Buterin intends to decrease the dependence on social consensus by implementing new Ethereum defense mechanisms.
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has urged the network to implement more automated defenses against the potential censorship that could arise from 51% attacks.
The Ethereum co-founder arrived at the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) in Brussels. Buterin highlighted the necessity of Ethereum’s enhanced ability to pivot in the event that dangerous actors obtain control of the network during his keynote address. He promoted the expansion of research and the creation of automated responses to 51% attacks, in which an attacker generates more blocks than legitimate validators.
Buterin emphasized that censorship is a significant issue in these types of situations. He advocated for a more automated approach, as the current plan significantly relies on social consensus to coordinate a chain fork.
Buterin stated, “Our objective is to ensure that the response to 51% attacks is as automated as feasible.” Buterin proposes that validator nodes should use software that is capable of detecting censorship and autonomously counter-censoring the majority chain.
The co-founder of Ethereum acknowledged the obstacles to achieving 100% network participation in an automated divide, but he also emphasized that the burden on social consensus would be alleviated by increased automation. He asserts that the technological layer must provide a clear, plausible soft fork option for the community to gather around in the event of a need.
In addition to the 51% attack responses, Buterin provided additional recommendations for the advancement of Ethereum. He promoted the widespread implementation of light clients in the network’s infrastructure, such as wallets, and the promotion of zk-EVM verification to fortify Layer 2 networks. Buterin also addressed concerns regarding quantum resistance, stating that Ethereum is facing risks in four areas: consensus signatures, Merkle trees, blobs, and user accounts. However, solutions are already in place for each of these areas.
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