On April 17 last month, the Ethereum developer team has achieved a milestone in their testnet 2.0 by successful validation and mining of the Ethereum 2.0 genesis block.

The tentative launch of Ethereum mainnet is scheduled in July 2020, for which the Vitalik Buterin and his team members are working relentlessly.  

The upgrade process which has been dabbed as Ethereum 2.0 (ETH 2.0) will be rolled out in three phases. The original launch was scheduled in January 2020, which had been postponed up to July 2020, due to some technical glitches in sharding.

After the recent successful validation of the block, it can be said safely that the upgrade process is going smoothly. The up-gradation will undoubtedly make the Ethereum better, faster and secure in terms of scalability, stability, and even in terms of economic viability.

Thousands of developers have been working on this project and which will be accomplished in three steps, started from phase 0, 1.0 and to 2. 0.

Highlights of the Ethereum 2.0(ETH2.0) Upgrade:

• Ethereum 2.0 version will be working as an independent Proof-of -stake PoS network.
• The active validators on the testnet have been closed down at 20,000 on April 19.
• It will have a central blockchain and 64 shards (side chains).
• Each node will process transactions exclusively for a particular shard rather than working for the entire network.
• The testnet version – Topaz Testnet has reached 20,000 validators this month. The first block has been validated on April 18 of this month after the mining process.
• In March 2020, The ETH 2.0 has also passed the security audit by blockchain security firm Least Authority  

What is Ethereum 2.0 Topaz Testnet?

The Ethereum Topaz network has been launched replacing the Sapphire Test network on April 16 by the Prysmatic Labs. This is the technical team that has been working on the Ethereum 2.0 technical infrastructure under the lead of Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The topaz testnet tested the feasibility of the PoS protocol implementation on the Ethereum network replacing the current proof-of-work (POW) consensus mechanism which is computationally tacky to handle.

The new PoS mechanism will enable the users to stake (Lockup) their Ether (ETH) that will be used to verify the transactions. The Stakeholders in return will be rewarded a partial portion from the fees.

Why the Upgradation?

Over the years, the Ethereum network has highly been criticized for the high transaction charges and fragility of the network during peak hours of transactions and over the security.

The developers are testing towards eliminating these issues in the latest version 2.0, making the network more robust and faster. ETH 20 will be supporting the sharding as well.

Disclaimer

The information provided through the above Content is for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be, and does not, constitute financial advice or any other advice. You should consult with a financial professional to determine what may be best for your individual needs. We do not make any guarantee or other promise as to any results that may be obtained using our Content. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim any and all liability in the event any information, commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, and/or recommendations prove to be inaccurate, incomplete, or unreliable or result in any investment or other losses.

Jayashree Ingle

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA