On May 21, 2023, Vitalik Buterin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, expressed concerns in a blog post about the risks associated with expanding Ethereum’s consensus mechanism beyond its fundamental roles of validating blocks and safeguarding the network.
Ethereum Consensus Limitations Unveiled By Vitalik Buterin
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, raised concerns in a recent blog post about the potential risks associated with expanding the usage of Ethereum’s consensus mechanism beyond its core functions of validating blocks and securing the network.
The consensus mechanism, implemented in September 2022 with “the Merge,” utilizes a proof-of-stake mechanism to validate blocks. Buterin warned that diverting ETH’s network consensus for other purposes could introduce significant systemic risks to the ecosystem, and he emphasized the importance of discouraging and resisting such endeavors.
In his post, Buterin elaborated on various proposals that have been suggested over the years to employ Ethereum’s social consensus for additional purposes.
These include utilizing it for price and data oracles, re-staking initiatives, and employing layer-1 soft forks to address potential issues with layer-2 projects. However, Buterin expressed concerns that expanding the blockchain’s core functionality could make it more vulnerable.
He specifically highlighted certain techniques that he believed could introduce high systemic risks, such as the creation of ETH/USD price oracles, where ETH holders or validators could be bribed to influence voting outcomes, potentially resulting in a contentious fork.
While acknowledging the need for improved oracles, Buterin recommended a case-by-case approach due to the inherent differences among the various challenges.
Ultimately, Buterin concluded that extending the responsibilities of ETH’s consensus would increase the costs, complexities, and risks associated with running a validator.
Therefore, he cautioned against application-layer projects that could potentially broaden the scope of blockchain consensus beyond verifying the core Ethereum protocol rules. Instead, he suggested maintaining the chain’s minimalism, supporting re-staking approaches that do not pave the way for expanding Ethereum’s consensus role, and assisting developers in finding alternative strategies to achieve their security objectives.
It is worth noting that the transition of ETH’s consensus mechanism from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake occurred in September of the previous year, and the ability to withdraw staked Ethereum was recently introduced with the Shapella upgrade on April 12.
These developments have led to increased scrutiny regarding validator roles and security risks on the world’s largest smart contract network.
To access Vitalik’s article: Don’t overload Ethereum’s consensus
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