Buterin Pitches ‘A Little Easy’ Setup for Ethereum
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin proposed adding distributed verification technology (DVT) to the blockchain's staking mechanism, which he argued would simplify the process and support technology.
Buterin pitched “native DVT” in a post to the Ethereum Research Forum on Wednesday, which he said would allow Ether (ETH) stakeholders to “participate in a single node without complete trust.”
Currently, Ethereum validators can only run one node to protect the blockchain, and this will result in penalties if it goes down.
Using DVT means that the verifier can use the key on multiple nodes to support the network, reducing the chances of penalties.
“The key is secretly shared among a few nodes, and all signatures are threshold-signed,” he explained, adding that as long as more than two-thirds of them are “trusted,” the node is “guaranteed to work correctly.”
Many protocols use DVT, Buterin said, adding that “they don't do full agreement in every validator, so they provide a little worse guarantee, but they're much simpler.”
DVT per protocol: Buterin should be applied.
Buterin says that while DVT solutions require complex setups, “it's a surprisingly simple option: we put DVT in the protocol.”
Buterin's design verifier is allowed to create a maximum of 16 keys or “virtual identities” that operate independently but are counted as one on the blockchain.
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This so-called “group identity,” says Buterin, counts as taking action, acting as a bloc, only if a small number of “virtual identities” sign on to it and are rewarded or punished based on the actions of the majority.
“This design is extremely simple from the user's perspective,” he says, as DVT staking becomes a replica of a standard client node.
Buterin added that it would help security-conscious stakeholders with large amounts of ETH share it securely instead of relying on a single node. Stakers can easily hold their own tokens instead of using a provider, adding to the decentralization of the stake.
Buterin's proposal comes as the co-founder has floated other ideas to make Ethereum easier to use, and his latest vote requires more debate before being added to the network.
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