Vitalik Buterin: Solo staking is the security key of Ethereum

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin spoke at Ethereum Singapore 2024 on September 16th about the importance of solo staking for the future security and decentralization of Ethereum.

Buterin discussed the risks posed by centralized entities and the role of individual stakers in protecting the network against attacks to ensure network resilience and long-term sustainability.

Individual stakers are individuals who independently stake their own cryptocurrency, such as ETH, without relying on third-party services, centralized entities, or staking pools.

Vitalik Buterin and Samuel Chong discuss network security and the role of staking at Ethereum Singapore 2024

Staking solo promotes decentralization of the network

Buterin emphasizes the important role of solo staking individuals in decentralization, stating that they are an uncoordinated and diverse group, helping to reduce reliance on centralized entities.

“We can have a stronger solo […] I think there are many ways that can play a role as an additional defense layer that is really important in terms of security and privacy.”

According to Buterin’s perspective expressed in the discussion, even a small percentage of solo stakers can contribute an important layer of decentralized security to Ethereum.

Preventing 51% Attacks

Buterin also talks about the role of solo stakers and the network’s layer of defense against 51% attacks, where a malicious entity gains majority computational power of the blockchain.

In situations where a 51% attack threatens the network, the main difference lies in whether the attacker controls 50-56% or 57% and above.

At 57% and above, attackers can finalize* blocks, potentially leading to chain splits if not controlled and prevented.

To counter this, Vitalik proposes that Ethereum should consider raising the finality block threshold from 2/3 to a higher number to make attacks more difficult to carry out.

“One of the ideas that I have recently promoted is that Ethereum should increase its threshold from 2/3 to a higher number. Either 3/4 or even higher.”

Buterin is optimistic about Google’s automatic login feature

Recently, the co-founder of Ethereum has proposed social media support for Google’s automatic login feature, sparking a discussion about its implications.

On September 4th, Buterin acknowledged the disadvantages of login services as a bridge for securing systems through abstracting accounts, but asserted that it could be worth the risk.

He suggested service wallets be offered “signing keys” and “M-of-N custodian setups,” which include a security model to protect access to sensitive data or assets similar to multi-signatures.

***Finality is the process of processing for the system to accept transactions as valid. This process ensures that transactions cannot be altered by any entity. Finality is precisely the processing process that users have to wait for when performing transactions, thereby measuring the latency of transactions.

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According to Cointelegraph