Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of the second-largest crypto asset, Ethereum, has proposed strategies to cut down complexity in the network. He stated that the approach would handle challenges with the blockchain’s proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism, making it lighter and simpler.
Ethereum PoS Consensus Mechanism And Associated Complexity
Buterin recently laid out three strategies to curb Ethereum’s PoS challenges. The crypto mogul noted that the solutions would ensure the decentralization of the network and allow simpler and lighter functionality.
Buterin suggested a reduction in the number of validators’ signatures needed to keep the blockchain operating.
He said this move would drop the load on the Ethereum consensus mechanism. According to his Proof-of-Stake simplification proposal, allowing only 8192 validator signatures in each slot (even with SSF) will significantly simplify and lighten consensus implementation.
A PoS simplification proposal: make a design that only requires 8192 signatures per slot (even with SSF), making the consensus implementation considerably simpler and lighter.https://t.co/Z8mK7vZx7g
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 27, 2023
Recall Ethereum transitioned into a proof-of-stake (PoS) crypto model from proof-of-work (PoW) following the ‘Merge’ in September 2022. The process brought the combination of the Beacon Chain and the Ethereum mainnet, resulting in the Ethereum 2.0 blockchain.
However, the transition hasn’t eliminated some scalability and validator overload issues troubling the network. Buterin’s post came as a solution to issues from the increasing validators on the Ethereum blockchain.
Also, the growing number of validators has spiked the volume of cryptographic signatures the network requires to maintain its operations.
Notably, Ethereum needs about 895,000 validators to maintain decentralization and enable participation in staking. The setback is that it must process up to 28,000 validators’ signatures per slot, which creates a huge load on the network.
Buterin’s proposal focused on an effective reduction of signature counts on Ethereum to resolve the associated complexity on the blockchain.
He believed that cutting down the signatures to just 8,192 per slot could offer a moderate solution to the network’s excessive loads. Further, he noted that the reduction would ensure major technical simplification and increase quantum resistance.
Also, it would keep up the total slashable ETH between one and two million ETH.
Buterin Lays Out Three Strategies As Solutions To Ethereum’s PoS Complexity
Generally, the three strategies in Buterin’s proposal include the following. The first approach is centered on decentralized staking pools. The co-founder suggested an increase in Ether’s staking threshold for validators.
This means that instead of the current requirement of 32 ETH, the amount should be higher.
Buterin believed that the change would prompt validators to collaborate and join their resources, forming decentralized staking pools. The second strategy brings the possibility of having two grades of ETH stakers/validators on the network.
The first tier will get higher minimum staking requirements, while the other will have lesser demands. The co-founder noted that two tiers would have different roles in maintaining the Ethereum blockchain finality.
However, their combined operation and participation would bring stability and security to the network.
The last solution focused on rotating the validators’ participation. Buterin suggested that the network should adopt a process of randomly selecting a group of validators for each slot.
This approach will ensure an even distribution of the workload among the validators and reduce the total signatures required for finality. However, the co-founder noted that the method could create new challenges on the network.
