[domano]

I welcome the reduction in energy consumption, but do not understand how a Proof of Stake approach does not effectively make Etheureum extremly uninteresting for non-whales.

[wmf]

Non-whales get the same rate of return as whales and it's much easier to enter the staking market than mining.

[michaelsbradley]

Yes, but I think the “whales” comment was a reference to the large upfront cost of staking in ETH2. At the moment a single validator requires depositing USD equivalent of $94,399.36 (32 ETH).

[CryptoPunk]

You can stake via a pool, which greatly lowers the capital floor for participating.

[wmf]

Mining requires pooling and not surprisingly staking does too.

[soarfourmore]

Which makes it only further centralized.

[michaelsbradley]

Staking pools can be decentralized or centralized. For Eth2 to have a bright decentralized future, it's important that decentralized staking pools can emerge and thrive.

The Rocket Pool protocol, for example, allows for decentralized pooling: https://medium.com/rocket-pool/rocket-pool-staking-protocol-...

See also: https://our.status.im/rocket-pool-integration/

[Steve0]

Less affluent users could use a staking pool, where they send some of their eth and get a certain percentage return.

Many crypto-exchanges already offer this service.

[michaelsbradley]

Staking pools, e.g. https://www.rocketpool.net/