Ethereum decentralization in jeopardy? Developers want to raise the staking limit to 2,048 ETH
2 min readSince Ethereum switched to a proof-of-stake network, the number of staking validators has increased significantly. There are currently over 700,000 validators with around 90,000 waiting in the queue to be activated. The reason for this is that too many investors are currently trying to set up Ethereum staking validators. This should be due, among other things, to the fact that since Shappella upgrade more and more investors have started staking their ETH. Currently, therefore, activating an ether staking validator takes time around 45 days.
Ethereum developers Mike Neuder, Francesco D’Amato, Aditya Asgaonkar and Justin Drake therefore suggest that the ETH staking validator limit should be raised from the current 32 ETH to up to 2,048 Ether. That would correspond to an increase of 6,300 percent. But what exactly would this change, what advantages and risks would arise from such a change?
Developers want to raise the staking limit to 2,048 ETH
The proposed increase in the Ethereum staking limit to 2,048 ETH has sparked heated discussions in the crypto community. Importantly, this isn’t about changing the minimum requirements for staking. The aim is to raise the staking limit from the current 32 ETH to a maximum of 2,048 ETH. Consequently, the amount of ETH validators will stake in the future could be between a minimum of 32 ETH and a maximum of 2,048 ETH.
Critics fear through the change a greater centralization of the network. They fear the increase will allow large staking providers to stake a large amount of ETH with fewer validators. They also see threats to the security of the Ethereum network, as individual validators at a“Slashing” have significantly more to lose than with the current 32 ETH per validator.
See the other side advocate the change potential for more efficiency in the Ethereum network and higher revenues for validators. Large staking providers like exchanges or liquid staking services like Lido could cut costs and pay out more staking rewards to their customers. The increase would also allow stakers to automatically reinvest their rewards. As a result, the staking process would become more efficient as stakers can reinvest their rewards without a separate transaction. Currently, the developers’ proposal is still being discussed in the community and developments on it have not started yet.
