November 9 post, Buterin said erasure-coded networking could improve the delivery of large data objects, with implementation complexity as its main tradeoff.
He described a proposed consensus design that would reduce the number of validators directly involved in each slot’s critical processing path from approximately 30,000 to 500, potentially doubling consensus speed.
Buterin discussed few-slot finality using post-quantum signature aggregation, citing calculations and simulations suggesting finality below one minute under certain parameters.
The proposals remain separate from mump2p’s existing mainnet deployment and would require further development before changing Ethereum’s consensus operation.
Ethereum researchers have separately tested segmented block propagation under EIP-8411, using simulated networking environments to reduce delays when transmitting large execution payloads.
The network’s long-term roadmap includes research into shorter slots, faster finality, and quantum-resistant signatures.
Ethereum Foundation documentation identifies post-quantum consensus signatures and data availability as continuing research priorities, with core security infrastructure targeted for development through 2029.
