Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin addressed criticism and concerns regarding Ethereum's centralization in a recent blog post.
The article covers three key topics: MEV (miner or maximum extractable value), liquid staking, and hardware costs involved in running an independent node.
Buterin acknowledged that these concerns are widely expressed and admitted that he has had them himself on many occasions. However, he also suggested that these problems may not be as insurmountable as some believe.
MEV refers to the financial advantage advanced node operators can gain by reordering transactions within a block. Buterin highlighted two approaches to combating MEV: minimization and quarantine. Minimization involves reducing MEV through smart protocol design such as CowSwap, while quarantining attempts to reduce or eliminate MEV through in-protocol techniques.
Buterin warned that MEV quarantine, while appealing, carries centralization risks. “If developers had the power to completely exclude transactions from a block, there are attacks that could occur quite easily,” he wrote. Despite this, Buterin expressed support for founders working on MEV quarantine through concepts such as transaction inclusion lists, which prevent developers from excluding transactions entirely.
Buterin also touched on the issue of individual Ethereum staking. Given the complexity, hardware requirements, and need for at least 32 ETH to run a standalone Ethereum node, most stakers choose to stake with Coinbase or a decentralized intermediary like Lido or RocketPool.
While Buterin acknowledged the progress made in reducing the cost and complexity of running an individual node, he suggested more could be done, such as reducing the time to withdraw staked ETH or lowering the 32 ETH minimum requirement for individual staking.
Buterin concluded his words by warning that wrong solutions could lead Ethereum to the path of centralization and revive the traditional financial system.
*This is not investment advice.