There’s been a lot of talk about #EIP1559 recently..
However, not many seem to know that this is just 1 small step forward in #Ethereum’s roadmap toward “Serenity”, or “ETH 2.0”, & there are in fact many more substantial upgrades to come..
Let’s dive in..🧁
In order to understand these upgrades, we first need to understand $ETH 2.0
$ETH 2.0 refers to an infrastructure upgrade of #Eth with the aim of creating a more secure, user-friendly, & scalable blockchain that can accommodate the growth required to become a global supercomputer
Beacon Chain
The beacon chain is an upgraded version of $ETH that will eventually replace the legacy $ETH blockchain currently in use.
Its purpose is to introduce a new consensus model known as PoS & coordinate an expanded network of shards & stakers.
In $ETH 2.0, validator nodes will take over the role miners previously occupied of processing tx’s & creating new blocks.
In order to do so, the beacon chain was deployed requiring a minimum of 16,384 active validators who will eventually replace miners in securing the network
The Beacon chain is already live today with over 200,000 active validators & 6.6m staked $ETH
When ready, the $ETH mainnet will “merge” with the beacon chain, becoming its own shard which uses PoS instead of PoW.
To fully realize this transition, mainnet will bring the ability to run smart contracts on PoS as well as the entire history & current state of $ETH
This will mark the end of PoW on $ETH & the start of a more sustainable, eco-friendly #Ethereum
In PoW, miners invest their resources, mainly electricity, to validate tx’s & secure the network.
PoS addresses the environmental concerns in POW by getting rid of miners entirely
In POS, users who want to secure the network stake their $ETH & become validators.
Each validator is incentivized to validate tx’s & act honestly in order to receive rewards in the form of tx fees
If a validator acts dishonestly, a portion of their staked $ETH is “slashed”
Ethereum’s transition to PoS is intended to offer many benefits: more security, more democratic governance, and significantly more efficient usage of resources.
Additionally, this will result in increased throughput, shorter transaction times, & lower transaction fees
Sharding
A term popular among computer science, sharding refers to splitting up a database into multiple instances.
In #Ethereum 2.0, the $ETH blockchain will be split up into 64 separate shards, allowing for greater data capacity, faster network speeds, & more scalability.
In its current model, #Ethereum is made up of a global network of nodes, each of which store the entire history of the chain.
As you can imagine, this is a lot of data. An $ETH node takes up at least 5 terabytes of space, which is about 10x what the average computer can hold
With sharding, however, validators only need to store/run data for the shard they're validating, not the entire network.
Sharding could potentially allow for thousands of tx’s/second & will significantly reduce hardware requirements to run a node.
ZK-Rollups
Although not explicitly stated in the ETH 2.0 roadmap, ZK-Rollups will play an important role in achieving scalability for #Ethereum.
Essentially, ZK-Rollups are solutions that perform tx execution outside the main $ETH chain.
ZK-Rollups bundle or “roll up” hundreds of transfers off chain (Layer 2) and generate a cryptographic proof, known as a SNARK.
This validity proof is then posted on Layer 1.
Since ZK-Rollups maintain the state of all transfers on Layer 2, ZK-Rollups only require the validity proof to be posted on chain, rather than the entire set of data for the transactions.
This will significantly reduce computing & storage resources needed for validating blocks.
Ewasm
Ewasm will replace the EVM as the state execution engine of the $ETH network and is expected to be one of the final aspects of Eth 2.0 to be integrated.
In order to understand why the EVM needs to be replaced, we must first look at what it’s role is.
The EVM is responsible for facilitating most tx’s & operations on the $ETH network, including execution of smart contracts
Because the EVM is in charge of so many functions, the speed with which it is able to handle operations & tx’s affects the performance of the entire network
From its inception, the EVM was designed to emphasize correctness rather than efficiency
EWASM, however, focuses on fast loading times & efficiency
While the EVM was optimized for theoretical use, Ewasm is developed for the real world, to translate coding logic at a fast pace
The implementation of Ewasm in place of the EVM will make a huge difference in how many tx’s can be processed
Additionally, it supports a variety of different programming languages, not just solidity
Thus, Ewasm is seen as a critical step toward achieving scalability for $ETH
It is no doubt that #Ethereum is revolutionary technology.
The brightest minds around the world are collaborating 24/7 to build out the future of $ETH
With PoS, Sharding, ZK-Rollups, & many other solutions not mentioned, $ETH is set to scale on levels never seen before.
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By now, I’m sure most people reading this have heard the term “Metaverse” before, but what exactly is it, & what are its implications?
In today’s thread, I will attempt to explain how blockchain & AR/VR tech are pioneering the largest renaissance in history..
The term “Metaverse” originates from Stephenson’s 1992 novel ‘Snow Crash’, which portrays the life of a pizza delivery driver who spends his free time plugging into a simulated world that allows ppl to carry out daily activities & live as whoever they designed their avatars to be
NFT’s continue to be one of the most exciting features on $ETH
Not only do they create a layer of scarcity for digital assets, but they also have a wide range of applicable uses in the real world
Let’s take a look at some of the most intriguing projects building in the space..
1. Axie Infinity
With its unique “play to earn” model, $AXS has risen to be the #1 game on $ETH by daily, weekly, & monthly active users while amassing revenues in the tens of millions of dollars
It is a Pokémon inspired universe where players can earn tokens through gameplay
2. Enjin
$ENJ is a complete ecosystem allowing users to create, distribute, store, & trade tokenized digital assets.
Users of the platform can create $ENJ backed digital assets in the form of artwork, currencies, in game assets, or even real estate.
Bitcoin is the most efficient form of sound money in existence.
It has historically maintained its value, has sufficient liquidity to buy or sell at any given time, is durable, portable, divisible, & it’s censorship resistant.
$BTC is the first asset in existence whose supply is strictly limited.
No matter how many people join the network, how much the value rises, or just how advanced the equipment is that mines it, there will never be more than 21m $BTC in existence.