Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views and opinions of the crypto.news editorial.
One of the many contradictions associated with blockchain technology is that despite all the proselytizing of the benefits of decentralization and freedom from third-party interference, vectors of centralization continue to appear.
One area where this has become particularly concerning is the Execution Client software used for the ethereum blockchain, which currently has approximately 70% of nodes use Geth. This supermajority issue is a genuine concern for ethereum participants and the community as a whole; if consensus fails within a supermajority client, that could lead to a chain reorganization. If, for example, Execution Client A accepted a reorganized version of the chain, that wouldn't be a problem if the other Execution Clients B, C, and D say it's wrong; However, if there is a supermajority of more than 66% that confirms this, then there is a real crisis.
Although this may seem theoretical, it is not. On January 21 of this year, a bug in ethereum's Nethermind client software, used by blockchain validators to interact with the network, eliminated a portion of the chain's key operators. Since Nethermind powers about 8% of ethereum's validators, the situation was manageable and the ethereum blockchain continued to function normally.
If Geth were to suffer a bug, this could fatally undermine the ethereum blockchain. There are two breaking points for proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains when one-third disagree and two-third disagree. If more than a third disagreed, the ethereum blockchain would slow down and validators would face an inactivity penalty; however, the situation would still be manageable. However, if more than two-thirds of the validators sign and vote on a block, and it becomes part of the chain, there would be a finalized but invalid chain. In that situation, the ethereum community would be forced to fork.
This issue has added intensity with the possible approval of ethereum-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) later this year, if institutional investors use a supermajority execution client to stake eth and there is an error in attesting of the blockchain, the potential problem could be seen. Gamblers with large sums of eth lose it all in a short space of time.
There are currently 28,976,695 eth at stake on the network. About 70% of this (about 20 million eth) can be attributed to validators running Geth, and 16% (about 5 million eth) to validators not running Geth. For the non-Geth chain to terminate, validators running Geth must burn their stake until it represents less than a third of the total remaining stake. This means that around 21.5 million eth from these validators would need to be burned (around 90% of their stake), which would reduce Geth's stake to around 2.5 million eth, which is less than a third. of the 7.5 million total eth at stake (2.5 million). plus 5 million eth). The 5 million eth controlled by non-Geth validators would now represent more than two-thirds of the stake, allowing them to end the chain. This would be an excruciatingly painful process that would unfold over approximately 40 days. It would be so significant that it would reduce the total supply of all eth by approximately 18%, bringing the total supply below 100 million eth. The possible consequences of errors occurring within Geth are too much for current stakeholders.
It's also important to recognize that this is not a problem that only ethereum has to deal with; Other PoS blockchains have this genuine issue of dependency on the Execution Client software. However, ethereum is unique in that the community is at least trying to ensure greater diversity in its Validator Client software, preventing this from becoming an issue.
Digital currencies were born in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, in which governments bailed out banks deemed “too big to fail,” it would be a cruel irony if an industry that sought to avoid the mistakes of traditional finance simply ended. . until replicating them. Few people then predicted the financial crisis; However, people are starting to realize the potential problems that over-reliance on Geth can cause. Unlike then, the danger is evident and the solution is within reach; As a community, we must seize the moment and ensure that the Validator Client software is monitored and maintained to ensure that diversity within the ecosystem is ensured for the good of all involved.
