tl;dr

• Finalized: rebranding the weblog
• Improve your nodes!

Finalized, rebranding the weblog

In the event you’ve learn my current writings or listened to me talk about Ethereum and this grand improve that is within the works, you have maybe observed that I am not solely shying away from discussing “phases” (as a substitute, referring to a sequence of impartial upgrades), however that I’ve additionally been trying to place the phrases “eth1” and “eth2” to relaxation. I’ve spoken about these being horrible phrases and wrote about it once more in January’s “The State of Eth2”.

What we name “eth2” is a sequence of main upgrades to Ethereum’s consensus-layer — to make sure the protocol is safe, sustainable, and scalable — whereas “eth2 shoppers” are implementations of this proof-of-stake consensus.

And, what we name “eth1” on this context is Ethereum’s wealthy application-layer, and equally, “eth1 shoppers” (after the improve to proof-of-stake) are the software program that does the heavy lifting on this layer. Ethereum’s application-layer is presently pushed by a proof-of-work consensus algorithm however will quickly be pushed by the beacon chain — the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism that’s presently in manufacturing and secured by ~3.5M ETH.

Now to comply with by means of on my marketing campaign, I am rebranding this weblog sequence. From right here on out, this sequence will likely be generally known as “Finalized: the Ethereum consensus-layer”, the place the identify is an homage to essentially the most vital perform of the proof-of-stake consensus-layer — finality.

Stakers: Improve your nodes

To remain related, you have to be Berlin suitable

The Ethereum PoW chain is present process a mainnet improve, known as Berlin, on April 14, 2021. It is a backwards incompatible fork and thus requires updating your software program to proceed to comply with mainnet. You possibly can learn extra about this within the EF’s Ethereum Berlin Improve Announcement.

As a beacon chain staker, you want an Ethereum PoW endpoint to efficiently carry out your entire numerous duties as a validator. This performance serves because the uni-directional hyperlink between the elements of the system to permit for brand new validator deposits.

It follows that, to efficiently preserve this hyperlink, stakers should improve their Ethereum PoW nodes! In the event you run the Pyrmont testnet, you will need to improve your Goerli nodes earlier than March 17, 2021, and in case you validate on mainnet, you will need to improve your mainnet PoW nodes earlier than April 14, 2021.

Additionally, an excellent time to improve your beacon node

Along with upgrading your PoW nodes, I extremely suggest upgrading your beacon nodes too. There have been many juicy optimizations not too long ago to all mainnet shoppers. To make sure your validators run with optimum efficiency (and profitability), pull down the most recent launch and provides it a whirl.

Improve your nodes! 🚀