According to a blog post by ConsenSys on Wednesday, November 4, the first phase of Ethereum 2.0, Phase 0, has arrived that will launch the Beacon Chain. This means that Ethereum 2.0 is reaching its genesis block.
Phase 0 will launch the beacon chain which establishes the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, stores and manages the registry of validators. With the launch of Phase 0, validators can now begin attesting blocks into existence on Ethereum 2.0. Each validator must deposit 32 ETH to an official Phase 0 deposit contract address to become active on Eth 2.0 beacon chain.
To stake ETH in ETH2 users must use the dedicated Launchpad developed by the Ethereum Foundation where they can join a number of different staking as service providers.
However, staking in Phase 0 is a one-way transaction. Users won’t be able to withdraw their ETH until the current chain becomes a shard of Eth2 in Phase 1.5. That’s because staking in Phase 0 will be handled by a smart contract on the original Ethereum 1.0 chain.
This means that the beacon chain will soon be launching ETH 2.0 genesis block. To mine the genesis block, at least 524,288 ETH must be staked on the network, divided among a minimum of 16,384 validators. Staking rewards will not be distributed until this threshold is reached.
According to Joseph Lubin, founder of ConsenSys, reaching this milestone was not an easy task. He said:
Coordinating the genesis of Eth2 has been no small undertaking — involving 5 different client teams, researchers, auditors, and a whole community of testnet validators, Eth2 economists, and security experts sharing critical knowledge.
Furthermore, to bring staking services to businesses, Ethereum 2.0 also features a Teku consensus, the Ethereum 2.0 client empowering businesses to stake on the next evolution of the Ethereum network.
ETH 2.0 Roadmap
Ethereum 2.0, also called Eth2 or Serenity, is the next upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain that will introduce proof of stake (Pos) and Shard Chains to the existing PoW Ethereum 1.0 chain. It will be released in phases starting in 2020 with Phase 0.
As Phase 0 has arrived, Ethereum 2.0 is now a PoS blockchain. The original Ethereum PoW chain will continue to run alongside the new Ethereum PoS chain, ensuring there is no break in data continuity.
The next milestone is Phase 1 and will likely be rolled out in 2021. The primary improvement of Phase 1 is the integration of shard chains on Ethereum.
Phase 2 will be the final step in transferring Ethereum from PoW to the PoS mechanism. It is likely to be launched in late 2021 or early 2022. Phase 2 will bring the Ethereum 1.0 chain into Ethereum 2.0 so that Proof of Work can finally be turned off.
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