SSZ ProgressiveList

The five-minute read

One action, walked through

1. Open EIP 7916 and read the status line before the examples.
2. Write down the rule in one sentence. A fair version of that sentence is: A new Merkle tree shape for Simple Serialize (SSZ) types that results in fewer hashes when only a small number of leaves is used.
3. Name the object that changes: SSZ, MAX_BYTES_PER_TRANSACTION, MAX_TRANSACTIONS_PER_PAYLOAD.
4. Ask what an old client, an old contract, or an offline counterparty does. If the document is silent, the silence is part of the design.

The argument, unpacked

What has to be true

• You are implementing EIP 7916 at the status the text itself states: Review.
• The object that has to change is SSZ, MAX_BYTES_PER_TRANSACTION, MAX_TRANSACTIONS_PER_PAYLOAD. A neighbouring document with a similar name is not this one.
• Parameter choices in one release are not the proof.

What happened after the paper

The source marks this review. It is not a live consensus rule just because it has a number. Later documents can narrow, replace, or ignore this one. Cite the number you mean.

What to check before you use the idea

• What does SSZ ProgressiveList treat as decided, and what can still be reorged?
• What share of stake or hash power does the argument need?
• Which objects are defined: SSZ, MAX_BYTES_PER_TRANSACTION, MAX_TRANSACTIONS_PER_PAYLOAD?

Terms

EIP 7916

The public text titled SSZ ProgressiveList.

Review

The document's own label for how finished the text is. It is not a market fact.

The problem the paper names

A consensus change that is only described in a client does not tell an outside verifier what must be true.

What the design proposes

• A new Merkle tree shape for Simple Serialize (SSZ) types that results in fewer hashes when only a small number of leaves is used.
• The new tree shape grows progressively with increased leaf count and no longer has a bounded capacity.
• It also offers forward compatibility: a given chunk index is always assigned the same stable generalized index (gindex) regardless of leaf count.

How the mechanism is specified

• Taken from the specification, the next constraint is: The new tree shape grows progressively with increased leaf count and no longer has a bounded capacity.
• Locate SSZ, MAX_BYTES_PER_TRANSACTION, MAX_TRANSACTIONS_PER_PAYLOAD in EIP 7916 and apply it to one transaction or call.
• Then check the failure the class of rule always has: a node that did not upgrade, a reverted call, a replayed signature, or a peer that does not speak the message.

What this page does not treat as proven

• Final in the EIP process is not finality of a checkpoint.
• Parameter choices in one release are not the proof.
• The source marks this review. It is not a live consensus rule just because it has a number.

Why a venture studio still reads it

Use EIP 7916 when a pitch says 'SSZ ProgressiveList' without saying whether the rule is consensus, policy, or an interface. The number is the citation. The pitch is not.