Stakers, Don’t Let the Shanghai Upgrade Centralize Ethereum
... as this liquid staking market has grown, it has shown itself to be vulnerable to winner-takes-most dynamics, with the top players potentially destroying the decentralization that makes Ethereum valuable in the first place.
Doh! How many times do I have to say the same thing? POS is a centralising protocol; even if it may look decentralised early on, the game is towards more stake, more control, more centralisation.
All stunningly obvious.
Node operators that are bound together — either operationally, politically, or through a liquid staking governance token — are more likely than not to act as a single unit that holds outsized influence over the network.
Say the word: cartel. (or collusion)
... multiple Ethereans — including the likes of Vitalik Buterin and SuperPhiz — have argued that a single staking protocol should never control any more than 15% to 33% of staking activity.
Oh really! Is that why an individual needs a minimum of 32 ETH to stake as an independent sovereign entity? How many people have $60k to throw at Ethereum? The rules create the flow and the optimal strategy. Collusion is the obvious end of any POS unless there are rules to mitigate this. Wishful thinking does not apply.
ETH trading flat after the Shapella upgrade.
for now...
Ethereum Shanghai Unlock live data
https://token.unlocks.app/ethereum-shanghai
ETH Withdrawals FAQ
https://notes.ethereum.org/@launchpad/withdrawals-faq
About 5% of staked ETH already scheduled for withdrawal. I'd estimated about 10%, which is pretty much all the rewards. Also note, only about 15% of ETH is currently staked - how very decent.
Decoding how Ethereum’s Shapella upgrade impacted the staking market
https://ambcrypto.com/decoding-how-ethereums-shapella-upgrade-impacted-the-staking-market/
Looks like governance players are buying up the profit-takers' stakes.
;-)
"The Merge" was a tragedy to the Ethereum's descentralization, in my opinion. Vitalik Buterin have tons of premined ETH to stake, China and USA have tons of confiscated Ethereum and the minimum staked ETH to mine a single block makes it impracticable for most people to enter the market, so now only a few people will have control of the chain
OFAC blocks are proof of this, before they did not exceed 20% of the network, and now they exceed 70% of the total blocks generated
Of course, it's only my opinion
and what we are seeing is interesting - a ton of ETH being sold, albeit largely accumulated rewards, yet the price rises - smells to be like the centralisation is gaining pace, as somebody must be buying those approx 80k ETH per day.
I don't think the ETH staking yield is all that great, compared to other chains, eg ATOM on Cosmos. So it isn't just about the short-term finance.