Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently shared his concerns about the network. Buterin was referring to initiatives that add additional functionality to the strike add process. Specifically it re-strike principle van Eigen Layer, a company that makes Ethereum staking accessible, worries him.
Don’t overload Ethereum’s consensus:https://t.co/07tzyCrZcJ
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 21, 2023
Buterin advocates minimalism
Ethereum performed the ‘Merge’ in September 2022, making the transition to a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Since then we have seen more and more innovative ideas in the field of strikes. In a blog post from Buterin are concerned about strike initiatives that entail unnecessary risks. They could make the role of Ethereum validators a lot more complicated.
According to Vitalik, it is important that the primary task of validators to verify transactions is not lost sight of. He expressed concern that re-striking could pose risks that could affect the security of the network. In addition, such initiatives can increase costs for validators. Buterin stressed the need to carefully approach the expansion of blockchain consensus.
Functionality such as re-staking can be added if they don’t create additional validator tasks in the future, Buterin said. Instead of expanding the role of Ethereum consensus and making the blockchain more vulnerable, Buterin suggested going minimalist:
“There is a natural urge to try to extend the core of the blockchain with more and more functionality because the core of the blockchain has the greatest economic impact and a large community watching it, but any such expansion makes the core itself more vulnerable.”
Staking on Ethereum popular
Only recently, during the Shapella Upgrade on April 12, users were able to withdraw their staked ether. In the end, only a small group chose to do this and more strikes than before. The network has the largest number of validators of all PoS blockchain projects. The total amount that is staked is also by far the largest. The total value of staked ETH amounts to $34 billion (18 million ETH).