Ethereum update is a hot topic at the moment. Over the last years, the growing interest in DeFi pushed the Ethereum network to its limit. At the moment, the network can process a maximum of 15 transactions per second, leaving users to choose between long delays or high transaction fees. In fact, Ethereum miners recently earned a record $500,000 in fees within a single hour, setting the new hourly record for transaction fees.
Yes, the news is excellent for the Ethereum miners whose revenue is rapidly increasing. However, at the same time, there is an ever-growing issue of how sustainable the network actually is, especially long-term. The problem is that the high gas price of Ethereum makes it hard for ERC-20 projects to run microtransaction payments on the network, which is one of the core use cases of Ethereum.
Obviously, there is a lot of room for improvement and the update of Ethereum.
Ethereum 2.0
Some solutions, such as EPI 1559, are already on their way. Additionally, the series of network upgrades will address issues like gas fees and help the platform process a higher number of transactions. Here is the short summary of the most important updates:
Serenity (Eth2)
This Ethereum update aims to improve the network’s scalability, reliability, and robustness and ensure that gas is less expensive. The Serenity stage is broken down further into four phases:
- Beacon Chain
- Shard Chains
- eWASM
- The phase of the continued improvement
Switching to proof-of-stake
Switching to a proof-of-stake consensus system aims to reduce the high power consumption and reliance on specialized (and expensive) hardware. The system which will be developed on, so-called Beacon Chain, will help the Ethereum to keep the network safe and avoid high energy use.
At the same time, the entry barrier will be significantly lower: more users will be able to secure the network, and anyone with at least 32 Ether can become a validator and add new blocks to the blockchain. Those who don’t have the necessary amount of 32 Ether can join staking pools.
Sharding Ethereum update
Sharding is another planned upgrade that will empower the Ethereum network to process a higher number of transactions and, simultaneously, decrease transaction fees.
Staking continues to rise
With all the exciting developments currently happening, it’s no wonder that the total amount of staked Ether continues to rise. More precisely, that amount has grown from 66% to 141% above the original threshold of 524,288 Ether. Besides, a higher number of blocks and epochs is finalized on the network, increasing the rewards for validators.
How does this affect the airdrop industry?
The spike of interest and investments in DeFi has led to another bull run for Ether. But, it has caused certain technical issues that call for a more robust and scalable structure.
So, does this actually affect the airdrop industry? Of course, it does. The crypto industry is a holistic ecosystem where changes within one area affect all of its members.
We will have to wait and see how things will develop. One thing is for sure: Airdrop Alert will be there to inform you about any new development. Stay tuned.
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