In a world where a handful of (centralised) entities hold the majority of staked Ethereum (either directly or via delegation), the network’s decentralisation and security might be in peril. While there are multiple proposals being discussed to address this pressing matter, from reducing issuance after a certain breakpoint (~30% of total ETH being staked) to introducing more severe slashing for colluding entities, education and guidance remain paramount. EthStaker is a community led project whose goal is to guide, educate, support and offer resources for stakers, in order to lower the barrier of entry for solo stakers.

We were joined by Superphiz & Nixorokish, to discuss the current Ethereum staking landscape and what challenges need to be addressed to ensure the network’s decentralisation and security.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Superphiz’ & Nixorokish’ backgrounds
• Ethereum staking evolution
• Staking options
• Liquid staking
• Centralization risks
• Incentivizing solo staking
• Lowering ETH issuance proposal & network security
• Solo stakers
• How a healthy staking ecosystem looks like
• The importance of client diversity
• Socio-political collusion
• Misc.

Episode links:

• Superphiz on Twitter
• Nixorokish on Twitter
• EthStaker on Twitter
• EthStaker

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: Chorus One is one of the largest node operators worldwide, supporting more than 100,000 delegators, across 45 networks. The recently launched OPUS allows staking up to 8,000 ETH in a single transaction. Enjoy the highest yields and institutional grade security at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.