Opinion: EIP-8361 is a Meaningless and Counterproductive 'Helping Hand'—Ethereum Should Not Cut Off Its Own Arms

Author: 0xTodd

Let's talk about the EIP-8361 proposal submitted by Ethereum France (they are also the organizers of ETHCC, considered a core organization within Ethereum).

Essentially, this proposal boils down to drastically slashing the APR for $ETH staking.

If the staking ratio exceeds 50%, it would directly cut the yield to 0.

My assessment: A meaningless and counterproductive proposal.

As is well known, if a system is functioning properly, it should not be tinkered with lightly. Ethereum is currently in such a state.

Actually, having been involved in Ethereum staking for so long, I do have a say in this.

According to Ebunker, the current ETH Staking yield is a mere 2.4%, which isn't even half as competitive as U.S. Treasury bonds.

For the average Ethereum retail user, solo staking yields barely break even or even result in a slight loss, with very thin margins. It's the die-hard supporters who run Solo Staking.

If EIP-8361 were to go live, solo stakers would immediately enter the kill zone.

This wouldn't affect institutional stakers as much, given their larger volumes and fixed server costs.

For a protocol like Ethereum, Solo Stakers are crucial; they represent the decentralization of the Ethereum ledger.

As for the entry/exit queue (churn rate) concerns raised by Chairman Tychey, there's even less need to worry.

On one hand, improvements have already been made since the era of larger nodes (2048 ETH); on the other hand, modifying this churn rate requires merely changing a parameter with a flick of the fingers, carrying virtually no risk.

However, slashing Ethereum's yield to this extent also requires a hard fork to implement, as it involves the core interests of $ETH and could even potentially lead to the creation of a new token.

For Ethereum, which is currently in a precarious state, the risk is too high—comparable to childbirth.

This proposal is utterly meaningless.