Finalized blocks
Having been accepted by >2/3 validators, it is extremely unlikely to be reorganized without community coordination
To reorg, it requires >2/3 validators to finalize a competing chain, and at least 1/3 validators will have to be slashed
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Conditions to achieve finality
After receiving attestations from 2/3 of validators, the 'target' and preceding blocks from previous epoch will be upgraded to "Unfinalized (Safe)"
The 'source' and preceding blocks, previously "Unfinalized (Safe)", are upgraded to "Finalized"
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Checkpoints and attestations
Checkpoints are the first block in an epoch. Each epoch, validators have to attest to a pair of checkpoint blocks ('source' & 'target')
Validators attest to the blocks that they see make up the longest chain to build new blocks on top of
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First, time units on Ethereum
An epoch lasts for 6.4 minutes and comprises 32 slots every 12 seconds
A validator is selected at random to propose a block in each slot. Some slots can be empty when no block is proposed, meaning not all epochs have 32 blocks produced
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Did you know? 🤔
Transactions on Ethereum are considered finalized when included in a block that can't be changed without 1/3 of all staked ETH getting burned
Let's learn how blocks achieve their finality status 👇
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