Gas Killer

Gas Killer

Gas Killer: Slash Ethereum costs by moving computation off-chain while preserving security

Created on 1st March 2025

Gas Killer

Gas Killer

Gas Killer: Slash Ethereum costs by moving computation off-chain while preserving security

The problem Gas Killer solves

Gas Killer addresses the prohibitive costs and technical limitations of Ethereum's on-chain computation and data reading. As dApps scale, developers face two critical challenges:

  1. Prohibitive Gas Costs: Operations involving large data sets (like processing thousands of votes or user interactions) incur extreme gas fees, making many applications economically unviable.

  2. Block Size Limitations: Ethereum's block gas limit makes certain operations with large data structures physically impossible to execute on-chain, creating a hard ceiling for application complexity.

Gas Killer solves these problems by strategically moving data reading and computation off-chain while maintaining Ethereum's security guarantees through a staked operator model. This approach:

Significantly reduces end-user costs for data-intensive operations
Enables previously impossible applications by bypassing block size limitations
Preserves decentralization and security through economic incentives (staking and slashing)
Requires minimal changes to existing smart contract architecture

Our proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates dramatic gas savings for voting applications with large participant pools, but the framework can be applied to any data-intensive smart contract operation.

User Interaction and Data Flow

Incorporating Gas Killer into your dApp follows a streamlined developer-centric workflow:
For Developers
1. Integration Setup (not implemented for p.o.c)
◦ Install our SDK directly from GitHub
◦ Run our code generator against your smart contract
◦ The generator automatically creates the necessary storage access functions and operator verification logic
2. Contract Modification
◦ Add the auto-generated Gas Killer module to your contract
◦ Deploy the updated contract
3. Configuration
◦ Set operator requirements (minimum stake, number of operators)
◦ Define computation parameters (update frequency, verification thresholds)
◦ Connect to the Gas Killer network through our management dashboard
Behind the Scenes
Once integrated, Gas Killer handles the complex off-chain orchestration:
1. The contract exposes specialized read functions that operators can call
2. Operators retrieve data, perform computation off-chain, and submit storage updates
3. Multiple operators independently verify updates before they're committed
4. The contract includes slash functionality to penalize malicious operators
5. Developers can monitor performance through our dashboard
End-User Experience
For your users, the experience remains unchanged except for dramatically reduced gas costs and the ability to handle previously impossible data volumes. The entire Gas Killer infrastructure remains invisible to end-users.

The project architecture and development process

Architecture Overview
Gas Killer is an AVS (Actively Validated Service) on EigenLayer that offloads gas-intensive operations from Ethereum. Three key components:
1. Smart Contract Extensions
◦ Gas efficient direct storage update function
◦ Aggregated signature verification for operator set
◦ Slashing mechanism
2. Off-Chain Operator Network
◦ Staked node operators
◦ Computation execution environment (anvil fork of the target chain)
◦ Result verification consensus via peer to peer network
3. Developer SDK
◦ Contract code generators
◦ Configuration interface
Core Functionality
1. Gas-intensive operations are routed to the Gas Killer network
2. Operators retrieve data through dedicated read functions
3. Computation occurs off-chain in parallel
4. Results are verified via aggregated BLS signatures
5. Validated state changes update contract storage directly
6. Economic incentives enforce security
Key Implementation Details
• EigenLayer Restaking: Operators use existing ETH stakes to secure services
• State Diff Minimization: Algorithms submit only essential state changes
• Slashing Conditions: Defined conditions for operator misbehavior maintain security
• Automatic Code Generation: Rust-based generator produces compatible extensions
Our voting contract POC demonstrates the system handling thousands of votes at a fraction of standard gas costs while preserving security guarantees.

Product Integrations

We used:
Commonware for p2p networking
Eigenlayer for operator set management (rewards, slashing, registration, etc.)
Foundry anvil for forked environment simulation
Zircuit (deployment)
Hedera (deployment)
RLUSD for cross-chain payments

Key differentiators and uniqueness of the project

Unique Approach to Gas Optimization
Gas Killer takes a fundamentally different approach to scaling Ethereum compared to existing solutions:
• Direct Storage Updates: Unlike Layer 2s or rollups that rely on transaction batching, Gas Killer enables authorized operators to update contract storage directly, eliminating layers of overhead
• Computation Decoupling: We've separated data reading and computation from state changes, while leaving the security-critical verification on-chain
• Trustless Design: No central sequencer or operator is required, avoiding the centralization risks present in most scaling solutions
Technical Innovations:
• Storage-First Design: Built specifically around Ethereum's storage cost model, addressing the core gas expense directly
• Threshold Security: Employs a BLS aggregation verification system requiring multiple independent operators to agree before any state change occurs
Advantages Over Similar Solutions
Compared to existing approaches, Gas Killer offers:
• Simplicity: Developers can integrate our solution with minimal contract modifications
• Compatibility: Works with existing Ethereum infrastructure without specialized tooling
• Composability: Maintains full composability with other Ethereum contracts, unlike sidechains or application-specific rollups
• Security: Leverages EigenLayer's security model and economic guarantees instead of creating a new trust assumption
Economic Efficiency
Gas Killer achieves remarkable efficiency improvements:
• 90%+ Gas Savings: Initial testing shows over 90% reduction in gas costs for large data operations
• Beyond Block Limits: Enables operations that would otherwise exceed Ethereum's block gas limit
Our voting contract demonstration proves that high-participation governance can be practical and affordable on Ethereum today, opening possibilities for applications previously considered impractical (or impossible) due to gas constraints.

Trade-offs and shortcuts while building

We build a specific use case implementation, which will need to be generalized for use with any contract.
Slashing, payments and operator registration were mocked, but reference implementions were provided.

Additional Features

Everything except BN254 signer integration into the commonware repo was built during the hackathon.

Tracks Applied (6)

Hedera EVM Builder

we deployed our voting contract sample implementation on Hedera https://hashscan.io/testnet/contract/0.0.5635428?pa=1&pr...Read More

Hedera

Best Project on Zircuit

We deployed our example voting contract and successfully ran the avs to do storage updates on it on the zircuit network ...Read More

zircuit

Best EigenLayer AVS

We build a functioning gas killer AVS with p2p bls signature aggregation, cross-chain payments, and objective slashing.

EigenLayer

Best Eigen App

This app lets dapps easily reduce their gas costs without changing any of their existing infrastructure

EigenLayer

RLUSD: Mission Stablecoin Adoption

We deployed cross-chain payments for our AVS and successfully made a payment using RLUSD https://sepolia.etherscan.io/tx...Read More

Ripple

INFRASTRUCTURE + SCALABILITY

Gas Killer directly addresses Ethereum's core infrastructure limitations by introducing a novel approach to transaction ...Read More

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