Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has published a lengthy blog post warning of the dangers of “extending” the Ethereum consensus beyond its core functions of validating blocks and securing the network.
Ethereum consensus is the process by which blocks are validated using the proof-of-stake mechanism implemented in September 2022 with “the merger.”
In a May 21 blog post titled “Don’t Overburden the Ethereum Consensus,” Buterin warned that using the Ethereum network consensus for other things could lead to “high systemic risks to the ecosystem and should be discouraged and resisted.”
The Ethereum co-founder was essentially promoting the preservation of blockchain minimalism.
Do not overload the Ethereum consensus:https://t.co/07tzyCrZcJ
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 21, 2023
buterin noted that over the years, a number of proposals or ideas had emerged suggesting using Ethereum’s social consensus for other purposes, such as price and data oracles, retake initiatives, and using layer 1 soft forks to recover layer 2 projects they have problems
“There’s a natural need to try to extend the blockchain core with more and more features because the blockchain core has the biggest economic weight and the biggest community that watches it, but every one of those extensions does that the nucleus is more fragile”.
Buterin said that a certain subset of these techniques could bring “high systemic risks” to the ecosystem, such as bugs or an intentional 51% attack.
Some high-risk examples include the creation of ETH/USD price oracles where ETH (ETH) holders or validators can be bribed into voting, which can result in “bad participants paying out money.” “If there is disagreement.
However, he recognized the need for better oracles and proposed a case-by-case approach because various problems are “inherently so different” from each other.
In general, Buterin said that any expansion of Ethereum’s consensus “duties” increases the costs, complexities and risks of running a validator.
Related: Buterin discusses the impact of zk-EVM on decentralization and security
Application-layer projects that “take actions that risk increasing the ‘scope’ of blockchain consensus to anything other than checking Ethereum’s core protocol rules,” should be treated with caution, he said, summarizing. :
“Instead, we should preserve the minimalism of the chain, support re-staking uses that don’t seem like slippery slopes to extend the role of Ethereum consensus, and help developers find alternative strategies to achieve their security goals.”
Ethereum’s consensus mechanism switched from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in September last year. Also, staked Ethereum was just released for withdrawal with the Shapella update on April 12. This explains the increased scrutiny of validator roles and security risks in the world’s largest smart contract network.
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