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Vitalik Buterin warns of the dangers of extending Ethereum compatibility
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has warned against expanding the Ethereum consensus mechanism, citing high systemic risks to the ecosystem.
- Buterin has expressed concerns about introducing additional functionality to the core blockchain, stressing that each extension makes the core itself more fragile.
- He highlighted potential vulnerabilities that could arise from technologies such as Oracle Price and Re-Forecast initiatives, and urged caution.
Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin has warned against the abuse of Ethereum’s consensus mechanism, arguing that expanding its core functionality could pose high systemic risks to the ecosystem. This warning came in a blog post published on May 21 titled “Don’t Overextend the Ethereum Consensus.”
Buterin expressed concerns about some of the technologies that could lead to high systemic risks to the ecosystem and stressed the need to discourage and resist such methods. He went on to add:
There is a natural impulse to try to expand the blockchain core with more and more functionality because the blockchain core has more economic weight and the largest community to watch over it, but each such extension makes the core itself more fragile.
He noted that over the years, many have suggested using Ethereum consensus for purposes beyond its core function of validating blocks and securing the network, such as price and data oracles, restocking initiatives, and the use of Layer 1 soft forks to restore a Layer-2 project if they have problems. However, he warned that some techniques could lead to serious vulnerabilities in the ecosystem, such as bugs or even an intentional 51% attack.
For example, he cited the creation of price oracles, whereby Ethereum holders or validators could be bribed to vote, which could lead to a punitive fork in case of disagreement. However, he acknowledged that more reliable revelations and a case-by-case strategy were needed to do so on the grounds that the cases are “by nature very different” from one another.
Buterin advised against expanding Ethereum’s consensus functionality, emphasizing that any expansion would increase the costs, complexities, and risks involved in operating an auditor. He urged application layer projects to exercise caution, noting that they should avoid increasing the scope of the blockchain consensus beyond checking the core Ethereum protocol rules.
Ethereum transitioned from Proof of Work to a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism in September 2022, a change known as a “consolidation.” This was followed by the Shapella upgrade in April, which allowed cryptocurrency withdrawals of Ethereum. These changes intensified focus on auditor roles and security risks within the world’s largest smart contract network.
The post by Vitalik Buterin warning about the dangers of extending Ethereum compatibility appeared for the first time in the Coin issue.
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