Vitalik Buterin warned of the danger of “stretching” the Ethereum consensus beyond the core functions of validators to validate blocks and secure the network.
Don’t overload Ethereum’s consensus:https://t.co/07tzyCrZcJ
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 21, 2023
In an article titled “Don’t Overload the Ethereum Consensus,” Buterin stated that using the mechanism for other purposes could lead to “high systemic risks to the ecosystem.”
In September 2022, as a result of a major update of The Merge, the Ethereum network switched from Proof-of-Work algorithm to Proof-of-Stake.
Buterin noted that in recent years, a number of ideas have emerged to use blockchain public consensus for initiatives like decentralized oracles, restaking and managed recovery of L2 protocols through the main network.
“Reusing ETH staked by a validator, although there are some risks, is fundamentally normal, but trying to “recruit” the public consensus of Ethereum for your application’s own purposes is unacceptable,” he said.
Regardless of specific initiatives or projects, the Ethereum co-founder noted that such methods carry risks up to a 51% attack and lead to a erosion of control from the community.
“We need to keep the network minimal, support restaking use cases that don’t look like slippery slopes to expand the role of Ethereum consensus, and help developers find alternative strategies to achieve their security goals,” Buterin concluded.
Recall that in January he called privacy “the biggest remaining problem” of Ethereum and proposed a solution to it.
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