ETH2 consensus.wiki

1. ETH2 Staking

• a slot is a time period of 12s.
• one epoch is 32 slots.
• every validator has to broadcast an attestation for one slot, every epoch.
• an epoch gets justified, then finalized.
• once there is enough justification for an epoch it will get finalized.
• ETH2 favors liveness over finality. For low value transactions we can opt to forego finality.

Validators need to stake 32 ETH. When participating helpfully they receive small rewards. When failing to participate helpfully while staked they receive small penalties.

• Attestation, validators show up during their assigned slots.
• Justification, validators signal what block they think will finalize
• Finality, validators agree to finalize a block. 12.8 min.

1. 1. Slashing

A key is associated with the staked ETH to sign messages. Slashing happens when a node does something that is provably very bad for the network. Like signing two messages within the same epoch with a single key. Punishment depends on the amount of nefarious activity going on.