Right around the blockchain platform Ethereum’s sixth birthday. Core developers Mikhail Kalinin and Danny Ryan shared exciting news. The Ethereum EIP-3675 proposal for the ETH 2.0 upgrade launches on GitHub. This launch on GitHub, a code hosting platform for software development and collaboration. This signals that their transition is set in motion. This big step toward the ETH 2.0 merge brings the Ethereum network closer to a move from "Proof of Work" to "Proof of Stake."

Details of the Update

ConsenSys researcher and Ethereum co-founder Mikhail Kalinin. Created a pull request for proposal EIP-3675 on GitHub on July 22nd, 2021. This assigns the Ethereum merge and Ethereum 2.0 launch. An official Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) classification, EIP3675, for the first time.

Kalinin’s update to Github marks a big step forward in the network's upcoming transition. EIP-3675 contains the long-awaited merge and transition from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. The merger would join the Ethereum and Eth2 chains.

The proposal “EIP-3675: Upgrade Consensus to Proof-of-Stake”. GitHub refers to the Ethereum merge requirements and terminologies. Developers will now be racing to complete the transition and launch of Ethereum 2.0.

About Ethereum

Ethereum is a blockchain platform. It has its own cryptocurrency, called either Ether (ETH) or Ethereum. Users can use this currency to complete transactions on the blockchain. Ethereum also has its own programming language, Solidity.

Ethereum, like any blockchain network, is a database of information designed to repel hacking. Ethereum serves as a decentralized public ledger for verifying and tracking transactions. Ethereum’s users are able to create, monetize, and use applications on the platform.

By market cap, these are the most popular forms of cryptocurrencies:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Binance Coin (BNB)
• Cardano (ADA)
• Solana (SOL)

In 2015, Ethereum was launched by a small group of blockchain fans. These founders included Joe Lubin, who is the founder of ConsenSys. ConsenSys is a blockchain software company that uses the Ethereum network. The other founder, Vitalik Buterin, is now its CEO and public face. Buterin created the Ethereum concept. And is the “world's youngest crypto billionaire.”

On the Horizon for the Ethereum Merge and Ethereum 2.0

Ethereum has two big upgrades in its future. These include the Ethereum merge and the final Ethereum 2.0 implementation. Ethereum 2.0 is also called Eth2 or Serenity. The merge will reduce the resources needed to operate the Ethereum network. In upgrading to Ethereum 2.0, the company seeks to scale up and address congestion problems. It also looks forward to its move to Proof of Stake. With a Proof of Stake system, validators take the role of miners as in Ethereum 1.0. This requires far less energy than the current Proof of Work mechanism.

Details of the Rollout

Ethereum plans to roll out Ethereum 2.0 alongside the original. The two will run parallel for some time, and then the original Ethereum will become a part of Eth2. This is known as the Ethereum Merge. The Eth2 upgrade is happening in three stages.

The first Phase 0 of the upgrade was Beacon Chain’s launch on December 1st, 2020. Beacon Chain is Ethereum's new Proof of Stake blockchain. It acts as the spine that will support the new Ethereum 2.0 system.

Phase 1 in Q1 2021 will introduce sharding. Sharding is the process of breaking up data into two or more smaller chunks or shards. This will allow data storage in the form of smaller shards. At this point, transactions still will not be able to be processed.

In Phase 2, sometime after its introduction in 2022, Ethereum 2.0 will be operational. With it, the Ethereum WebAssembly (eWASM) will replace the current Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The eWASM is the execution engine that will improve the functionality of the EVM. The new eWASM will offer better hardware support, faster execution speed, and language portability.

ETH 2.0 Delays

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin confirmed the company delayed the move to ETH 2.0. But according to the CEO, several factors influenced this delay.

First, they had projected that the project would wrap up much sooner. In the original proposal, the team believed the move to proof of stake would only take a year. The project has in fact taken at least six years to build out and prepare.

Team conflicts also posed problems to the Ethereum upgrade. Some speculated that technical difficulties were to blame. But Buterin confirmed the issue related to the people working on the project.

“One of the biggest problems I’ve found with our project is not the technical problems,” said Buterin. “It’s problems related to people. We have had a lot of internal team conflicts in these five years.”

Team conflicts and disagreements appear to follow the project. On the subject, the CEO said, “if you are building a team, it is important to know who you are working with.”

Despite the EIP’s launch on GitHub, many in the Ethereum community believe it is unlikely the chain merge will occur in 2021. Vitalik Buterin echoed this stance.

Ethereum Progression So Far

Worldwide expectations for the network remain high. More than 6.3 million Ethereum have been staked on the network. This accounts for over 5% of the total circulating supply of ETH. Many investors hoped the shard chains rollout would happen this year. This is unlikely as the possible date of launch for the shard chains was moved back. 

Ethereum’s price continues to trade higher, and the company remains a leader in crypto.