Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted the critical role of personal staking in improving the security and decentralization of the network at the Ethereum Singapore 2024 conference on September 16.
Vitalik Buterin Highlights Importance of Individual Staking for Ethereum's Security
Solo stakers who independently stake Ethereum (ETH) without relying on third-party services or centralized entities are crucial to reducing reliance on centralized players and maintaining Ethereum’s long-term resilience.
In his speech, Buterin warned about the risks posed by centralized staking services and large staking pools.
He argued that individual stakers serve as an important defense against potential network attacks, particularly 51% attacks, where a malicious entity takes control of the majority of the blockchain’s computational power.
Personal stakes provide an additional layer of decentralization, making it more difficult for a single entity to amass enough power to disrupt the network.
Buterin noted that in the case of a 51% attack, the severity depends on how much control the attacker has. If an attacker controls 57% or more of the network, they can terminate blocks and potentially split the blockchain, causing significant damage.
To prevent this, Buterin suggested raising Ethereum’s block finalization threshold, which currently requires two-thirds confirmations, to three-quarters or higher.
Apart from Ethereum’s security, Buterin also commented on Google’s automatic sign-in feature, which has recently sparked controversy in the crypto community.
While acknowledging the potential risks of using such centralized services to access secure systems, Buterin argued that this feature could be useful when combined with secure models such as account abstraction.
*This is not investment advice.