Ethereum 2.0 wallet has enough funds to begin development
The smart contract needed to activate Ethereum 2.0's first phase has reached the funding level needed to implement the most revolutionary upgrade of Ethereum’s blockchain ever. This upgrade will mark a radical shift in Ethereum's economic model, resources and regulation.
To support the upgrade, whales and several smaller investors have deposited substantial sums in the smart contract. The number of ETH tokens in the wallet amounted to over 540,000 ($300 million), according to estimates made late Monday night. This move confirmed that the Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain will likely start next week and will formally begin moving from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) process in an attempt to solve many issues, including the scalability problem.
The upcoming upgrade, however, is not the network’s launch itself. The is part of a parallel PoS blockchain activation, enabling “the beacon chain” to operate side by side with the current Ethereum network. The early testing phases would have no impact on Ethereum decentralized applications nor users.
Previously, there were concerns regarding the needed 524,000 ETH needed to guarantee the upgrade's scheduled launch date. In response to these concerns, Ethereum 2.0 coordinator and Ethereum Foundation developer Danny Ryan remained positive,
“I very much believe that (Ethereum 2.0) adds a ton over time to the intrinsic value of the system … I think that crypto markets are pretty wild and new and people have trouble figuring out how to value these things but in terms of intrinsic value [Ethereum 2.0] is an incredible upgrade that is going to enable Ethereum to be the backbone of a decentralized internet.”
