Are Ether Staking Seems Excessively Challenging? The Ethereum Community Speaks
Since the switch to proof-of-stake (PoS) on the Ethereum network, staking Ether (ETH) has become essential for verifying blocks and safeguarding the network. However, some community members think the staking process is excessively onerous, particularly for regular people.
ETH Members’ Allegations
A member of the Ethereum subreddit brought up the topic of ETH staking and its difficulties. According to the user, getting things up and running took an entire weekend. According to the user, those with “unforgiving” schedules might be unable to accommodate this.
Another community member responded to the thread by sharing their experience staking ETH and reminiscing about Ethereum’s early days. The user also mentioned that blockchain interaction was complex in the past before more user-friendly options became available. In addition, the community member stated that setting up a node requires “more effort than we can expect the average person to put in.”
In addition to the difficulties in setup, the issue of bandwidth consumption was raised. A user stated that your internet service provider might shut you down due to the high bandwidth consumption. Another user mentioned that exceeding the internet data cap may result in the loss of any staking gains.
Meanwhile, another community member disagreed, claiming that staking is not meant to be a simple task that anyone can do. “People keep mistaking staking for free money when it isn’t. “You are effectively being paid to do a job that requires a certain level of knowledge and effort,” they explained.
Even though staking may be difficult, there have been positive developments since the merger. On the day of the Merge, September 15, the number of daily blocks created increased by 18%, from 6,000 to 7,100. Aside from that, the average time it takes validators to verify transactions has decreased by 13%.
Are the Wealthy Benefits More From ETH PoS?
The claim that proof-of-stake benefits the wealthy and diminishes rewards for those with less ether is made frequently by proponents of proof-of-work. However, regardless of whether a single validator stakes 32 ETH or an institution risks 100 ETH or more across multiple accounts, all participants will receive a fixed annual yield of 5% to 15%. Users also can run numerous validator clients, which increases their return proportionally to the amount of ETH staked.
Proof-of-work and proof-of-stake have levers that can be pulled in one way or another by investing more money. Miners on proof-of-work can increase their computational power by purchasing more mining rigs or finding cheaper energy sources. People who stake more ETH in proof-of-stake will have a better chance of being chosen to validate transactions.
PoS has lower ongoing costs than PoW, which is its key advantage in terms of investment. It uses less energy and does not require ongoing modifications to the mining equipment as proof-of-work does. However, the costs of participating in either consensus mechanism are ultimately determined by supply and demand, and those costs will constantly change.