Ethereum’s Decentralization Push: Will Staking Be Possible with Just 1 ETH?

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently shared a detailed post on Warpcast (October 14), discussing Ethereum’s future post-The Merge and how the Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism can be further improved. In the post, Vitalik focused on two key goals: enabling staking with just 1 ETH and finalizing blocks in a single slot. He emphasized that while the PoS mechanism has been stable since Ethereum’s transition, there are still areas that need improvement.

Why Should Ethereum’s PoS System Be Improved?

Vitalik highlighted that it has been two years since Ethereum transitioned to PoS, and while the system has performed well, there’s a need to lower the staking minimum from 32 ETH to just 1 ETH. This change would encourage more individual validators to participate, further decentralizing the network.

Another major goal is to finalize blocks in a single slot instead of the current 15-minute process. According to Buterin, quicker finalization would enhance user experience by shortening the time it takes for transactions to be confirmed. However, faster finalization and a lower staking threshold may increase the load on nodes.

Buterin’s Proposed Solutions and New Mechanisms

Vitalik outlined three solutions to help Ethereum achieve these goals. First, he proposed developing advanced signature aggregation protocols, which would allow millions of validator signatures to be processed simultaneously.

The second solution, Orbit committees, would see a randomly selected medium-sized committee finalize blocks at regular intervals. This would provide high security while requiring fewer validators, enabling faster finalization.

The third option is a two-tier staking model, where validators with varying amounts of ETH would have different responsibilities. Those with higher stakes would be responsible for economic finalization, while those staking smaller amounts would help with block validation.

Vitalik believes these changes would boost Ethereum’s performance without compromising its decentralization principles. Allowing staking with 1 ETH would make the network more accessible and encourage more individual validators to participate. Additionally, single-slot finalization would significantly improve the speed at which transactions are confirmed.

Dey There will continue to follow these exciting developments in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Ethereum, Proof of Stake, Vitalik Buterin, decentralization, staking