Ethereum shifts away from ETH 2.0

Ethereum will be moving away from ETH 1.0 and ETH 2.0 as the protocol undergoes significant changes. Core developers on the network are referring to the stages on the blockchain as the “execution layer” and “consensus layer.”

Ethereum undergoes rebranding

The Ethereum Foundation announced that the term ETH 2.0 will no longer be used in favor of a change in terminology to the “consensus layer.” Ethereum 1.0 which refers to the proof-of-work blockchain will be known as the “execution layer.”

The rebranding of the terms came organically as an effort to avoid future confusion as the ETH 2.0 acts as a network upgrade rather than a new separate protocol. A significant issue with the ETH 2.0 branding is that it creates a “broken mental model” for new users on Ethereum. 

The Ethereum Foundation blog highlighted that there could be confusion where users would think that ETH 1.0 comes first and that ETH 2.0 comes after or that once Ethereum 2.0 is completed, Ethereum 1.0 will cease to exist. The new terminology will save users on the network from confusion in the future. 

As part of its roadmap, Ethereum has plans to scale the network in a decentralized manner and to transition to proof-of-stake. These efforts were combined into one roadmap labeled ETH 2.0 back in 2018.

The existing blockchain that runs on proof-of-work, ETH 1.0 would eventually be migrated into the proof-of-stake Ethereum chain, ETH 2.0.

When the developers on the network started to work on what was previously known as Phase 0 of Ethereum 2.0, the Beacon Chain, it became clear that the ETH 2.0 roadmap would take several years to be fully completed. 

The Beacon Chain was intended to take over the consensus processes after the two blockchains merged. ETH 1.0 and ETH 2.0 together will be known as integral components of the network called “Ethereum.”

The upcoming merge, an upgrade where the proof-of-work chain will unite with the proof-of-stake chain, is scheduled tentatively for June 2022.