Vitalik Buterin warns against overloading Ethereum’s consensus

Vitalik Buterin warned about the danger of “stretching” Ethereum’s consensus beyond the core functions of validators responsible for verifying blocks and securing the network.

Don’t overload Ethereum’s consensus:https://t.co/07tzyCrZcJ

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 21, 2023

In the article titled “Don’t Overload Ethereum’s Consensus,” Buterin stated that using the mechanism for other purposes could lead to “high systemic risks for the ecosystem”.

In September 2022, as part of the substantial upgrade The Merge, the Ethereum network moved from the Proof-of-Work algorithm to the Proof-of-Stake.

Buterin noted that in recent years a number of ideas has emerged to use public blockchain consensus for initiatives such as decentralized oracles, restaking, and the managed recovery L2 protocols through the main network.

“Reusing ETH staked by validators, while fraught with some risks, is in principle normal, but an attempt to “recruit” Ethereum’s public consensus for your application’s own purposes is unacceptable,” he said.

Regardless of specific initiatives or projects, the Ethereum cofounder noted that such methods carry risks up to a 51% attack and lead to a dilution of control by the community.

“We must preserve the network’s minimalism, support restaking use cases that do not look like slippery roads toward expanding the role of Ethereum’s consensus, and help developers find alternative strategies to achieve their security objectives,” concluded Buterin.

As reported in January, he called privacy “the biggest remaining problem” for Ethereum and proposed its solution.