Ethereum Staking Deposit System to Get Major Overhaul

A proposal to revamp Ethereum's staking deposit system has been submitted by developers. The new deposit contract would be flexible enough to accept future quantum-resistant validator keys, and it would also give a later network upgrade a one-way switch to stop new deposits using today's BLS format.

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

The proposal, which remains in draft form, was opened on August 24 and uses the placeholder number 9999 in its working file. The Ethereum EIPs editor suggested assigning 8394, but the proposal has not been published or accepted as EIP-8394 yet.