Blockchain services provider Sigma Prime has announced the successful transaction of an Ethereum (ETH1) transaction in a ETH 2 (Beacon Chain) environment. Using its Lighthouse client and ONLY Proof-of-Stake (PoS) validator nodes, the move may signal the beginning of the end of the ETH 1 platform and usher in a new era of ETH 2 PoS-based transactions.
The shift to a completely PoS based ETH 2 system is still in its prototype stage for the users of the Ethereum network. Right now, there is a hybrid system in place where there is some degree of Proof-of-Work (PoW) and POS at work. The Ethereum foundation has outlined a slow-and-steady approach for the big upgrade and it is supposed to take place in various steps over 2-3 years. The first one of these updates called the Beacon Chain has already been deployed in December 2020 and now PoS mining is going on, but a complete migration has not yet been achieved.
Sigma Prime claimed that it had undertaken such a transaction and only used PoS validators to process it. According to a statement from the organization:
Primarily, you should take this is a signal that Eth1 and Eth2 developers are actively working together on the merge.
It also claimed that the transaction itself consumed 99.8% less energy than a regular ETH1 transaction and if proved empirically, this would prove to be a big difference in the future. With cryptocurrency mining consuming several thousand megawatts according to recent reportings, it is predicted that sustainable projects like ETH2 will be prioritized in the future over PoW ones that are often very energy-intensive. However, the PoS mining is still in its infancy and it will take time and sustained effort to make it a lasting success.
The efforts to prototype ETH1 transactions on ETH2 are part of the 1.5 upgrade of the Ethereum ecosystem. In this system, ETH1’s mainnet will merge with ETH2’s Beacon Chain and then eventually the sharding system later on.
However, there are concerns regarding the economic sustainability of the migration. While the hybrid system is already in place, cost of ETH transactions recently hit record highs and pile up from time to time. So, in addition to being sustainable, the Ethereum network needs to be scalable and transactions need to be made easier as that is the whole point of an upgrade for many users.
Image source: Marco Verch Professional under CC
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