Buterin Proposes Changes to Ethereum Staking to Prevent Centralization

• Vitalik Buterin proposes breaking Ethereum block roles to tackle staking centralization.
• Ethereum’s Scourge upgrade targets enhanced security and decentralized staking.
• Buterin suggests adjusting the issuance curve to manage over-staking and ensure network equity.

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, continues to push the blockchain’s growth with his latest article, “Possible Futures of the Ethereum Protocol, Part 3: The Scourge.” This work elaborates on essential enhancements to cement decentralization while bolstering the network against looming security threats. Buterin’s address targets minimizing the threats associated with the centralization of Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

Addressing Staking Centralization and Security

In his detailed exploration, Buterin identifies key factors contributing to centralization risks within the Ethereum staking environment. The current staking model, requiring a minimum of 32 ETH and significant hardware demands, potentially marginalizes smaller stakeholders. 

This scenario could lead large stakeholders to dominate, leaving smaller players to rely on joining bigger staking pools, which contradicts the ethos of decentralization. Buterin proposes a structural revision of the block production process to distribute responsibilities more evenly among stakers, thereby reducing the potential for central control.

Buterin suggests that decentralizing the task of choosing which transactions make it into a block could prevent a concentration of power. His proposal advocates for a system where proposers, or stakers, regain the responsibility for transaction selection while builders focus merely on organizing these transactions within blocks.This method aims to diminish the influence of large stakers and maintain a fair playing field for participants of all sizes.

Innovative Solutions to Enhance Decentralization

The Scourge phase introduces innovative mechanisms like the Multiple Concurrent Proposers (MCP) and technologies such as BRAID, which distribute block production tasks across several entities. These solutions are designed to lower entry barriers and dilute the dominance of large-scale participants. Buterin emphasizes the role of encrypted mempools in this setup, which safeguard transaction details until their inclusion in a block, thereby supporting anonymity and reducing bias in transaction processing.

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Additionally, to combat “over-staking”—where a disproportionate volume of ETH is locked into staking—Buterin proposes adjusting Ethereum’s issuance curve. This adjustment would decrease staking rewards when the staked amount exceeds a certain threshold, discouraging centralization and ensuring no single group can wield excessive control over the network.