Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently discussed the significance of independent stakers for the Ethereum network at the Home Staking Summit in Singapore. He emphasized their role in strengthening Ethereum’s censorship resistance and security, while suggesting a reallocation of resources to enhance defenses against attacks exceeding 66%.
(Background:
The Ethereum Foundation has recently released an additional 450 ETH, and Vitalik has sold 760 ETH.
A report on restaking indicates a 90% drop in participation since February, with daily active users under a thousand.)
On the 24th, during a fireside chat at the Home Staking Summit, Vitalik elaborated on the value of independent stakers, including small businesses and community stakers, and proposed potential changes at the L1 layer to support these stakers. He stated that independent stakers serve as the “first line of defense” for the Ethereum network, providing censorship resistance, while also acting as the “last line of defense” by preventing erroneous soft forks from reaching the 67% finality threshold, which is a critical security indicator for the Ethereum network.
Because these stakers are typically not associated with large organizations, they are difficult to target or coerce, further enhancing Ethereum’s position as a decentralized and trusted neutral blockchain. In this context, while some organizations or entities may attempt to impose transaction censorship on Ethereum, they are likely only to delay transaction processing rather than achieve comprehensive censorship, due to the presence of independent stakers.
Enhancing Security by Raising the Finality Threshold
Vitalik suggested considering increasing the required validator ratio from 67% to 85% to further enhance network security. However, this could introduce new challenges, such as lowering the cost of preventing finality attacks. For example, reducing the current attack cost from over 33% of staked ETH to just above 15%, as certain backdoor attack methods (like bribing core developers or node operators) may make such attacks cheaper.
33% of staked ETH represents a critical point for attackers. If they control more than this proportion, they can prevent the finality of the beacon chain without needing to manipulate other validators intricately.
Further Reading:
A detailed analysis of the risks and rewards of Ethereum staking economics, and dynamic adjustments to the model.
Vitalik Suggested: Reallocation of Resources
Vitalik pointed out that the existing 33% of staked ETH represents the maximum attack cost to prevent the network from being compromised, and he believes that too many resources may currently be allocated to defending against attacks above 33%. He stated:
Therefore, he believes current resources should be reallocated to strengthen defenses against “attacks exceeding 66%” and further increase the number of independent stakers, making them a key component of the current finality threshold.
Vitalik concluded by emphasizing the need to increase the number of independent stakers, making them a crucial part of the current finality threshold, and exploring how the Ethereum base layer (L1) can better support and encourage these stakers.
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Samuel Chong
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The Ethereum Foundation has released an additional 450 ETH, and Vitalik has sold 760 ETH