Ethereum's Staking Withdrawal Queue Sparks Debate Among Experts

According to PANews, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently addressed concerns regarding the extended staking withdrawal queue, which has now surpassed six weeks. On September 18, Buterin shared his thoughts on the X platform, emphasizing that this mechanism is a deliberate design choice rather than a flaw, likening it to military discipline. Buterin highlighted that staking is a commitment to safeguarding the network, and from this perspective, the withdrawal delay serves as a security measure. He explained, "If anyone in the military could suddenly leave at any time, the army would lose cohesion," underscoring that Ethereum's reliability hinges on ensuring validators cannot abruptly abandon their duties. However, Buterin acknowledged that the current design is not perfect. He stated, "This does not mean the current staking queue design is the optimal solution, but blindly lowering the threshold would significantly reduce the chain's credibility for nodes that are not frequently online." Buterin's views align with those of EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan. On September 17, Kannan described Ethereum's lengthy withdrawal period as a "conservative parameter," deeming it a crucial security measure. He explained that the waiting time effectively prevents worst-case scenarios, such as coordinated validator attacks, where participants might attempt to exit collectively before facing penalties. Kannan warned, "Unstaking should never be instantaneous." He further elaborated that shortening the process to a few days could expose Ethereum to attacks that deplete its security assumptions. Conversely, a longer window allows for the detection and punishment of malicious activities like double-signing, ensuring that rogue validators cannot easily evade accountability. Kannan specifically noted that this buffer mechanism enables inactive nodes to reconnect and periodically verify the correct fork. He stressed that without this mechanism, competing forks might claim legitimacy, making it difficult for offline nodes to discern authenticity upon reconnecting. He concluded, "Ethereum does not employ a fixed long-term unstaking mechanism but is designed to handle instant processing when a small amount of staking exits during specific periods. However, if a large amount of staking simultaneously requests withdrawal, the queue accumulates, potentially extending to several months in the worst-case scenario." This robust defense comes as Ethereum's withdrawal queue reaches a historic high. Data from the Ethereum validator queue indicates that the current withdrawal backlog has reached 43 days, involving 2.48 million ETH (approximately $11.3 billion) awaiting extraction.