In response to complaints from members of the Ethereum community regarding the transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus, Vitalik Buterin shared his perspective. Amanda Cassatt, the founder and CEO of Serotonin, a web3 marketing studio, took to Twitter to express the dissatisfaction of several Ethereum supporters. Cassatt emphasized that these sentiments were not personal and reflected conversations she had been part of.
Highlighting reasons cited by some community members, Buterin joined the discussion, pointing out that the proof-of-work design had limitations that did not align with the network’s long-term goals. Since its inception in July 2015, Ethereum had operated on a proof-of-work consensus mechanism similar to Bitcoin, with miners playing a crucial role in maintaining network security and issuing new ETH tokens.
However, the landscape changed with “The Merge” in September 2022, when Ethereum made the transition to a proof-of-stake infrastructure, replacing miners with stakers in a significant technological shift. This move divided supporters, with some criticizing the deviation from Ethereum’s core principles, while others, led by Chinese miner Chandler Guo, attempted to maintain a version of Ethereum’s proof-of-work chain.
Despite efforts to maintain autonomy, the initiative struggled to gain traction, with the native cryptocurrency ETHW trading at under $4 per CoinMarketCap as of April 26. In contrast, Ethereum’s main proof-of-stake chain witnessed a surge in validator numbers and staking demand, with over 25% of ETH’s circulating supply being locked up to secure the network and generate yields for participants.
Buterin has put forth proposals to further decentralize staking and simplify Ethereum’s proof-of-stake model, aiming to address concerns and improve the network’s functionality.