Vitalik Buterin has firmly dismissed allegations that Ethereum’s research team is embracing centralization, in response to concerns raised by Péter Szilágyi, head of the Ethereum development team. Szilágyi had expressed worries about the direction of Ethereum’s development, particularly regarding the proposed PeerDAS upgrade.
During the recent Foundation research workshop, Buterin emphasized that the discussions were focused on minimizing centralization. Key areas of focus included analyzing multiple proposers to eliminate the builder role, maximizing the power of inclusion lists, and exploring transaction-inclusive fork selection. Furthermore, efforts are underway to expedite the deployment of the Orbit mechanism, which aims to significantly reduce the minimum deposit size for staking.
Meanwhile, Szilágyi’s concerns revolve around the PeerDAS proposal, which would increase the Ethereum blob size to 32 MB. He argues that this change could exclude home stakers with simpler computing setups, potentially jeopardizing the decentralized nature of the network.
Notably, Szilágyi stated on social media, “Ethereum research is killing home stakers in front of everyone. This is not what I signed up for when I joined Ethereum.” He further suggested that the research team has accepted centralization as long as it is verifiable, a stance he believes contradicts Ethereum’s foundational principles.
Buterin’s response aims to reassure the community that decentralization remains a central focus of Ethereum’s development efforts. This exchange highlights the ongoing debates within the Ethereum ecosystem about striking a balance between technological advancements and the principle of decentralization.
In a broader context, Buterin has previously emphasized Ethereum’s decentralization compared to other networks. During the ETHCC conference in Brussels, he pointed out that Ethereum has a more robust and decentralized network than Bitcoin, where two mining pools control 50% of the computing power. In contrast, a significant portion of Ethereum’s network is operated by unidentified individuals or independent stakers, demonstrating ETH’s commitment to decentralization.
The controversy surrounding the PeerDAS upgrade and Szilágyi’s concerns highlights the crucial discussions within the Ethereum community as it navigates technological progress while striving to maintain its decentralized ethos.
Is the Research Team Embracing Centralization
