Ethereum Sync Committee Axed in Proposed Issuance Cut

Ethereum is considering a proposal that would significantly reduce the network's issuance by cutting out its 512-validator sync committee and replacing it with offchain zero-knowledge proofs. The draft EIP-8390 estimates this change would decrease annual consensus issuance by approximately 33,800 ETH.

Currently, the sync committee allows lightweight clients to follow the beacon chain without processing the full validator set. However, a malicious sync-committee message does not carry its own protocol slashing condition, making it vulnerable to attacks.

The proposal would remove the committee's reward weight, which is currently 2 within a denominator of 64. This change would result in a 1/32 reduction in consensus issuance, equivalent to about 3% less annual rewards for validators.