The Lighthouse client successfully performed the first Ethereum transaction in an Ethereum 2.0 environment, claiming to have used only network validators instead of miners. Sigma Prime noted that the transition to ETH 2.0 will lead to 99,98% savings in the blockchain network’s energy consumption.
The recent transaction that the Ethereum client just made, Lighthouse, powered by security provider Sigma Prime, is one of the first developments of the Ethereum blockchain on its way to migrating to Ethereum 2.0; the upgrade that will lead this blockchain network to move to the proof-of-stake consensus protocol or proof of stake (PoS).
On its Twitter account, Sigma Prime announced that it has successfully performed the first merge transaction between Ethereum (Eth1) and Ethereum 2.0 (Eth2) through its Lighthouse client. The company announced that the ETH transaction in an ETH 2.0 environment was performed using only proof-of-stake validators; that is, from the PoS protocol. This event leads the Ethereum network to consume 99,98% less of the total energy consumed by the network using the proof-of-work system or Proof of WorkPoW), which is used by miners to validate and confirm transactions on the network.
Since December 2020, Ethereum developers announced the launch of the Beacon Chain, the first phase of the network's migration to its ETH 2.0 upgrade. Now, the first transaction merging both blockchains brings developers one step closer to the long-awaited upgrade.
In their roadmap, the network developers explain that the network transition will take place in 3 phases, called Phase 0 (Beacon Chain), Phase 1 (Shard or Ethereum 1.5) and Phase 2 (Execution); and as this transition progresses, the developers are closer to Ethereum 1.5, the merged network of Eth1 and Eth2, where PoW miners are eliminated.
This development is also driven by the developers' suspicions towards miners, who are calling for the network's hash power to be concentrated in the Ethermine mining pool from April 1. Developers are rushing the merger of both blockchains in view of the possible Ethereum fork by miners.
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99.98% less energy consumption
While this first transaction is just one step towards the true merger of Eth1 and Eth2, Sigma Prime notes that when this stage is complete, the Ethereum network will consume 99,98% less electricity than it currently consumes.
Ethereum, like Bitcoin, is the subject of strong criticism related to its energy consumption, although studies by important organizations, such as the International Energy Agency (IEA), indicate that this blockchain's consumption is less than 0,5% of the global energy consumed annually.
Still, a 99,98% reduction in Ethereum's energy consumption is a very important step towards caring for the environment; and will boost the adoption of the network, by becoming a much more efficient blockchain for building decentralized applications, protocols DeFi and for the NFTs.
“Reductions in energy consumption are imperative for success in a world that is becoming increasingly environmentally conscious. We owe it to Ethereum and we owe it to future generations.”
Long way to go
Sigma Prime explains that the current merge demo was run in an environment that is just a prototype, and that there are still a lot of questions to be answered and work to be done to get to the actual merge. However, Sigma notes that this work should be seen as a sign of the hard work being done by the Eth1 and Eth2 developers as they move ever closer to making progress on the transition to Ethereum 2.0.
On its Twitter account, Sigma Prime acknowledged that the Teku client was one of the first to demonstrate the possibility of successfully carrying out an ETH transaction on ETH 2.0, last year.
3,6 million ethers staked
According to the data shown Ethereum Launchpad, the Beacon Chain has a total of 3.655.254 ETH staked to date, from 111.833 validators. With ETH trading at $1.700 at the time of writing, the Beacon Chain has nearly $6.213 billion staked; 3,2% of the network’s current market cap of over $196.000 billion.
With the transition from Ethereum to Ethereum 2.0 complete, dApp users or ETH token holders do not need to do anything. Ethereum 2.0 puts the second largest blockchain market cap on track to become a much more scalable, secure, and sustainable network to serve all of humanity.
Continue reading: Ethereum 2.0 Improvement Plans Boost Network Adoption
