The Eth2 Beacon Chain successfully launched
It finally happened(!) – the Eth2 beacon chain launched the other day after many years and countless hours of development. The first block was proposed in slot 1, and the first 4 epochs had over ⅔ participation, allowing the chain to get off to a great start and reach finality. The excitement can be felt across the entire community as the first step was taken to deliver a more scalable, secure, and sustainable Ethereum, built to expand the conventional and serve all of humanity.
The road to Eth2 mainnet launch and ETH staking
It was 2013 when Vitalik first published the Ethereum Whitepaper detailing a blockchain with a built-in programming language for smart contracts; delivering distributed consensus to any digital asset imaginable. Therein, the paper mentioned a possible transition to Proof of Stake consensus down the road.
Well, that road has now led to beacon chain genesis and phase 0 of Ethereum 2.0 – it became clear over the years that Ethereum’s vision of bringing blockchain to the mainstream required a foundational shift in order to efficiently and effectively scale.
Eth2 switches the narrative for securing the network by allowing virtually any Ether holder to stake on Ethereum and earn rewards. All that is required is 32 ETH (and even less once decentralized pools launch), a stable internet connection, a consumer-grade computer, and the know-how to run the correct programs and code (or not, in the case of using a staking service). This is significantly more inclusive than Eth1 (and Proof of Work blockchains in general) where miners must operate special equipment and consume exorbitant amounts of energy in order to participate.
Ripe with anticipation for this ambitious transition, the community patiently waited for the Eth2 deposit contract, and finally, on November 4th it was officially released. Flash forward about 3 weeks to November 24th and the deposit threshold of 16,384 validators and 524,288 ETH was met, confirming Eth2 genesis for Dec 1.
After Phase 0 of Eth2
Where we go from hereThough it seems like it took forever to get here, staking ETH on the beacon chain is just the first step in this monumental journey. What lies ahead is endless possibilities for decentralized products and services, with the ultimate goal of normalizing blockchain technology for the masses and having distributed consensus form the foundation of nearly everything we do today.
On launch day, when we asked our Co-founder Adam if he was excited about the launch, his response was “yes and no”. ‘Yes’ because of all of the hard work that it took to get here and ‘no’ because this is just the beginning.
The roadmap I made back in March updated with (very rough and approximate!) progress bars showing what has been done and some of the recent tweaks to the roadmap itself.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 1, 2020
A lot has been accomplished, but still a lot remains to be done! pic.twitter.com/4zIK4aTNTh
Not only do we have the shard chains to look forward to in phase 1, and the merge of Eth1 as a shard in phase 1.5, we also have a decentralized and trustless future ahead of us, set to profoundly and positively impact the world for years to come.
Yours Truly,
Team Blox
