Understanding Ethereum 2.
0
CEO & TUTOR: XeusTheGreat
By: Josiah Oluwadare
Firstly, I will like to note that Ethereum roadmap is
evolving, so whatever you may have read years back is
already out of date.
Walk with me…
Introduction
Currently, Ethereum 1.0 runs on a consensus mechanism known as Proof of
Work (PoW). PoW relies on physical computing power (miners) and electricity
(work) to build blocks on the blockchain. Proof of Stake (PoS) is an upgrade
which enables improved security, scalability, and energy efficiency. Instead
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of relying on physical miners and electricity, PoS relies on validators (virtual
miners) and deposits of ether.
Ethereum has gone through four stages of upgrades since the launch of its
public mainet in July 2015 called “Homstead”. The four upgrades were:
Homestead (March 2016), Metropolis Byzantium (October 2017), Metropolis
Constantinople (February 2019), and Istanbul (December 2019). Together,
these upgrades improved the functionality of the Ethereum 1.0 chain while
setting the stage for Ethereum 2.0
What is Ethereum 2.0
Ethereum 2.0 refers to a set of upgrades that will make Ethereum more
scalable, secure, and sustainable.
Preparing the way
The Beacon Chain: In December 2020, the first phase of Ethereum 2.0, the
new Proof of Stake consensus layer, also called the “Beacon Chain,” was
implemented. Each validator represents 32 ETH staked on the Beacon Chian.
There are currently 313,508 validators for a combined 7,105,596 ETH. The
Ethereum Proof of Work chain still continues to run alongside the new
Ethereum PoS chain, ensuring there is no break in data continuity.
The 5 stages of Ethereum 2.0 development
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The Merge
Proof of work will be replaced with proof of stake.
The Surge
Massive scalability increases for rollups through sharding.
(Particularly for rollups )
The Verge
Easy run of Ethereum nodes.
The Purge
Eliminating historical data
The Splurge
Important extras
Ethereum 2.0 Roadmap
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https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1466411377107558402?s=20
The Merge:
The current Ethereum Mainnet will soon merge with the Proof of Stake
Beacon Chain. The merge will turn on Proof of Stake and end energy-
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intensive Proof of Work. Transactions and applications will still continue as
normal on Ethereum, maintained by the same software clients we use today.
The Merge is expected to happen in Q1/Q2 2022.
The Surge:
The Surge are upgrades to Ethereum that will increase scalability for rollups.
First, we will have intermediate steps like EPI-4488 or blob-carrying
transactions. These will drop transaction fees by 5 times or more, over and
above the two points described above. At least one of these intermediate
steps is likely to be implemented around the end of 2022.
With The Surge, rollups will have massive scale and ultra-low transaction
fees. But Ethereum L1 will still be expensive. This doesn't matter because
the end users will all be on rollups.
Rollups…
Rollups are layer 2 chains that fully inherit Ethereum's security,
decentralization, liquidity & network effect properties. Smart contract rollups
like Optimism, Arbitrum and StarkNet are in their early stages and awaiting
optimizations through 2022.
The Verge:
Basically, there is a planned transition from Merkle trees to Verkle trees. You
can think of them as “databases” or “state machines” where all the data of
the Ethereum blockchain is stored. The Ethereum blockchain is already big
and it keeps getting bigger every day.
The Verge implementation should allow for a simpler validation on the
blockchain. This should in turn make validation scalable, faster, and much
easier to set up. It should further decentralize the network.
The Purge:
The Purge means that not all nodes have to permanently store all of the
historical blocks. Instead, clients will stop storing history that is more than
one year old. This means that hardware requirements for nodes will decrease
and the bandwidth of the network will reduce.
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The Splurge:
These are miscellaneous upgrades that should simplify the use of Ethereum
and make it more accessible to an average user.
For in-depth knowledge on each stage, please watch or listen to this podcast
https://youtu.be/b1m_PTVxD-s, Featuring Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Butarin.
Who are the developers of Ethereum 2.0?
The work coordinated by the Ethereum Foundation research team, but many
other research and implementation teams are making substantial
contributions. Five independent teams are building Ethereum 2.0 clients in a
variety of different programming languages for different use cases and are
constantly feeding back into the design and specifications. In short, hundreds
of people are working to develop Ethereum 2.0
What happens to Ethereum 1.0
There is no need to do anything special with the ETH you currently own. It
continues to be fully usable on Ethereum even after the merge to Proof of
Stake.
Conclusion
Ethereum brought about the DeFi revolution, however its high gas fee has
prevented regular individuals from moving into the ecosystem. This brought
about other competing blockchains with much more scalability, lower gas fee
and faster transaction times.
On the other hand, Ethereum is still the most decentralized and dominant
smart contract blockchain in the world with a market cap of over $321
billion. This solution is not just a revolution, it’s also a win for decentralized
finance at large.
Reference:
1. Endgame, Vitalik Butarin, Vitalik.ca, December 2021.
https://t.me/NirvanaAcademy21
https://vitalik.ca/general/2021/12/06/endgame.html
2. Ethereum 2.0 Faq, Consensys.net, December 2021
https://consensys.net/knowledge-base/ethereum-2/faq/
3. A short history of Ethereum, Consensys.net, May 2019
https://consensys.net/blog/blockchain-explained/a-short-history-of-ethereum/
4. EIP-4488, Short-Term Fix for ETH Gas Fees, Fullycrypto.com, November 2021
https://fullycrypto.com/buterin-proposes-eip-4488-short-term-fix-for-eth-gas-fees
5. The Merge, Surge, Verge, Purge, and Splurge of the Ethereum Blockchain, GZ
Daily, Medium.com, January 2022
https://medium.com/@Ground_Zero/gz-daily-the-merge-surge-verge-purge-and-splurge-of-
the-ethereum-blockchain-b1a9e95ff28d
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