In a blog post released on October 14, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin described possible future improvements to the Ethereum protocol, focusing on technological improvements in its proof-of-stake (PoS) system. Titled “Possible futures for the Ethereum protocol, part 1: Consolidation,” the post examines strategies for improving stability, performance, and accessibility while addressing the risks of centralization.
First, Buterin shows the successful transition of Ethereum from proof of work to proof of stake aka “Combination” almost two years ago, noting that “this proof of stake has done remarkably well in terms of stability, performance and avoiding the risks of centralization.” However, he emphasized that “There are still important areas where evidence of involvement needs to be improved.”
Future improvements of Ethereum
One of the main focuses of the post is to achieve the end of one slot and to reduce the minimum requirement of democratic participation in the network. Currently, it takes 2-3 epochs (about 15 minutes) to complete a block, and a minimum of 32 ETH is required to become a validator. Buterin highlights the conflict between reducing the hosting requirement, reducing storage time, and reducing node overhead.
“Today, it takes 2-3 epochs (~15 min) to complete a block, and 32 ETH is required to become a staker,” he wrote. He identified the goals of finalizing blocks in one place and allowing validators to participate for as little as 1 ETH. “Poll after poll repeatedly shows that the main factor that prevents many people from solo mining is the minimum of 32 ETH,” notes Buterin.
To face these challenges, he discusses many ways. One involves using better signature aggregation protocols, possibly using zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-SNARKs), to process signatures from millions of verifiers at each site. Another method is the introduction of Orbit Committees, a method in which a randomly selected central committee completes the series while maintaining the cost structure of the attack. “Orbit takes advantage of the pre-existing heterogeneity in validator deposit sizes to achieve as much economic bottom line as possible, while still giving smaller validators an equal role,” he explains.
Buterin is also considering creating a two-tier staking system with different deposit requirements, where only the high deposit tier is involved in providing an economic end. He admits that “the risks depend very much on certain rights enjoyed by the lower class,” and that certain projects can lead to co-optation.
Addressing security vulnerabilities related to Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks on known verifiers, Buterin proposes the implementation of Secret Single Leader Election (SSLE) procedures. “The best way to fix the DoS issue is to hide the information about which validator will generate the next block, at least until the time the block is actually generated,” he said.
SSLE protocols use cryptographic techniques to create “blind” authentication IDs, ensuring that only the owner of the blind ID can generate a valid proof to lift a block without others knowing their identity. However, Buterin acknowledges the challenges: “We really appreciate Ethereum being a reasonably simple protocol, and we don’t want the complexity to increase further. The implementation of SSLE that we have seen adds hundreds of lines of specific code, and introduces new thinking about complex cryptography.”
He also explored ways to reduce Ethereum transaction confirmation time from the current 12 seconds to as low as 4 seconds, emphasizing the importance of reducing confirmation times to improve user experience and facilitate decentralized Layer 2 solutions. Strategies include reducing slot times and allowing proposers to publish early confirmations midway. However, Buterin warns of the potential dangers of centralization and the need for appropriate incentives, noting that “if we add a way to isolate the applicant, then the kill blocks will not need SSLE, because we can rely on block builders to be exclusive.”
Buterin also affects additional critical areas, including a 51% attack recovery. He suggests that although full automation is not possible, “we can achieve partial automation […] to ensure that the bad guys in the attack at least can not get a quick victory.” He is also considering increasing the quorum threshold for block completion from 67% to 80% to improve security, saying “this seems to be a much healthier situation than the ‘wrong side’ getting a quick victory.”
Concluding his blog post, Buterin warns of the importance of preparing for the possible threat of quantum computers capable of breaking current cryptographic systems: “This proves the conservatism of assumptions about the effectiveness of proof-of-stake designs, and is also a reason to be diligent in developing other resistant methods and quantum.”
At press time, ETH traded at $2,524.
Featured image from Bloomberg, chart from TradingView.com