Introduction

The Ethereum network is experiencing a rise in the number of validators, with nearly one million validators now actively participating. Data from Beacon Chain and Ethereum's Validator Queue indicates that there are currently 979,686 validators, while a dashboard by Dragonfly analyst Hildobby suggests that the total number exceeds one million.

These validators have staked a total of 31.36 million ETH, which represents about 26% of the digital asset's entire supply. Many of these validators have staked their assets through the liquid staking platform Lido, making up around 30% of the staked ETH.

Validators on the Ethereum network play a crucial role in enhancing security through the proof-of-stake mechanism. By staking a minimum of 32 ETH, validators receive rewards in the form of ETH.

With an increasing number of validators, the network's security is strengthened, indicating a more robust blockchain system.

The growing interest in becoming validators is evident in the long queue of over 10,000 individuals waiting to enter the network, marking the highest number this year.

This queue represents more than 320,000 ETH, equivalent to $1.1 billion, and is expected to clear within the next seven days.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum's co-founder, has proposed changes to improve the network's staking mechanism, aiming to address advantages that larger ETH stakes have over smaller ones.

His proposal includes imposing penalties on validators based on their failure rates to incentivize decentralization and discourage widespread network failures caused by a single entity controlling multiple validators simultaneously.

According to Buterin, penalizing correlations among validators will promote better decentralization and reduce the risk of network failures.