Vitalik Buterin proposed lowering the staking threshold and shortening block confirmation times to enhance the decentralization and efficiency of the Ethereum network.

Author: André Beganski

Translation: Plain Language Blockchain

It turns out that Vitalik Buterin is not entirely satisfied with the first major overhaul of Ethereum's consensus mechanism, despite having been refined and discussed for years.

In a blog post on Monday, the Ethereum co-founder suggested several potential improvements to Ethereum's proof-of-stake model. These include lowering the financial threshold for individual stakers and shortening the confirmation time for Ethereum blocks.

Two years ago, the "Merge" event fundamentally changed the way Ethereum transactions are validated. Ethereum no longer relies on energy-intensive computer networks to ensure its security but has shifted to a system where validators stake assets into the network.

Validators earn rewards by packaging transaction blocks and verifying the accuracy of other blocks. To participate in this process, validators need to stake 32 ETH (approximately $84,000) as a "participation guarantee." However, Buterin believes this threshold can be significantly lowered to 1 ETH (approximately $2,600).

"Polls have repeatedly shown that the main factor preventing more people from staking independently is the 32 ETH minimum requirement," he wrote. "Lowering this threshold to 1 ETH would address this issue, after which other factors will become the main constraints on independent staking."

The growth rate of Ethereum network validators has recently slowed. According to data from beaconchai.in, since the number of active validators surpassed 1 million in April, about 73,000 validators have joined. In the past month, this number has increased by less than 3,000.

Lowering the staking requirements for Ethereum validators could also alleviate some concerns about network centralization. Currently, the leading decentralized ETH liquid staking platform, Lido Finance, accounts for 28% of all staked Ethereum, according to data from the Dune dashboard.

The second part of Buterin's proposed improvements focuses mainly on the issue of transaction finality. This term refers to Ethereum transactions that, once included in a block, cannot be changed after confirmation.

Buterin wrote that, to date, Ethereum transactions take about 15 minutes to achieve final confirmation. This is because Ethereum's progress is measured in "epochs," with each epoch occurring approximately every 6.4 minutes. Each epoch consists of 32 "slots," with a new block typically generated every 12 seconds.

Chris Meisl, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Blocknative, explained that after two epochs have passed, it becomes nearly impossible for an attacker to roll back Ethereum blocks from a cost perspective. At this point, you can consider it "extremely secure," he wrote in a blog post last year.

Buterin also mentioned that "single-slot confirmation" would reduce the final confirmation time to every 12 seconds. Combined with the lowered staking requirements, this would align "Ethereum's attributes with those of (more centralized) performance-focused Layer 1 blockchains."

However, Buterin also acknowledged that there are various ways to implement "single-slot confirmation," including using strong methods of advanced cryptography or designing a dual-layer system for stakers.

As Buterin's blog post was published, discussions around Layer 2 networks have intensified. While Ethereum's Dencun upgrade introduced a new way to help users reduce transaction costs in March this year, it also led to a period of inflation in Ethereum's circulating supply.

Meanwhile, Ethereum core developers are preparing for the next major upgrade—Pectra. The first part of this upgrade is expected to be released early next year and will adjust the way Ethereum stakers receive rewards.

Article link: https://www.hellobtc.com/kp/du/10/5474.html

Source: https://decrypt.co/286233/ethereum-creator-vitalik-buterin-huge-changes

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