Vitalik has proposed introducing a native DVT staking mechanism at the Ethereum protocol layer to enhance security and decentralization

BlockBeats News, January 21st, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently proposed a "Native DVT (Distributed Verifier Technology)" scheme on the Ethereum Research Forum, suggesting to directly integrate DVT into the Ethereum staking protocol layer to enhance network security and promote decentralization at the validator level.

According to the proposal, validators can register multiple independent keys and collectively operate as "grouped validators"; only when a set threshold of key signatures is reached, will a block proposal or attestation be considered valid. This mechanism can significantly reduce the risk of a single point of failure or a node compromise leading to validator downtime, while still maintaining existing slashing protection under a reasonable threshold setting.

Vitalik pointed out that, unlike current DVT schemes that rely on external coordination layers and deployment complexity, Native DVT will be directly embedded into the protocol itself. Validators holding multiples of the minimum staking threshold (32 ETH) can set up to 16 keys and specify a signature threshold, equivalent to multiple standard nodes collectively forming a validator identity.

He stated that this design incurs very low additional overhead in terms of performance, only adding a single additional block delay for block production, not affecting attestation delays, and is compatible with any signature scheme, helping to reduce reliance on cryptographic assumptions that may pose long-term risks.

On the decentralization front, Vitalik believes that Native DVT can make it easier for individuals and institutions to directly participate in staking in a "self-custodial, fault-tolerant" manner, rather than relying on large staking service providers, thus enhancing the decentralization metrics of the Ethereum validator set (such as the Nakamoto coefficient). This proposal is still in the early stages of discussion and will require extensive evaluation and consensus from the Ethereum community in the future.