Ethereum 2.0 has been in the works for a long time since the Beacon Chain went live in 2020. Since then, numerous upgrades have been made to prepare the network for the final proof-of-stake move. Most recently, this was the Kintsugi testnet, which enables blockchain users to take a look at what will come when “The Merge” finally happens.
It has been a year since the move to ETH 2.0 began and there have been some notable events since then. In this article, we take a look at the year in review and everything that has happened to the network since then.
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Used over 7% of the ETH offer
Participation in the Ethereum network has increased since the announcement of the switch to prove participation. Instead of requiring miners to compete and verify blocks as in the Proof of Work, the network now requires validators that need 32 ETH to run a node. Each validator is rewarded for helping to confirm transactions on the network and making use more secure.
Less than a year after the start of the Beacon Chain, the number of ETH participating in the network had quickly reached 5% of the total offer. December marks a full year after the start and there are now over 8.6 million ETH, worth a total of 33.5 billion US dollars, in the network. The number of validators has also grown to over 271,000 during this time.
7.33% of the ETH offer staked | Source: Arcane Research
In total, 7.33% of the total supply from ETH is now involved in the Ethereum network, and that number is expected to increase in the coming months as the merger approaches. Once the merger is complete, APY is expected to increase due to the unburned fee income and MEV now going to stakers instead of miners in the new proof-of-stake mechanism.
Ethereum is moving towards the merger
The race to fully merge with Ethereum 2.0 is still ongoing, but some infrastructure has been put in place to ensure the network gets there. One of these is the Lido multi-operator validator network, which was built by the Obol network. This enables liquid staking tokens in the Ethereum network.
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Rocket Pool is also another decentralized staking service that went live on the main network. These two helped move the network towards 2.0 while making it easier for users to set their tokens.
The Kintsugi test network was released on Monday. It is the first Significant Public Testnet released on Ethereum and will precede several other future testnets that show how the network will work after the merge.
ETH continues downward trend | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com Selected image from BitcoinKE, diagram from TradingView.com
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