The Ethereum blockchain has been upgraded to Ethereum 2.0, often known as Eth2 or "Serenity." The upgrade intends to improve the Ethereum network's speed, efficiency, and scalability so that it can handle more transactions and alleviate bottlenecks.
Ethereum 2.0 is being released in stages, with the first, known as the Beacon Chain, becoming online on December 1, 2020. The Beacon Chain adds native staking to the Ethereum blockchain, which is an important part of the network's transition to a PoS consensus process. It's a distinct blockchain from the Ethereum mainnet, as the name implies.
The Merge, the second phase, will integrate the Beacon Chain with the Ethereum mainnet and is planned in the first or second quarter of 2022.
Even with beacon chain's deployment confirmed, there are more than 21,000 active validators on the network at the time of writing, with a success rate of more than 80% for each epoch.
The Ethereum Foundation is also forming a dedicated security team for Ethereum 2.0 to investigate potential coin security issues.
Organizations such as blockchain security firm Least Authority and Quantstamp are doing security audits of the Ethereum 2.0 code.
In addition, the ecosystem's attention to significant steps will boost Ethereum developer momentum. Despite the short-term volatility that is inherent in crypto-asset pricing, this will have a long-term beneficial impact on the price of ETH.