Ethereum Roadmap Update [2018]: Casper & Sharding
Originally published at www.mangoresearch.co.
Ethereum Roadmap: Updates & Changes
If it’s been awhile since you last checked the Ethereum Roadmap — then oh boy, you’re in for some surprises. A lot has changed since the beginning of the year. Timelines have been extended and priorities have shifted (rightfully so…).
The most recent Ethereum update has several people confused. I don’t blame them. Crucial updates are found buried in the comment section across various forums. It’s hard to keep up.
In this post, I will attempt to clear out any confusion in regard to the recent Ethereum roadmap updates.
(I’m writing this in mid August 2018 — and a lot may change from now.)
Ethereum: The Initial Roadmap
First, let’s quickly go over what the road map was supposed to be last year. Again, I’m going to keep this simple.
As of last year, the roadmap included two major milestones: Metropolis & Serenity
Both of these milestones were efforts to move towards eventual scalability with Proof Of Stake & Sharding.
Metropolis was divided into two phases:
Phase 1: Byzantine
The Byzantium update would bring privacy improvements. It took place on the Ethereum chain last year.
Phase 2: Constantinople
PoW/PoS Hybrid (Casper FFG) and more. Constantinople was supposed to happen earlier this year. But all priorities were shifted to rolling out Proof Of Stake & Sharding as soon as possible.
Up until June 2018, Constantinople’s Casper FFG was still in play. However, that plan is now being dropped as well — for something more clean and efficient. This brings us to the new milestone on the Ethereum Roadmap for 2018: Casper V2
Casper 2.0: The Initial Plan
The initial plan was to transition to Proof Of Stake with Casper FFG. Casper 2.0 was to be a Smart Contract that allowed you to become a validator with a deposit of 1500 ETH.
Proof Of Stake was to be implemented first and the team would roll out Sharding after. There were separate deposit pools for Sharding and Casper.
To Summarise:
- Casper FFG to be a Hybrid PoS and PoW chain
- 1500 Ether deposit required to become a validator
- Casper rolled out first, Sharding rolled out after
Casper 2.1: The Confusion
Due to some misleading posts and misunderstood comments, several people are confused. These are the two primary impressions that people have in regard to the Casper update:
- Casper and Sharding will be combined and launched together.
- Sharding will now be prioritized over Proof Of Stake
This is not true at all. And it’s important that expectations are set right.
Casper 2.1: The Real Roadmap
The plan for Casper FFG requiring 1500 ETH deposits will be scrapped. Casper V2 will be implementing a “beacon chain” — onto which Casper and Sharding will be merged (here is where people get confused).
This does not mean that Casper and Sharding will be launched on the beacon chain together. It simply means that Casper and Sharding will be implemented on the same chain. So, Casper could come first, and Sharding be implemented much later. Or vice-versa.
So to summarise:
- A Beacon Chain that will be used for both: Casper & PoS validators
- Sharding and Casper will be worked on concurrently — they are independent efforts
- Only 32 Ether minimum staking deposits
The beacon chain was originally supposed to be used only for the Sharding implementation.
An Analogy For The Casper V2 Update
The Casper V2 Ethereum Update has been confusing a lot of people. I don’t blame you guys — the information has been all over the place. But maybe this analogy will help:
Think of the Casper and Sharding as two cars going to a family picnic. To get there, both cars have to merge onto Highway 10. We’re not sure which car will merge on first. We simply know that:
- Both cars are headed there (Casper and Sharding are the two cars)
- Both need the Highway to get there efficiently (Beacon chain)
- Everyone needs to eventually get to the family picnic (scalability)
Similarly, Casper and Sharding are two independent projects — either could be completed first.This unified approach will allow for a minimum staking requirement of 32 ETH deposits.
Casper will most likely be launched first, but we can’t rule out the possibility of Sharding going faster.
Related Posts:
1. Ethereum Sharding Explained Simply
2. Why PoS Is Necessary for Sharding
Originally published at www.mangoresearch.co.
