Ethereum Beacon Chain set to launch, Coinbase to support staking rewards, ETH2 transactions

The Ethereum Beacon Chain is expected to go live at 8:00 PM Taiwan time (UTC+0), 12:00 PM noon. One of the world's largest exchanges, Coinbase, will also support Ethereum 2.0 staking. Let's quickly review what the Beacon Chain is.

Supporting Staking and ETH2 Trading

In a recent blog post, Coinbase announced that it will support the staking feature of Ethereum 2.0, allowing users to earn staking rewards. Interestingly, Coinbase appears to be opening ETH2 trading pairs, providing liquidity for staked Ether. It is reported that ETH2 will be tradable against ETH and other cryptocurrencies. It is speculated that ETH2 may be a token that cannot be withdrawn from the exchange, although the announcement does not provide detailed information.

Coinbase plans to launch these services in early 2021.

What is the Beacon Chain?

As Ethereum 2.0 progresses, a series of updates aimed at scalability and reducing fees will be implemented. The Beacon Chain is one of these steps, facilitating sharding and staking to scale the network.

The Beacon Chain is a significant update in Ethereum 2.0 that introduces proof of stake consensus. The Ethereum community views Ether as a public good, allowing users to stake Ether and earn rewards, which is believed to provide a more secure way for blockchain networks compared to proof of work mining.

Next Target: Sharding

According to the Ethereum community's roadmap, the next upgrade will be sharding to increase scalability and transaction speed. The Beacon Chain serves as the first step towards sharding, as sharding requires proof of stake to ensure network security. In the final phase, the Beacon Chain will participate in the sharding process to maintain its security.

Relationship with Ethereum Mainnet

The updates in Ethereum 2.0 are separate from the mainnet. The updates to the Beacon Chain and Shard Chain occur in parallel to the mainnet, which can continue operating on proof of work even when proof of stake is running. When ready, they will integrate with the mainnet in a process called Docking, transitioning the mainnet from proof of work to proof of stake, along with the sharding system to enhance scalability and transaction speed.

For more information, you can read the official post ETH2.