Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is proposing a major change to how staking works on the network, aimed at removing the risk of relying on a single validator node.
In a detailed post published Wednesday on the Ethereum Research forum, Buterin outlined a concept he calls “native distributed validator technology” (native DVT) — a protocol-level approach that would allow staking duties to be spread across multiple nodes by default.
Instead of depending on complex external tools, the idea would let stakers divide validator responsibilities directly within Ethereum’s consensus layer, making staking more resilient and easier to manage.
Ethereum’s staking boom raises new risks
The proposal comes as Ethereum staking continues to surge. More than 36 million ETH is now staked across close to one million validators, representing over $118 billion in locked value.
While this growth has strengthened Ethereum’s security, it has also intensified long-standing concerns around centralization, operational risk, and the challenges faced by independent stakers.
Historically, running a validator has meant putting 32 ETH behind a single machine and a single private key. If that node went offline — due to anything from a power cut to a software bug or hack — the validator could face penalties or even slashing.
Those risks have pushed many users toward large staking providers and liquid staking platforms, concentrating influence among a relatively small group of operators and cloud services.
How native DVT would work
Buterin’s proposal tackles that single point of failure head-on.
Under native DVT, validators with larger balances could register multiple signing keys — up to 16 per validator — and set a threshold for how many must approve an action. Tasks like block proposals and attestations would only count if enough keys signed off together.
As long as more than two-thirds of the nodes behave honestly, the validator would continue operating normally, even if some nodes went offline or malfunctioned.
Simpler, safer staking by design
Unlike existing DVT solutions such as Obol or ssv.network, which rely on additional software layers and networking setups, Buterin’s approach would be built directly into Ethereum’s consensus rules.
He argued this would significantly reduce complexity, lower operational overhead, and avoid dependencies that may clash with future cryptographic upgrades.
From the user’s perspective, staking would feel much like running several standard validator nodes, with only minimal configuration changes. Most of the extra coordination would happen during block production, where one node temporarily takes the lead and others co-sign its output.
The proposal is particularly aimed at medium to large ETH holders, including institutions and individual whales, who today often have to choose between fragile single-node setups or handing control to third-party staking providers.
By making multi-node staking easier, Buterin believes native DVT could improve client diversity, strengthen decentralization metrics, and encourage more self-custodial staking.
Developers weigh in on challenges
The idea has already sparked technical debate within the Ethereum community.
Developer Alon Muroch raised concerns around coordination during block production, the risk of multiple nodes competing to gather signatures, and the need for seamless key rotation if a signing key is compromised — without forcing validators to exit and re-stake.
Buterin largely agreed with those points, noting that fast key rotation should be achievable and that reducing day-to-day operational headaches is a core goal of the proposal.
Part of a broader shift in focus
The staking proposal fits into a broader shift in Buterin’s recent messaging.
Earlier this month, he said 2026 should be the year Ethereum refocuses on self-sovereignty and trustlessness, arguing that the network has made too many convenience-driven compromises. Days later, he warned that Ethereum risks becoming an “unwieldy mess” if complexity continues to pile up without careful simplification.
Native DVT, in that context, represents another attempt to make Ethereum both more secure and easier to use — without sacrificing decentralization.
