In its present state, scalability and lack of interoperability is Ethereum’s Achilles’ heel. In consequence, sensible contract protocols are restricted by way of mass adoption as they nonetheless current challenges for end-users. In the course of the 2021 bull run, Ethereum transaction charges skyrocketed as DeFi turned a financially excessive yielding blockchain product. Regardless of this, excessive charges precipitated customers to hunt various ecosystems resembling Matic’s. All of the whereas, Ethereum has been engaged on implementing the required steps to progress in the direction of ETH 2.0.

Ethereum 2.0, beforehand titled Casper, is Ethereum’s passageway to a extremely scalable community. The community helps 10-15 TPS, whereas different protocols boast TPS charges within the 1000’s. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, highlighted in an interview that

"we thought it will take one yr to do the Proof of Stake, nevertheless it truly takes six years,"

emphasizing that the delays have been primarily brought on by inside disagreements quite than technological bottlenecks.

Nonetheless, Ethereum’s long-awaited improve started after the genesis block of ETH 2.0. was deployed on the beacon chain, as the present mainnet will merge with that of the brand new consensus protocol. Including to that, Ethereum has carried out a collection of enhancements referred to as EIPs (Ethereum Enchancment Proposals) that are a part of a collection of community upgrades that can ultimately result in Ethereum 2.0.

Ethereum and Ethereum 2.0 will function as two distinct ecosystems till Serenity could be actively carried out. Serenity requires 3 separate phases, every of that are between 6 to eight months lengthy. Upgrades resembling Berlin, London, and Shanghai are being deployed to bridge the hole to Serenity in every stage. Nonetheless, whereas present process these upgrades, the Ethereum community will face related scalability and interoperability points, main builders and customers to hunt various blockchain ecosystems.

Merging right into a Proof of Stake protocol gives extra worth to the community, because the PoW mechanism has confirmed to be environmentally damaging. Whereas environmental issues might need grow to be the brand new crypto narrative, Ethereum is a unique finish sport, primarily that of payment reductions and better transaction output. Along with this, as said by Vitalik in a thread, “fuel limits could be elevated,” making dApps extra reasonably priced.

Nonetheless, issues round Ethereum have persevered. Probably the most talked about change is the EIP-1559, which prompted a “present of power” from miners, who tried to emulate a 51% assault. Briefly, the EIP-1559, proposed for the London improve, restructures transaction payment allocation completely. 

In its present state, miners can request a premium worth to course of transactions sooner. Below the brand new system, Ethereum would create a base payment throughout the community, and sooner transactions would have a “precedence payment,” whereas the bottom payment is burned. In essence, Ethereum would grow to be a deflationary asset.

In an article, Anifowoshe Ibrahim argues that Ethereum 2.0 will nonetheless face related challenges as the present model. Extra particularly, the Ethereum Basis is just not prioritizing the prevailing issues round charges. Moreover, the UX interface nonetheless doesn’t meet consumer expectations, which is additional hindering mass adoption.