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<h1>Ethereum will become the most <span class="accent">powerful</span>, most <span class="accent">used</span>, most <span class="accent">credibly-neutral</span>, and most <span class="accent accent-green">energy-efficient</span> blockchain network in the world.</h1> |
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In 2013, Vitalik Buterin published a whitepaper that conceptualized “A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform” – Ethereum. Initially launched with a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm in 2015, the vision has always been for Ethereum to become an energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) network. After discarding initial plans in 2018 to make the switch to PoS through a hybrid system known as “Casper the Friendly Finality Gadget” and "Slasher" the problem has become clear – how does a community upgrade the heart of a decentralized network while said heart is still beating?
The solution: The beacon chain. The beacon chain is a fully independent PoS network that runs in parallel to the current PoW Ethereum mainnet. By keeping the PoS chain siloed from the main network a ready-to-ship solution is being perfected without risking the flourishing decentralized application platform of the Ethereum PoW chain. A one-way bridge from the PoW network to the PoS network began accepting deposits (as of November 2020) and the beacon chain is currently live, ready for action, and secured by millions of ETH deposited across over 100K validators. Since its launch, in December 2020 the beacon chain has been an absolute success — finalizing 100% of its epochs with no downtime.
While the beacon chain provides an elegant solution to transitioning the Etherum consensus algorithm, the chain Ethereum will not live split in two forever. To fully realize the transition to PoS, Ethereum’s history on the Eth 1.0 PoW network be brought to the ETH 2.0 PoS chain. This will be done through what is known as “The Merge”. Once completed, the PoW consensus mechanism will no longer be in use and all future blocks on the Etherum blockchain will be produced by the new PoS algorithm. No history of transactions on the Ethereum network will be lost in this transition. "The Merge" is not the launch of a new Ethereum, but rather an exciting upgrade - bringing Ethereum in line with the original vision laid out at its genesis.