While multiple Ethereum staking services are pledging to limit their market share to 22%, Lido Finance takes a different path, sparking debates on centralisation and community values.
The top five companies that offer ether staking pools for individuals have stated that they won’t control more than 22% of all ETH currently staked.
This is a way to make sure that no single company has too much power over the Ethereum network, keeping it open and fair for everyone.
Companies like Rocket Pool, StakeWise, Stader Labs, and Diva Staking are either already following this rule or planning to do so, says Superphiz, a key Ethereum developer.
Puffer Finance, another such company, has also said they’ll stick to this limit.
Lido doesn’t obey the 22% of ether staked limit
Why 22%?
Superphiz explains that to make any big changes to the Ethereum network, 66% of the participants have to agree.
By setting a limit of 22%, it ensures that at least four big companies would have to work together to push through any major updates. This makes the network safer and more secure.
When talking about blockchain transactions, the finality of a transaction is the moment when transactions are locked in place and can’t be changed.
Superphiz, a leading Ethereum developer, brought up an important question last May:
Would a company that helps people stake Ethereum be willing to put the network’s well-being over its own profits?
Lido voted by a 99.81% majority not to self-limit. They have expressed an intention to control the majority of validators on the beacon chain.https://t.co/T16rTdM3gm
Interestingly, Lido Finance, the biggest company of this kind, decided not to follow the 22% self-limit rule. Almost all of their members (99.81%, to be exact) voted against it back in June.
Superphiz mentioned in a post at the end of August that Lido aims to control most of the deciding power in the Ethereum network.
To give you an idea of how big Lido is, they control 32.4% of all Ethereum that’s currently being staked.
That’s a big deal, especially when you consider that the next largest, Coinbase, only has an 8.7% share, according to data from Dune Analytics.
Well, the Ethereum community has different opinions on that.
One expert named Mippo commented at the end of August that the 22% self-limit rule isn’t really about staying true to Ethereum’s ideals, which are about open access and innovation for everyone.
Mippo thinks that those advocating for the self-limit would probably not stick to it if they were in the dominant position like Lido Finance. In his view, everyone is just acting in their own best interest.
Yeah because they have way less market share than that now… easy to chirp from the cheap seats.
This has nothing to do with “Ethereum alignment.” None of these teams would self limit were they in Lido’s place.
Everyone is doing the economically selfish and rational thing…
Another person argued that user-friendly services shouldn’t be criticised as greedy.
On the flip side, some people are really concerned that a few big companies could end up controlling too much of the Ethereum network. They see Lido’s large market share as a problem, even calling it “selfish and disgusting.”
Honestly really disgusting and selfish
Centralization will lead to greater problems, this is a full 3 steps backward for ethereum
Lido: "We thought real hard about this for 0.2 seconds and decided it is definitely worth risking sending the entire network to zero for a fraction of a percent more yield"
Lido ticks all the boxes when it comes to staking services.
They support multiple types of digital money and make it super easy for anyone to use their platform.
Their fees are fair, and they even offer nice rewards if you refer people to their service. On top of that, they make a lot of different cryptocurrencies more available for trading and are backed by some big names in the decentralised finance world.
What’s cool is that when you stake your digital tokens with Lido, you get back tokens that are tied to the value of what you staked. You can then use these for more ways to earn money in the DeFi world.
Lido has become a top pick for people looking to stake their digital assets thanks to some standout features.
First off, staking is a breeze; you can earn daily rewards by simply staking your tokens, and there’s no minimum amount you need to start.
Want to make even more from your tokens?
Lido allows you to use them for things like loans, yield farming, and other money-making activities. This can give your earnings a nice boost.
They also have their own digital token, called LDO, that you can trade on popular exchanges like SushiSwap, Uniswap, and many more.
When it comes to security, you can rest assured. Lido’s smart contracts have been thoroughly checked by reputable firms like Quantstamp and Sigma Prime.
Although Lido doesn’t offer its own wallet, you can still use popular ones like TrustWallet and MetaMask to manage your assets.
Following numerous postponements, Ethereum validators are now able to retrieve their staked Ether and associated rewards from the Ethereum mainnet. The Shapella hard fork has been successfully implemented on the Ethereum mainnet, enabling validators to withdraw their staked Ether from the Beacon Chain.
The highly anticipated Shapella update on Ethereum has been launched, introducing the much-awaited new feature, the Ether unstaking. The Ethereum community has expressed various reactions to the latest update in the ecosystem. The term “Shapella” is a combination of “Shanghai” and “Capella,” referring to simultaneous upgrades. This hard fork marks a significant milestone in Ethereum’s development, generating excitement among community members for the network’s future.
The highly anticipated update occurred at 10:27 pm UTC on April 12, during epoch number 194,048. In the initial hour following the hard fork, Ethereum block explorer beaconchai.in reported that 12,859 Ether were released through 4,333 withdrawals.
Ether staking rewards are withdrawn
At present, approximately 44% of validators, equating to 248,043 out of 559,549 active validators, have the option to request a partial or complete withdrawal.
Most of the current withdrawals range from 2.8 to 3.2 ETH, indicating that primarily staking rewards are being withdrawn at this time. Data from Rated Network Explorer reveals that just before the Shapella hard fork was implemented, 3,996 validators joined the exit queue.
Based on data from blockchain analytics company Nansen, crypto exchange Huobi possesses the most significant portion of withdrawable Ether at 30%. The decentralized autonomous organization PieDAO follows with a 17.7% share.
