Vitalik Buterin has published a blog post discussing how to enhance Ethereum proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism. He highlighted two main goals: achieving single-slot finality and lowering the staking threshold to 1 ETH. Single-slot finality means blocks are confirmed in one slot. This would reduce confirmation time from 15 minutes to 12 seconds.
Buterin proposed three potential solutions. First, improving the signature aggregation protocol to handle millions of validators. Second, introducing the Orbit committee mechanism, which selects a random group of validators for block finalization. Third, creating a two-tier staking system that allows validators with smaller deposits to participate.
Ethereum transition to ‘Proof-of-Stake’ and future improvements
Ethereum made the transition from PoW to PoS during the Merge. While PoS is stable, Buterin drove the point across that more technical improvements are needed. He highlighted two points for improvement: increasing the number of solo stakers through the reduction of 32 ETH requirements and fastening finality.
Currently, Ethereum requires that every validator sign off on a block-in, a process that takes some time. For their part, this means any attempt to reverse a block retains a high economic cost for the attackers.
However, it also results in delays in confirmation. Their new proposal, which allows the participation of smaller stakers while not sacrificing any of the security of the blockchain, aims to solve this.
Among the proposals, one integrates cryptography in the process to speed up the aggregation of signatures. Another, called Orbit, uses smaller random validator committees. Both scaling solutions are designed not to compromise the network’s security while increasing scalability for Ethereum.
These changes would open up staking to a wider category of users upon successful delivery. Quicker finality will also improve Ethereum’s user experience in that it will almost instantly confirm an already pending transaction. Nevertheless, Buterin’s suggestions are under consideration as Ethereum looks to improve its PoS protocol.
Related | Korea to launch ‘Virtual Asset Committee’ for crypto ETF talks
