What’s Next After the Merge?

• Vitalik Buterin outlines the future of Ethereum post-Merge, focusing on Proof of Stake improvements.
• Key proposals include reducing staking requirements from 32 ETH to 1 ETH for increased accessibility.
• Single-slot finality aims to speed up Ethereum’s block finalization from 15 minutes to 12 seconds.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined a post-Merge roadmap, detailing technical improvements to the protocol after its successful switch to Proof of Stake.

In his blog post “Possible Futures of the Ethereum Protocol, Part 1: The Merge,” Buterin states that the Merge, a landmark event in Ethereum’s history, has proven its stability and avoided centralization risks since its launch two years ago. However, he sees room for improvement in some areas.

While the move to Proof of Stake was a major step, Buterin believes the Ethereum protocol still needs to tackle some key challenges. These include faster finality times and reducing the staking requirement from 32 ETH to just 1 ETH.

At present, the PoS network takes 15 minutes to finalize blocks, but the goal is to shorten this to single-slot finality (within 12 seconds). These proposed changes are aimed at enhancing the transaction speed and security, making Ethereum more competitive with centralized performance-focused Layer 1 (L1) chains.

Democratizing Ethereum: Vitalik’s Vision for More Inclusive Participation

Buterin also insisted on democratizing the staking process to allow more participants to engage with the network by reducing the minimum ETH needed for staking. He believes that reducing the staking limit to 1 ETH would encourage more solo stakers to join, further decentralizing the system.

Although these upgrades offer great potential, they come with their own set of challenges. Shorter finality times and lower staking requirements could increase the workload for node operators. However, new research offers solutions to balance these goals, including signature aggregation and more efficient committee-based validation.

Read also: Cybercriminals Exploit ChatGPT’s Name in New Ethereum Scam: MEV Bot Fraud Unveiled

Additionally, Buterin’s detailed post discusses other Ethereum upgrades like single secret leader election and transaction confirmation improvements, hinting at Ethereum’s continued innovation and drive for decentralization. 

These proposed changes could improve the network’s security, accessibility, and overall user experience.