2019 is shaping up to be a great year for Ethereum, at least that is what will happen if most of the promises and expectations are actually fulfilled this year.
Now, a highly anticipated ETH upgrade is getting ready for its first run. Named Görli, this new blockchain will act as a sort of a “proving ground” for Prysm, a software created by Prysmatic Labs that will be very important for the construction of Ethereum 2.0.
Ethereum 2.0, in case you are not following ETH news, is basically the so-called upgrade that the network will receive soon. It consists of several small upgrades, actually, that is set to completely transform how the network works and make it scalable and more friendly to the mainstream users and for entrepreneurs trying to create new platforms.
Because of this, Görli represents only a small update in the network and basically the first step to the future. The product is described as a proof of authority cross-client test network that will synch together many important initiatives from the Ethereum ecosystem like Geth, Parity, Nethermind, EthereumJS and Pantheon. The project is open source and community-based.
One of the main developers is Afri Schoedon, which manages the Parity client for Ethereum. According to him, the developers will be able to use this new product to build apps that can be more powerful and reliable.
Another important part of the project is Preston Van Loon, which founded Prysmatic Labs. He decided to launch his other product on this platform because the devs secured an important amount of GöETH, the native currency of the platform, which was a big incentive.
As the platform was not started yet, they were able to get 10 million tokens, which may help to jumpstart Ethereum 2.0 in the future. Doing this in a project after the launch would be way more difficult, he believes. In exchange for the money. Prysmatic Labs will run a node and support this test net.
The Road Map For The Project
Prysm will still take some time to launch its project there, though, which may only happen in March. The full Serenity upgrade, which will be made by the company, is set to be on the core of the Ethereum expansion, so this is especially relevant for the network.
The phase zero of the road for Ethereum 2.0 will be tested by the company, including the so awaited proof of stake features, which are basically the heart of the upgrade that will take Ethereum to the future.
Prysm will be, in fact, operating in two test networks at the same time. It will participate in the GöETH ecosystem, as we have just talked about, but the users who participate in the company will also be able to work as validators for Prysm.
According to Van Loon, the validators of the network will be the actual miners of Ethereum 2.0. He explained that in the first phase of Serenity, they will produce the blocks as block producers and that they can also validate the ones that exist.
This way, Görli will be important to initiate new validators at the same time that Prysm’s own network will feature a beacon chain technology that will monitor their work.
The Future Is Now
It is clear that the road until Ethereum 2.0 is, in fact, quite long, and it is linked to way more companies than just a few like the two cited in this article. For instance, sharding will be very important as a scaling solution for ETH 2.0, and none of these companies will provide that.
However, these are the companies making the first steps and they are very important. Van Loon has affirmed that the test net will be important because it will explore the connectivity between different clients after Prysmatic Labs launch their own product and that they will be able to start solving all the issues soon.
Another reason is that Ethereum 2.0 is simply no more than a prototype today. While a proof of concept is “cool and exciting”, the developer states, “it doesn’t really mean much”. This is the truth. Many promises are made in the crypto world but only now the actual change is coming and something is happening that will jumpstart the development.
The goal is to give the interested people something to see and tweak. Now they will see, via these projects, that Ethereum 2.0 is happening, that things have already started. Having an actual representation, he believes, is something necessary.
So, the road has started and people are excited to see how this is will develop. It is too early to say that people will really launch Ethereum 2.0 in 2019, but the year will certainly mark the beginning of the future for Ethereum.
According to Van Loon, the research has already got to the point at which things are working. It took some time, but the future is now.
