Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently outlined ways to improve the blockchain’s proof-of-stake (PoS) system despite its existing strengths in decentralization and stability.
In a post on Oct. 14, Buterin discussed potential upgrades that could enhance transaction speeds, boost security, and make staking more accessible for solo participants.
Enhancing Ethereum performance
One of Buterin’s primary goals is to reduce Ethereum’s transaction times. Currently, transactions can take up to 15 minutes to finalize, which could lead to network congestion and delays. Buterin aims to cut this down to just a few seconds.
He noted:
“There is value in Ethereum’s transaction confirmation time decreasing further, from 12 seconds down to, e.g. 4 seconds. Doing this would significantly improve the user experience both of the L1 and of based rollups, while making defi protocols more efficient.”
To achieve this, Buterin suggested exploring a “single-slot finality” method, which could drastically reduce transaction times by finalizing blocks within one slot. This approach would make Ethereum more competitive and significantly improve user experience.
Buterin also proposed strategies to accelerate these improvements, including using ZK-SNARKs for better signature aggregation. This could allow Ethereum to process signatures from millions of validators per slot.
Additionally, he introduced the idea of “orbit committees,” which involve the random selection of a medium-sized group responsible for finalizing blocks while maintaining security.
Democratizing staking
Staking accessibility is another key concern. Currently, users need at least 32 ETH (around $81,500) to participate in staking, which limits solo participation. Buterin suggested lowering the threshold to just 1 ETH to encourage more individual users to stake.
Buterin said:
“Poll after poll repeatedly show that the main factor preventing more people from solo staking is the 32 ETH minimum. Reducing the minimum to 1 ETH would solve this issue.”
By lowering the minimum, Buterin believes other concerns would take precedence in limiting solo staking, potentially opening the door for more users to contribute to the network.
Strengthening Ethereum’s security
Buterin also emphasized the need to enhance Ethereum’s security. One proposed solution is using “single secret leader election,” a cryptographic technique that would make it harder for attackers to disrupt the network.
Currently, validators proposing the next block are identified ahead of time, creating a security risk. Attackers could target specific validators with denial-of-service (DoS) attacks just as they are about to propose a block.
The Single secret leader election would obfuscate the validator’s identity using cryptographic methods, preventing attackers from knowing who will propose the next block until the last moment.
Other key Improvements
Buterin suggested raising the quorum threshold from 67% to 80%, improving Ethereum’s security.
With this change, a quorum-blocking minority of solo stakers would only need 21%. This would strengthen the network’s resistance to attacks, particularly in scenarios where a 51% attack or censorship might be attempted.
He also highlighted the need to prepare for quantum computing threats, which could challenge the network in the future, and the ability to recover from 51% of attacks.
