Vitalik Buterin’s Proposals
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has put forward three alternative methods to simplify the design of the Ethereum blockchain’s proof of stake. In his recent blog post, Buterin aims to address the potential complexity within Ethereum’s consensus mechanism by reducing the number of required signatures per slot in the blockchain.
Reducing Signatures
Currently, Ethereum supports 895,000 validator objects for decentralization, processing around 28,000 signatures in a single day and 1,790,000 post-SSF (System Support Function). Buterin proposes an idea to reduce the load to 8,192 signatures per slot post-SSF.
“We could raise the min deposit size to 4,096 ETH and make a total cap of 4,096 validators,” said Buterin.
Dual-Layer Stakers
Buterin presents a second proposal that introduces a dual-layer of stakers to enhance network security and efficiency. The “heavy” layer requires a minimum of 4,096 ETH and participates in the finalization process, while the “light” layer has no minimum requirement.
Rotating Set of Validators
The third proposal by Buterin aims to distribute the validation process more evenly across the Ethereum network. By selecting 4,096 currently active validators for each slot and adjusting the set during each slot, the validation process becomes more balanced.
Buterin highlights the limitations of the committee-based security model used by other blockchains, which lacks accountability in case of a 51% attack. Unlike Ethereum’s current system that imposes severe penalties for such attacks, this committee-based model leads to minimal economic consequences for the attackers since most of them remain unseen due to the random selection process.
However, while Ethereum’s high-penalty approach effectively deters attacks, it may be considered excessively punitive. Thus, Buterin suggests adopting a balanced solution that maintains a high total amount of slashable Ethereum while making some concessions on validator accountability.
“A balanced solution that still maintains a high total amount of slashable Ethereum but makes some concessions on validator accountability would be the answer,” emphasizes Vitalik Buterin.
