The math of when stage 1 and stage 2 make sense

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Vitalik Buterin uses a simple risk model to show when Ethereum rollups should upgrade their security from council-controlled Stage 0 to more trustless Stage 1 or Stage 2 as proof systems mature.

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Vitalik Buterin

Publish date

May 6, 2025

Web URL

https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/05/06/stages.html

Referenced by

Vitalik Buterin analyzes rollup security stages

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Stage 0: security council has full control. There may be a proof system (optimistic or ZK) running, but a security council can overturn it with a simple majority vote. Hence, the proof system is "advisory only".

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These two arguments both imply stage 1 and stage 2 are both even more attractive than the chart shows. If you take the math seriously, stage 0 is pretty much never justified: you should launch at least straight into stage 1. The main argument that I hear against is: if a critical bug happens, it may be too hard to get 6 of 8 security council members to sign fast enough to fix it. But there is an easy way around this: give any single security council member the permission to delay withdrawals by 1 or 2 weeks, giving everyone else enough time to act.

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