Casper - Ethereum's Latest Protocol Upgrade
Ethereum secures its ledger through a sequence of protocol upgrades. The most recent, Casper, replaces proof-of-work with proof-of-stake. Under Casper, validators lock ether into a deposit contract; they propose or attest to blocks. Each correct attestation earns ether. Each incorrect or absent attestation triggers a penalty that destroys part of the deposit. The protocol withholds […]
Ethereum's Difficulty Bomb Explained
Ethereum's âdifficulty bombâ denotes a hard coded exponential rise in the proof-of-work puzzle complexity on the mainnet. Each block height triggers a step function that lengthens the time between successive blocks. The chain therefore loses throughput at an accelerating rate. Miners confront shrinking rewards measured in ether per unit of electricity. The network enters a […]