By Tobi Loba
Despite the fact that Ethereum 2.0 deposits contract has reached the required ETH for the Phase 0 launch last week, the contract address continues to attract tons of deposits.
According to Etherscan, the contract has now accrued $508,066,521 worth of ETH or 853,248 ETH as of the time of filing this report. This implies that 62% more than what is required for the launch of Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0 in few hours’ time has been deposited.
In a conversation with The Block, Ethereum 2.0 researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, Justin Drake said, “It is a fantastic display of confidence by the Ethereum community. I’m proud thousands of Ethereans felt compelled to lock their funds for many months to secure Eth2.”
Read Also: Ethereum 2.0 Now Ready To Go Live On 1st December with Over 700,000 ETH Deposits
Deposits Cannot Be Withdrawn Until Eth2 Phase 1.5 Goes Live
As it’s generally known in the Ethereum community, the deposits locked in the contract address cannot be withdrawn until the launch of Ethereum 2.0 Phase 1.5, which is expected to play out sometime in 2022.
The journey of ETH 2.0 should start with Phase 0 on 1st December 2020, at 12 UTC as slated. This phase will launch the Beacon Chain known as the backbone for Eth2.
The pioneer of Eth2 multi-client testnets, Afri Schoedon, also told The Block about the significance of the fast approaching development.
Schoedon noted:
“This is a huge milestone in 80 years of computer science and proves confidence in the progress Ethereum and blockchain technology has made in the decade to date. I’m looking forward to the next ten years.”
As soon as the Beacon Chain is activated, the Eth2 transition process will move on to the next stage of its multi-phase approach, to complete the full upgrade. There are four more phases left for Ethereum 2.0.
Read Also: Vitalik Buterin Pushes For Clients to Start Working On Phase 1 of Ethereum 2.0
According to estimation, Ethereum network is expected to become fully upgraded by 2022, but it could actually take more time, since the development could face challenges along the way.
Drake said, “Longer term, we will need at least 10x the amount staked for robust security.”
The process of upgrading Ethereum network started a few years ago. The success of this much-anticipated upgrade will transition Ethereum network to the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm.