Vitalik Buterin Proposes Lowering Ethereum Staking Threshold to Boost Decentralization

Vitalik Buterin has suggested lowering Ethereum’s 32 ETH staking deposit requirement to 16 or 24 ETH to encourage more solo stakers and reduce centralization risks in the network.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed lowering the minimum deposit requirement for staking on the Ethereum network, aiming to address concerns about centralization and improve accessibility for solo stakers.

In an October 3 post on X, Buterin suggested reducing the current 32 ETH threshold required for staking to 16 or 24 ETH, with a slight increase in bandwidth requirements to maintain network efficiency. The Ethereum co-founder emphasized that the 32 ETH barrier is more of a deterrent for many potential stakers than a necessity based on the network’s bandwidth.

“I think there’s a sane version of this where we recognize that 32 ETH is much more of a barrier than bandwidth requirement, and temporarily do a trade where we up the bandwidth requirement a bit and in exchange drop the staking deposit minimum to, e.g., 16 or 24 ETH,” Buterin stated.

Expanding Ethereum Staking Accessibility

Buterin highlighted the importance of solo stakers, who run full Ethereum nodes independently, without relying on third-party staking providers or pools. By lowering the deposit threshold, Buterin believes the network can encourage more solo staking, a critical factor in improving Ethereum’s decentralization and security.

Further, Buterin expressed the possibility of reducing the staking requirement to 1 ETH in the future, depending on advancements in Ethereum’s technology. Specifically, improvements such as OrbitSSF and PeerDAS, which are designed to enhance data availability and network efficiency, could enable even lower deposit thresholds without compromising network performance.

Addressing Centralization Concerns

Currently, 11 firms control around 48% of Ethereum staking, with Lido holding a 24% market share. This centralization has raised concerns among the community regarding the potential risks of too much influence being concentrated in a few staking providers. Ethereum educators, like Anthony Sassano, have voiced the need for decentralization, calling solo staking the “beating heart of Ethereum.”

Without expanding solo staking and enabling more individuals to participate directly, critics argue that Ethereum’s network security and true decentralization could be compromised.

Buterin’s proposal is seen as a potential solution to these issues, making staking more accessible and encouraging a more decentralized staking model.

Our creator. creates amazing NFT collections! 
Support the editors - Bitcoin_Man (ETH) / Bitcoin_Man (TON)

Pi Network (Guide)is a new digital currency developed by Stanford PhDs with over 55 million participants worldwide. To get your Pi, follow this link https://minepi.com/Tsybko and use my username (Tsybko) as the invite code.

Binance: Use this link to sign up and get $100 free and 10% off your first months Binance Futures fees (Terms and Conditions).

Bitget: Use this link Use the Rewards Center and win up to 5027 USDT!(Review)

Bybit: Use this link (all possible discounts on commissions and bonuses up to $30,030 included) If you register through the application, then at the time of registration simply enter in the reference: WB8XZ4 - (manual)