- The team says Ethereum 2.0 aims to be a full upgrade to the current Proof-of-Work algorithm
- Interested users are required to deposit 3.2 ETH from the Goerli test network to become validators in the new system and earn returns
- Ethereum 2.0 promises to be more scalable, secure and decentralized
After several months of hard work, the Ethereum team has announced the public testnet launch of their Ethereum 2.0 proof of stake beacon chain, which will make it possible for users to stake ether (ETH) and earn rewards, according to a Medium blog post on May 7, 2019.
Ethereum Gets Even Better
As stated in its blog post, Ethereum 2.0 is born as a result of several years of hard work aimed at creating a fully decentralized, permissionless platform for programmable cryptocurrency.
The team has made it clear that ETH2. is an entirely new blockchain network, therefore it will not be upgraded as a hard fork on the existing PoW chain, instead, funds and value will be transferred to it from the proof of work chain, through a “one-way deposit smart contract.”
Specifically, in order to become validators and participate in the proof of stake consensus to earn returns, interested users are required to deposit 3.2 ETH from the Goerli test network.
For the uninitiated, Goerli Testnet is a cross-client proof-of-authority testing network for Ethereum.
Once an entity becomes a validator, rewards or penalties will be accrued throughout their lifecycle, depending on their activities.
Explaining further, the team hinted that:
“The protocol favours liveness, that is, the chain can continue even if a large number of validators are offline, although being offline will cause deposits to eventually become penalized and for those affected individuals to lose capital.”
Ethereum 2.0 Bursting with Great Features
Reportedly, Ethereum 2.0 comes with the Shard feature which is aimed at fixing the scalability bottlenecks of the network.
Shards are simply individual chains whose primary duty is to manage smart contracts, transactions, and state.
The Shards are controlled by one root chain, called the beacon chain. Beacon chain is fully implemented in this phase 0 of Ethereum 2.0, the team says.
Other Intricate Features Included in the Testnet
- The testnet is a Prysm-only network
- Staking is possible via Goerli test
- The testnet implements the v0.4 version of the beacon chain
- Testnet is publicly accessible
- Supports LibP2P for decentralized, peer-to-peer networking of nodes globally.
To join the testnet and start staking ETH, users are required to click here
At press time the price of ether (ETH) has decreased by 3.78 percent at $170.56. Whether the successful migration to PoS will send ETH to the moon remains to be seen.
