By Solomon Odunayo
One of the most anticipated developments in the cryptocurrency ecosystem in recent times is finally here.
According to a report, Ethereum 2.0, the major upgrade of the Ethereum network is beginning to roll out with the launch of Phase 0 known as Beacon Chain.
The launch of the Beacon Chain, which is Phase 0 in the ETH 2.0 development roadmap, played out successfully at 12:00 UTC on Tuesday 1st December 2020.
The co-founder at Prysmatic Labs, Raul Jordan, shared this new development a few hours ago, via his official Twitter handle.
Jordan tweeted, “ETH2 phase 0 launched successfully, and the chain reached finality perfectly. This is the culmination of years of work, and it is by all means, a great launch #Ethereum. Thanks to all people running our software at Prysmatic Labs.”
ETH2 phase 0 launched successfully, and the chain reached finality perfectly. This is the culmination of years of work, and it is by all means, a great launch 🥳 #Ethereum. Thanks to all people running our software @prylabs
— Raul Jordan (@raulitojordan) December 1, 2020
Vitalik Buterin, the co-creator of Ethereum (ETH) also shared his excitement with the community in a viral tweet.
https://twitter.com/WinMcMurry/status/1333763251755167744
What Is Beacon Chain?
The Beacon Chain is a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain, which indicates the first step in the plan to transition the consensus algorithm of Ethereum from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake. Beacon Chain is expected to run alongside the original Ethereum PoW chain. This will make the chains to continue without interruption.
In a blog post published on 16th May 2019, ConsenSys gave the functions of the Beacon Chain a better explanation as follows:
- Managing the proof of stake mechanism
- Processing Crosslinks
- Direct consensus and finality.
Ethereum 2.0 Phase 1 that will likely launch in this coming year will address finality and consensus on shard chains and will be more of a test run for shard chains than the release of an immediately-scalable solution.
Read Also: Ethereum (ETH) Poised To Hit $10,000 in the Next Market Cycle –Quantitative Analyst Posits
Update On the Level of Decentralization of Ethereum 2.0 Validators
A few hours ago, the co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), Vitalik Buterin, shared an update in relation to the current level of decentralization of ETH 2.0 validators.
Vitalik tweeted, “Some updates on decentralization stats since a week ago: * Participant count over 3k * Nakamoto coefficient up from 25 to 34 * Herfindahl score down from 0.0164 to 0.0126 (down is good); ~30% more decentralized based on this metric More participation = more decentralization!”
Some updates on decentralization stats since a week ago:
* Participant count over 3k
* Nakamoto coefficient up from 25 to 34
* Herfindahl score down from 0.0164 to 0.0126 (down is good); ~30% more decentralized based on this metricMore participation = more decentralization! pic.twitter.com/F59kSyM8qJ
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 1, 2020
Read Also: This Dubai-based Company to Support Ethereum 2.0 Launch with $10 Million in ETH Deposit
Proof-of-Work (PoW) Difficulty Hits An All-Time High
In another tweet earlier today, as the Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0 was preparing to go live, Vitalik Buterin hinted at the community that the proof-of-work (PoW) difficulty just attained an all-time high:
“So, right at the time that the beacon chain is launching, the PoW difficulty just hit an all-time high!”
So, right at the time that the beacon chain is launching, the PoW difficulty just hit an all time high! pic.twitter.com/JCxwUpVPlt
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 1, 2020