Vitalik Buterin Proposes Native Integration of DVT into Ethereum Staking Protocol to Enhance Security and Decentralization

Odaily News Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a concept of "native DVT (Distributed Validator Technology)" on the Ethereum Research forum, suggesting that DVT be directly integrated into the Ethereum staking protocol layer. This aims to enhance network security while further promoting validator decentralization.

According to the proposal, a single validator can register multiple independent keys, which together form a single validator identity. Critical operations such as block proposal and attestation are considered valid only after being co-signed by a preset threshold of these keys. This reduces the risk of a validator going offline due to a single point of failure or a single node being compromised. With reasonable threshold settings, the existing slashing mechanism can still function normally.

Vitalik stated that this design allows validators to participate in staking without fully relying on a single node. As long as more than two-thirds of the nodes remain honest, the validator can continue to operate normally. Unlike current DVT solutions that rely on external coordination layers and are complex to deploy, this proposal advocates for native protocol-level support of the relevant mechanisms. Validators meeting the minimum staking multiple requirement can configure up to 16 keys and set a signing threshold, essentially allowing multiple standard nodes to operate collaboratively as a single validator.

Regarding performance, Vitalik believes the additional overhead introduced by this scheme is limited. It only adds one round of delay in block production and does not introduce extra latency to the attestation process. Furthermore, it is compatible with different signature schemes, thereby reducing long-term reliance on a single cryptographic assumption.

He also pointed out that native DVT is not only a tool for technical improvement but also helps enhance decentralization metrics. By lowering the operational threshold for fault-tolerant staking, more individuals and institutions may choose to stake independently rather than rely on large service providers. This could improve the diversity of validator distribution, including metrics such as the Nakamoto coefficient.

Currently, this idea remains at the proposal stage. It still requires extensive discussion and evaluation within the Ethereum community and has not yet entered the concrete implementation process.