Nansen data indicates that 284,622 Ether from 7,948 validators are awaiting complete withdrawal. The price of Ether experienced minimal fluctuations during the first hour after the hard fork, as forecasted in an April 11 report by blockchain intelligence platform Glassnode. In theory, the hard fork could unlock 18.1 million Ether on the Beacon Chain, which is equivalent to over $34.8 billion.
However, the Ethereum Foundation has implemented several measures to prevent a sudden influx of ETH into the market. Glassnode’s report projected that less than 1% of the total amount would be released during the first week, and the 12,859 Ether unlocked within the first-hour accounts for a mere 0.07% of the total Ether staked on the Beacon Chain.
As for the market, the predictions are optimistic. The capacity of Ether to surpass resistance levels has led some analysts to predict a $3,000 price target in Q2 2023. Data from analytics provider Santiment reveals that whale accumulation remains robust, increasing by 0.5% in March.
This positive buying activity could support on-chain data indicating that Ether sell pressure following the Shanghai hard fork will be insignificant.
Ethereum Investment Proposal EIP-4895 facilitated the transfer of staked Ether from the Beacon Chain to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This is known as the execution layer, thereby enabling withdrawals. This update on the Ethereum blockchain represents the most substantial upgrade since the Merge on September 15 and brings Ethereum one step closer to achieving a fully operational proof-of-stake system.
The community celebrates the Ethereum Shapella upgrade
During the Shapella watch party organized by the Ethereum Foundation team, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed that the network is currently in a “really good place.” He said the most challenging and rapid aspects of the Ethereum protocol’s transition have essentially concluded. There are still substantial tasks to be accomplished, but they can proceed at a more relaxed pace.
In celebration of the new update, crypto singer Jonathan Mann performed a song at the Shapella watch party.
As some community members celebrated the event, others focused on the network’s future prospects. Ethereum community member Anthony Sassano highlighted the next significant feature, EIP-4844, which aims to improve the scalability of rollups on Ethereum.
The Shapella update is expected to attract more institutional investors to Ethereum.
The Ethereum Merge was completed one month ago. Since then, Ethereum centralization has been on the rise. More and more Ethereum nodes have been censoring the network. As of October 2022, 51% of Ethereum blocks were compliant with OFAC standards, which are meant to censor Ethereum’s blockchain.
What is OFAC?
OFAC, or Office of Foreign Assets Control, is a U.S. Treasury Department financial intelligence and enforcement agency. It enforces trade and economic sanctions to support U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives.
In August 2022, the crypto community was first acquainted with this agency when they issued a statement to sanction blockchain activities. It effectively sanctioned Tornado Cash as well as several Ethereum addresses that were associated with it.
Today, the number of nodes that are validating OFAC-compliant blocks is on the rise, and this represents a significant step towards censorship as more blocks are being monitored.
We reached another sad milestone in censorship: 51% This means if the censoring validators would now stop attesting to non-censoring blocks they would eventually form the canonical, 100% censoring chain. pic.twitter.com/JrYUjowLpt
The current state of compliant MEV-boost relays can be verified on mevwatch.info, a free tool built by Labrys.
MEV-Boost relays are centralized entities that act as trusted mediators between block builders and block producers. This allows all Ethereum proof of stake (PoS) validators to outsource their block productions to other builders.
This metric shows how many blocks have been built since the Merge by OFAC-compliant MEVBoost relays. MEV-Boost was able to provide a more representative distribution for block proposers than a small number of miners who are proof-of-work (PoW) after Ethereum upgraded to a PoS consensus.
Ethereum blocks went from 9% OFAC compliant to 51% OFAC compliant in the past month, as mev boost (block outsourcing) takes market share. https://t.co/SYiVHPlTf4
How is the OFAC involved with the Ethereum blockchain?
After “The Merge” upgrade was completed, the Ethereum blockchain started using the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. This made the blockchain more secure and energy efficient. Mining data shows that Ethereum heavily relies on Flashbots, a single server, to build blocks. This raises concerns about a single point of failure for the blockchain.
What is Flashbots? Flashbots is a network that connects mining pools and searchers. It’s not a closed system that uses private contracts or arrangements. Instead, anyone can join. Because it allows for competition, this open system is thought to be more beneficial than having a few dominant private entities. It acts as a relay to deliver Ethereum blocks. Data from mevboost.org indicates there are seven active relays currently delivering at most one block in Ethereum. These include Flashbots, BloXroute Max Profit, BloXroute Ethical, Blocknative, Manifold, Eden and BloXroute Regulated. 80% of MEV-Boost blocks are relayed by Flashbots.
What is Ethereum centralization? How can ETH transactions be censored?
Hard censorship would mean that no matter how long or how expensive you pay, sanctioned transactions will never be included in the blockchain. In a strict censorship scenario, compliant nodes would be required by regulation to discard all blocks with any of these transactions.
However, even with soft censorship, when approved transactions are eventually validated, it would likely lead to long waits, high-priority charges, and a substandard user experience.
Out of the seven major MEV-boost relays currently in operation (Flashbots, BloXroute Max Profit, BloXroute Ethical, Blocknative, Manifold, Eden, BloXroute Regulated), only three do not censor in accordance with OFAC compliance requirements. For instance, OFAC-compliant relays won’t include transactions that interacted with Tornado Cash smart contracts or other sanctioned wallet addresses, as defined by OFAC.
Validators that wish to include all network transactions can do so by not including any censoring relays in their MEV-boost configuration. Current major MEV-boost relays that don’t censor include – BloXroute Max Profit, BloxRoute Ethical, and Manifold.
