Ethereum Staking Deposit System Proposes Flexible Future-Proof Path

Ethereum developers are proposing a flexible deposit path that would allow for future validator key formats and permanently stop new BLS deposits. The proposal, which has been open since August 24th, adds variable-length fields for public keys and credential metadata to the staking deposit contract.

The change would affect how new validators enter Ethereum, creating an entry point for future credential formats. However, those formats and the rules for verifying them still need to be designed and adopted separately.

The proposal defines three contract modes: disabled, BLS enabled, and BLS retired. Once a protocol-controlled system call activates the retired mode, the new contract would reject BLS deposits and could not later switch BLS onboarding back on.