“We have a go for Main engine start” reads the GitHub release.
Under the veil of one of the most decisive presidential elections to ever take place, Ethereum has sneakily released a tool on GitHub for creating deposits on Ethereum 2.0.
Whilst the majority of Twitter users were busy scrolling their news feed trying to get updates relating to the US election a few diligent onlookers spotted Ethereum’s announcement.
What does this mean?
In order to allow users to stake and to get the proof-of-stake chain working correctly, funds must first be migrated from Ethereum’s current blockchain over to Ethereum 2.0.
That’s where the tool comes in handy and represents a significant step toward the long-awaited Ethereum upgrade. This phase will introduce a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and a more efficient means of validating transactions on the Ethereum network.
Timing is key
This year we have witnessed the summer of Ethereum DeFi and whilst the hype and influx of users and volume was a very positive sign for the industry it cannot be ignored that whilst DeFi flourished other categories began to fail. Failure caused by an exponential increase in the gas cost.
We have observed the dapp game category on Ethereum almost grind to a halt as ever-increasing gas fees priced users out of playing their favorite games. After all, when you are trying to move thousands of dollars in DeFi a higher gas price becomes less significant than when you are simply trying to equip your favorite character with a new item.
Gas prices have started to return to normal throughout October and November as the DeFi hype slows and users return to more familiar tokens to hold value – namely Bitcoin. It would seem a perfect time for the announcement and to show the industry that Ethereum can compete and defend its crown from a slew of suitors.
Polkadot, Flow, Horizen, and Cardano, amongst others are steadily making waves in the space and positioning themselves as very viable Ethereum alternatives. Some chains, such as Flow are positioning themselves as a solution for dapp game developers whilst Horizen appears to be solely focused on a platform that can nurture DeFi protocols.
Ethereum 2.0 is certainly overdue and time is ticking for the pioneering smart contract platform to prove its long-term worth in the industry. Right now it feels as if it is surviving on its first-mover advantage, brand name, and the fact so many users are holding tokens – but for how long.
As always we will continue to track and monitor developments. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter below to get updates direct to your inbox.
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