One of the Ethereum platform developers shared news about the upcoming update launch in November 2020 and told the crypto community what to expect. Let’s look at the key points published by developer Raul Jordan.
What is Ethereum 2.0?
ETH 2.0 is a large-scale update that will improve the scalability and throughput of the Ethereum blockchain up to 100,000 transactions per second, according to the platform’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin. In addition, as part of the update, ETH 2.0 will switch to the PoS consensus mechanism, which does not require waste expenses for mining equipment and electricity. Moreover, PoW mining will also remain available to users.
A total of four phases are planned before the full final version of the new Ethereum 2.0 blockchain:
- Phase 0 — Beacon Chain;
- Phase 1 — Shard Chains;
- Phase 2 — State Execution;
- Phase 3 doesn’t have a name yet;
The last phase is supplemental and is intended for improvements and correction of errors that occurred during the operation of the latest version of the blockchain network. Phase 0 — Beacon Chain — is due to be released in November.
November launch: what to expect
According to Raul, one of the Ethereum developers, November seems to be a favorable month for launching the update. The launch was previously delayed due to technical flaws in the platform, but now developers are oriented for November 2020. Several factors contribute to the release of the update:
1. The Ethereum platform cannot cope with the increasing load on the network. The blockchain is able to process only 14 transactions per second, and the network itself is loaded by 97%, which led to a record increase in network fees, which for the first time ever exceeded $4. This makes the network unsuitable for microtransactions.
2. The surge in DeFi popularity and products based on DeFi. Decentralized Finance offers platforms for crypto lending and automated market makers, where users can top up liquidity pools and receive rewards for doing so. Holders reserve their coins on DeFI platforms and receive payments during the blocking period. ETH is the most common cryptocurrency that is used to provide liquidity or collateral.
Currently, almost $9 billion is reserved in the DeFi market and almost all platforms use the Ethereum blockchain. This makes transactions unprecedentedly expensive and puts a lot of pressure on the Ethereum platform.
Developer checklist for launching Ethereum 2.0
However, before the update is released, developers need to solve a number of important tasks. The Medalla test network is currently online, and validators can test the performance of the new network. In the first half of August, the Ethereum 2.0 testnet failed, but the developers fixed the error and now the network is stable.
The developers have published a checklist in the official Github repository, which sets out the main points of upcoming solutions before launching:
- Independent security audit before switching to mainnet;
- Development of a web interface for the Pryzm client — the main and so far the only wallet for the Eth 2.0 network;
- Eth2.0-APIs release aimed at improving user interaction with the client;
- Versatile fuzz testing and elimination of critical testnet errors;
- Improvement of the slashing mechanism to protect users from slasher errors, and so on.
The screenshot shows only part of what the developers have yet to do. For a full list of upcoming tasks, see the Eth 2.0 developer repository.
Our Everstake validator is participating in testing the Medalla testnet and is preparing for the update release in November. Everstake is a reliable and proven staking provider that provides holders with convenient solutions to simplify staking, managed by a team with many years of experience in the field of fintech and blockchain. We also work with large blockchains such as Tezos (XTZ), Qtum (QTUM), Cosmos (ATOM), and others.
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