A proposed change that would result in a 64-fold increase in the maximum amount of staked Ethereum (ETH) required to become a validator has drawn criticism in the crypto community.
According to the proposal, validators would need 2,048 of staked Ethereum, up from 32 currently.
The proposal has been made to the Ethereum Foundation by researcher Michael Neuder, who says the change will solve the problem of inflation of the validator set size.
Neuder also says that such a large increase will ultimately help the Ethereum network become more efficient. He has also called for auto-compounding validator rewards.
The auto-compounding of rewards would allow validators to make more money on their staked Ethereum. These benefits could be compounded if the cap were raised, giving validators a practical way to increase their earned rewards.
The current 32 Ethereum limit has led to a significant surge in validator addresses after Ethereum’s transition to a proof-of-stake network last year.
Currently there are more than 700,000 validators, with around 90,000 waiting for activation in the Ethereum network que.
The proposal by Neuder has received criticism from the cryptocurrency community, with several users pointing out that such a significant change in staked Ethereum would lead to fewer validators and make the network more centralized.
Other users have dismissed the idea and claimed it wouldn’t benefit the Ethereum network at all.
Ethereum is currently trading at $1,728 U.S., up 44% so far this year.
