Cointelegraph, a media specialized in cryptocurrency, said, “Through this hard fork, Ethereum developers will be able to introduce core upgrades to the beacon chain and conduct useful tests in the future.”
The biggest change with the HF1 hard fork is that it reduces resource requirements to a minimum and supports a’light client’, a node that can run on mobile. Through this, instead of relying on external service providers, you can create a’trust minimization wallet’ that verifies the blockchain itself.
Light client support is conducted through a special purpose’synchronization committee’, and a group of validators is randomly assigned to generate a special signature to make decisions on the chain easier.
Other improvements include modifications to the fork selection rules, where developers have identified multiple instances of protocols that are vulnerable to reconfiguration attacks. There is a concern that hackers can take over the network while controlling the validator. Buterin said, “We recognized these weaknesses before the launch of (Ethereum 2.0), but we discovered them too late and could not correct them in time.”
The HF1 hard fork ultimately aims to overhaul the way the slashing (slash reduction, the device to hold validators accountable in the blockchain network) and deactivated leak mechanisms works. Investors currently participating in Ethereum 2.0 staking may lose some funds or be slashed after supporting a blockchain that is inactive or running a small hard fork.
A disabled leak mechanism was considered limiting staking because it penalized validators for unavoidable issues such as uneven internet connections or power outages. Cointelegraph said the Ethereum Foundation is adjusting its mechanism for staking participants with unstable internet connections.
The leak system depends on the degree of deactivation. There is a significant difference between an intermittent leak and a continuous leak. For example, a staking participant who experiences 10 power outages in an hour of 6 minutes each suffers 10 times less loss than a staking participant who simply disconnected from the system for 1 hour.
Since the deactivation problem is not solved immediately, it takes time to solve the problem, so an offline node cannot function until the network exceeds the threshold required for security.
Cointelegraph evaluated the hard fork’s “while some changes are more tolerant of staking participants’ mistakes, while some variables are adjusted to impose stricter penalties for staking participants’ bad behavior.” This is to weaken the auxiliary wheel of Ethereum 2.0, he added.
It is unclear when the HF1 hard fork will be implemented, and some aspects of the hard fork proposal need to be reviewed. Cointelegraph said that Ethereum developers are currently discussing to name the hard fork in which the proposal was submitted. Hard fork name candidates so far include star names, planetary system names, and region names from World of Warcraft.