Serenity Is Go
After years of hard work it finally happened.
Yesterday the Eth 2 Beacon Chain sprang into life.
The launch went off without a hitch, heralding the start of a new era for scalable decentralised digital currency.
It was a revolutionary moment for the Ethereum community and has significant implications for the entire digital asset industry.
There were some great live stream events from Bankless, the EthStaker community and others featuring some of the incredible people who made this landmark event happen. Over 25k people tuned in.
Even better news, PieDAO managed to feature in a few blocks thanks to a dedicated community member!
Explore the beacon chain live here.
What is the Beacon Chain?
The launch of the beacon chain is also known as phase 0 of the eth2 roadmap.
The eth2 staking chain has launched in parallel with the existing eth1 network. Users can send their eth over to the new network and run a validator, but it’s a one way transaction until the whole eth1 network moves over too. You can think of it has two railroad tracks running in parallel for now, but eventually merging down the line.
Although this might not happen until 2021 or later, phase 1 of the eth2 roadmap will likely happen sooner than some think. That’s because the stages of the roadmap don’t progress logically (from 0, to one, to 2), but rather all stages have been developing in parallel.
This handy visual from Meeseeking explains it nicely:
What is Eth2?
Eth2 is the Ethereum network upgrade that moves the blockchain from proof of work mining to a proof of stake consensus model. Instead of putting up their electricity cost to secure the network stakers deposit collateral. If they are found to be dishonest they will be slashed, losing some of their stake. Proof of stake has huge advantages over proof of work, so let’s take a quick look.
Decentralisation
Where mining has become a centralised game for big players only, staking is much more accessible. Anyone can set up a validator using a reasonably specced home computer provided they have 32 ETH ($19,000 at the time of writing). Comparing this with other networks eth2 is markedly more decentralised and accessible. There are already over 27,000 validators participating.
Scalability
Eth2’s proof of stake design and sharding will rapidly increase the network’s transaction throughput. Currently the network can handle around 15txps, with gas prices often skyrocketing as users bid each other up to get their transaction included in a block. Past estimates have put eth2 at over 3000 txps, but keep an eye out for more recent predictions. Ethereum is also incorporating rollups, batching transactions settled on layer 2 to massively further scale the network.
Energy efficiency
Proof of work mining is hugely energy intensive, consuming more power than several countries. That’s because the network relies on this cost investment for security, using it as an economic disincentive to keep miners honest. Proof of stake makes this model redundant.
Conclusion
The launch was a monumental event for the community and a rare spark of light in what’s been a thoroughly depressing year for many.
I’m over the moon to see everything up and running, and looking forward to seeing the the community continue shipping the eth2 roadmap.
Thank you everyone, let’s do this!
