Vitalik Buterin Discusses Independent Stakers' Role In Ethereum Network

According to Odaily, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently shared insights from his fireside chat at the Home Staking Summit in Singapore. He discussed the practical value of independent stakers, including small businesses and community stakers, to the network and explored potential changes at the Layer 1 (L1) level to better support these stakers. Here are the key points from his discussion: Vitalik emphasized the dual role of independent stakers, describing them as both the 'first line of defense' against censorship and the 'last line of defense' by preventing the final confirmation of erroneous chains by 67%. He highlighted the importance of decentralization, noting that independent stakers are typically not affiliated with large organizations, making them less susceptible to regulatory capture or coercion. This enhances Ethereum's position as a credibly neutral block space. In terms of network security, Vitalik discussed the possibility of raising the consensus threshold from 67% to 85% to strengthen security. However, he acknowledged that this could introduce new challenges, such as reducing the cost of attacks that prevent final confirmation. He also proposed an interesting perspective on resource allocation, suggesting that the current system might be overpaying to prevent 33% attacks and recommended reallocating resources to bolster defenses against more severe attacks. Vitalik stressed the importance of increasing the number of independent stakers, making them a crucial component of the current final confirmation threshold. He also explored measures that the Ethereum base layer (L1) could take to better support and encourage independent staking.