Ethereum 2.0 Will be Live in 2020

The launch of Ethereum’s (ETH) 2.0 “Serenity” is expected by the end of 2020, according to ConsenSys co-founder Andrew Keys. However, considering its present state of development, not so many people feel enthusiastic about it.

A news release from January 7 published on ConsenSys website lists Andrew Keys’ predictions for 2020. Keys was a co-founder of ConsenSys, and now is a managing partner at DARMA Capital.

Keys predictions touch different blockchain-related aspects, and two of them are particularly optimistic.

The executive states, that “2020 will see Ethereum move stridently beyond Phase 0 of Ethereum 2.0, onto Phase 1 and the launch of shard chains.”

Additionally, while Serenity is under development, Keys assures the community that layer two solutions “will turbocharge Ethereum” and move it “towards 2.0 levels of scalability at layer one.”

The state of Ethereum 2.0

Istanbul hard fork was the last in layer one technology, adding some new features and fixes. Some of the core Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) implemented with the upgrade dealt with Zcash (ZEC). EIP-152, for instance, improved interoperability between Ethereum and Zcash, while EIP-1108 addressed the optimization of cryptography routines used in such projects as Aztec and ZEther.

Aztec Protocol is designed for conducting confidential transactions in Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, leveraging SNARK zero-knowledge algorithm — the same used for Zcash protected transactions.

Matter Labs also tries to resolve existing scalability challenges with SNARK. On a basic level, its Zk Sync technology would allow computation and storage to be performed off-chain while keeping the funds held by smart contracts on-chain. The correct execution of computations would be ensured by a zero-knowledge proof.

Finally, Plasma focuses on creating side-chains for specific purposes. CEO of ConsenSys Joe Lubin explained:

“Plasma is this class of technologies that enable you to have less decentralized platforms sitting at layer two in the Ethereum ecosystem. They can benefit from the full trust in some cases — sometimes they benefit from partial trust — but if they’re linked in really rigorously, they can benefit from the full trust of the base trust layer, and you can get the best of both worlds.”

However, these technologies still need work. Only Aztec seems to be ready to launch its cryptography engine in January, after conducting a setup ceremony on January 9.

Matter Labs announced that a smart contract network will be launched this month — but not a full-scale technology. Currently there is no exact information about the schedule.

Plasma Group, a non-profit research group, has recently finished theoretical work on the technology, but has not provided any data regarding the implementation.

A former Parity Technologies developer Afri Schoeden commented on the matter of implementation of side-chain solutions in 2020:

“We will see COSMOS maturing, Polkadot launching maybe, and Ethereum 2.0 finally taking shape. But we are still far away from viable solutions that would work in production.”

The roadmap to Serenity

Though Istanbul was the last step in Ethereum 1.0, it is still unclear when further advances will take place.

According to the Serenity roadmap, drawn by ConsenSys in the middle of 2019, its phase zero should be implemented by the end of the year, with the Beacon Chain running on Proof-of-Stake validators introduced.

Despite Andrew Keys’ statement that a block explorer of the Beacon Chain has already been launched, currently it works only with the testnet. Keys proceeded to say:

“Ethereum developers have already proven their ability to work wonders, and that this decentralized team is now in the stride of hitting ambitious roadmap targets is the best indicator in all of blockchain for future success.”

Schoeden, though, was not that enthusiastic:

“From what I observe, maybe we can expect Q4/2020 launch window for phase 0.”