Ethereum Sets New Record, Number Of Validators Increases Sharply

Validator Ethereum broke one million. (Photo; Doc. CoinDecimal)

JAKARTA - Ethereum has made a milestone with a total validator reaching one million. This achievement not only marks the growth of the Ethereum ecosystem but also shows the increasing trust of its supporters.

Additional information, in the context of cryptocurrencies, validators are entities or nodes in blockchain networks that have an important role in verifying and validating transactions. This validator is tasked with ensuring that every transaction that occurs on blockchain networks is valid and in accordance with established protocol rules.

As of Thursday, March 28, 1,002,400 validators have participated in the Ethereum network, with a total of 32,076,797 ETH installed, or about 114 billion US dollars (approximately IDR 1.8 quadrillion). This figure is equivalent to 26.74% of the total supply of ETH.

Lido, as an Ethereum staking pool, dominates with the highest number of tokens installed, reaching 30% of the total, with more than 9.6 million ETH and 302,000 validators. Followed by Coinbase with 14%, 4.5 million ETH and 141,000 validators, as well as Binance with 39,000 validators and 1.24 million ETH, or 3.9% of total supply.

Validators play an important role in the Ethereum proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism. They are tasked with validating transactions, creating new blocks, and maintaining security and consensus in the network. Each validator is required to install a minimum of 32 ETH. Lido is a popular choice because it allows collective participation without the need to meet individual minimum requirements.

Blockchain Security Is Increasing But There Are Still Concerns

The increase in the number of validators in general shows increased security in blockchain. However, Evan Van Ness, venture investor and former Head of Ethereum Decentralization Officials, expressed concern that the number of installed ETHs was "too much".

Recently, the queue of validators reached 7,045, the highest figure since October 6, with a backlog of 225,000 ETH, or about US$562 million (around Rp. 8,907,000,000,000). This spike occurred due to restrictions on the number of validators who could join the network per epoch, which lasted about 6.4 minutes.

Restaking, the practice of reinstalling the installed ETH for additional rewards, is one of the causes of the increasing number of validators in the queue. Pools like Lido allow installed ETH to be restaked on other platforms, creating opportunities for validators to get more results.

While staking contributes to increased network security, concerns arise regarding validator control following a large ETH withdrawal, around $320 million, by a number of validators.