Ethereum developers are inching closer to the launch of Ethereum 2.0 by starting the deposit contracts. The first leg of the launch i.e. the Beacon Chain will go live on December 1.
On Wednesday, November 4, Ethereum chief developer Afri Schoedon announced the launch of the Ethereum 2.0 Deposit Contracts. This is the first physical implementation for Ethereum 2.0.
The Deposit Contracts serve as a bridge between the existing proof-of-work (PoW) Ethereum mainnet and the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain. The genesis time i.e. the first block of Ethereum 2.0 is scheduled next month on December 1.
With the deposit contracts going live, Ethereum stakers can deposit 32 ETH, the minimum threshold for staking on Ethereum 2.0. Moreover, for the Beacon Chain to go live, validators will have to deposit a total of 524,288 ETH in the contract. This will trigger the Beacon Chain into action also dubbed as the “genesis” event for Ethereum 2.0.
Post the genesis event, stakers will start earning inflation rewards for putting their ETH as collateral. The Ethereum 2.0 staking rewards are lucrative offering 8-15% of annual percentage return. In an email to CoinDesk, Ethereum 2.0 researcher Danny Ryan wrote:
“We’re all excited. This has been a long time coming, and countless researchers, engineers, and community members have put blood, sweat, and tears into this project. Feels good to finally bootstrap Ethereum’s long-awaited proof-of-stake consensus.”
Although Ethereum developers look prepared for the launch of the Beacon Chain, the Medalla testnet launch hasn’t seen much success. There was a clear lack of participation due to no tangible incentives during the testing phase. Besides, some users also reported issues with the software. However, the ETH 2.0 developer team thinks that most software clients are “mainnet launch-ready”.
Further Expected Developments with Ethereum 2.0
The deposit contract going live is a crucial step in steering ahead the Ethereim 2.0 launch and use. The entire Ethereum team has been working on it over the past few years have faced many issues during the journey.
Ethereum 2.0 release is likely to happen in different phases wherein each phase has new features for the existing mainchain and the upcoming PoS blockchain. Also, each phase implements these features via hard-forks or through backward-incompatible code alterations.
Ethereum-based blockchain software technology company ConsenSys also weighed its views on the launch of deposit contracts. ConsenSys Eth 2.0 developer Ben Edgington said:
“Deployment of the deposit contract is the point of no return for Eth2. We have no choice now but to see this thing through right to the end. After 2.5 years working on this, I am incredibly excited about where we are, and what’s yet to come”.
Currently, Ethereum remains the top choice for new DeFi applications in the market. However, the existing Ethereum network has been facing limitations for hosting a large number of DeFi projects. The Ethereum 2.0 will solve this issue offering massive scalability to the developers and users.
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