Vitalik Buterin suggests decreasing Ethereum staking threshold to make it more decentralized

The Ethereum staking market is becoming increasingly centralized among 11 firms, which collectively hold approximately 48% of the market.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has suggested that the minimal deposit requirements for stakers on the blockchain network be reduced.

Buterin expressed his willingness to lower the current 32 ETH threshold required to stake on the network in order to facilitate solitary staking in a post on X. on October 3. He is of the opinion that the present requirement is a hindrance to entrance for a significant number of individuals, rather than a necessity due to bandwidth.

Buterin proposed that the minimal deposit be reduced to 16 or 24 ETH, which would result in a proportionate increase in bandwidth requirements. He declared:

“I believe there is a rational solution to this issue. We could temporarily engage in a trade where we increase the bandwidth requirement and, in exchange, reduce the staking deposit minimum to 16 or 24 ETH, recognizing that 32 ETH is a much greater barrier than the bandwidth requirement.”

According to Buterin, the minimal deposit reduction would facilitate the expansion of Ethereum’s staking program and increase its accessibility for solitary stakers.

Additionally, he stated that the requirement may decrease to 1 ETH in the future, contingent upon developments such as OrbitSSF. Similarly, the full deployment of PeerDAS, a feature that is intended to enhance data availability sampling on the blockchain network, would result in a substantial reduction in bandwidth demands.

In his remarks, the Ethereum co-founder underscores the significance of solitary stakers in the blockchain network’s security and decentralization. Solo stakers operate entire nodes on private computers without the assistance of staking pools or third-party platforms.

Nevertheless, the high deposit requirement for staking has discouraged a broader range of participants, thereby restricting the number of solitary stakers. According to on-chain data, 11 staking providers are responsible for nearly 48% of Ethereum staking, with Lido alone controlling a substantial 24% share.

This substantial concentration has provoked apprehensions among the community regarding the potential hazards of centralization. Consequently, Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano has emphasized the significance of solitary staking as “the very throbbing core of Ethereum.”

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