TechFlow News, March 18: According to a Cointelegraph report, Ethereum client teams are testing a mechanism called the Fast Confirmation Rule (FCR), designed to reduce deposit confirmation times from Layer 1 (L1) to Layer 2 (L2) networks and exchanges to approximately 13 seconds—up to 98% faster than current solutions.
The mechanism was proposed by Ethereum researcher Julian Ma. FCR determines whether a block is considered confirmed by evaluating validators’ attestations, rather than relying on the traditional method of counting block depth. Its operation rests on two assumptions: network message propagation is sufficiently fast, and no single entity holds more than 25% of staked ETH.
Currently, most users rely on the canonical cross-chain bridge for asset transfers, with the full process typically requiring about 13 minutes of waiting time. While some exchanges and L2s employ a “k-depth” confirmation rule to shorten this wait, that approach lacks formal security guarantees. FCR can be deployed without a hard fork, and nodes may independently enable it without requiring network-wide coordination. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has expressed support, noting that under specific network conditions, the mechanism can provide a “hard guarantee” for transactions within a single slot (approximately 12 seconds).
Nonetheless, skepticism remains within the community, with some users voicing concerns about whether FCR’s trust assumptions would hold under network stress. Client and API integration efforts are ongoing.
