End of Ethereum? Here’s What Finality Issue Is Really About

Recently, on the 11th and 12th of May, a curious situation arose within the Ethereum network. A significant majority of the network’s validators, which comprise over 60% of the total, unexpectedly halted their operations. The abrupt cessation of these activities led to a curious phenomenon known as a loss in finality. But what exactly does this term mean, and why is it such a crucial aspect of the Ethereum network?

In the realm of blockchain technology, “finality” signifies a state where a block and its associated transactions have been confirmed and accepted by a supermajority, or two-thirds, of the total validators. Once finality has been achieved, these transactions are deemed permanent and cannot be retrospectively modified or erased from the blockchain.

On May 11th and 12th, the #Ethereum network experienced two occasions where over 60% of the validators stopped performing their duties, causing a loss in Finality.

Finality refers to the state where a supermajority of validators (2/3 of the total stake) have attested to the… pic.twitter.com/H13rdYeFPP

— glassnode (@glassnode) May 14, 2023

During these unexpected events, the Ethereum network’s performance was noticeably hampered. A total of 3.68% of daily slots were left unattended, and the proposal of 253 blocks was notably delayed. Although these figures might appear insignificant, they led to unforeseen complications on the network.

As a result, certain systems were required to retrieve and verify older states, while simultaneously managing the influx of new attestations. This unexpected workload resulted in system malfunctions due to overheating​​.

Interestingly, despite these unusual occurrences, the day-to-day users of the Ethereum mainnet were not impacted. Transactions continued to be processed as per usual. However, the second event triggered a mechanism known as the “Inactivity Leak” for the first time. This mechanism is a fail-safe designed to restore finality on the Ethereum Beacon Chain during emergencies.

While these events do not necessarily signal the “end of Ethereum,” they serve as a wake-up call for the crypto community about the realities of blockchain technology and the importance of finality in maintaining network integrity.