# Ethereum Researchers Take On Staking Delegation and the Cost of Proving

A new proposal would move delegation into the protocol with operator families and a concentration reserve, while separate work targets multidimensional gas accounting and hashing that consumes 58 percent of prover time.

- Published: 2026-08-13T05:53:29.271Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/crypto/2026-08-13/ethereum-researchers-take-on-staking-delegation-and-the-cost
- Publisher: Polylog (Crypto desk)
- Section: crypto
- Sources: [Ethereum Research](https://ethresear.ch/t/idea-native-ethereum-delegation-ned-operator-families-and-concentration-reserve/25699), [Ethereum Research](https://ethresear.ch/t/designs-for-evm-gas-accounting-in-eip-7999/25696)

An idea-stage post on Ethereum Research asks whether the protocol should provide staking delegation directly instead of leaving it to liquid staking providers. Native Ethereum Delegation proposes grouping validators into operator families a…

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