Ethereum network bounces back as 60% validators go offline and first inactivity leak occurs

Free BTC Tips -May 15, 2023

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Quick Take

On May 11 and 12, the Ethereum network saw a loss in finality — where over 60% of validators stopped performing duties.
Roughly 330,000 validators stopped participating in proof of stake on two occasions.
This is equivalent to up to 60% of validators who went offline and were not performing their duties; this saw 253 blocks not proposed on time. Only on four other occasions were more missed blocks than last week’s incident.
The participation rate is defined as a measure of network validator responsiveness, tracking the proportion of slots that were missed to the total available. The participation rate is calculated as (Total Slots – Slots Missed) / Total Slots. The participation rate dropped to 96% but came online shortly after to over 98%.
According to Glassnode, both incidents did not affect end-users to the mainnet as transactions were being processed.
An inactivity leak occurred for the first time; this is where inactive validators are penalized until they are moved out of the chain, or they begin participating again.
According to Glassnode, “The amounts subtracted from validators’ beacon chain accounts during the inactivity leak are effectively burned, resulting in less ETH issuance during that time.”