Ethereum 2.0 Listed in MIT’s 2022 Top 10 Technological Breakthrough List

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has named Ethereum’s planned transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) Bitcoin Traders in its list of the top technological breakthroughs of this year. MIT released a report on technology that highlighted the importance of a PoS consensus system in securing digital currency and overcoming energy consumption challenges affecting the cryptocurrency industry. This transition has been named Ethereum 2.0.

Importance of the Transition to PoS Consensus System

The Proof of stake (PoS) consensus system is different from the proof of work (PoW) mechanism in that it doesn’t require transactions to be solved. It will reward validators on a random basis according to their staked capital. 

In 2021, Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, claimed that a transition to PoS could help the platform reduce its energy consumption by 1,000 times. Buterin is also working on the Dogecoin blockchain to move over to a PoS network. 

It is important to know that not all types of stakeholders will be benefiting from the platform’s switch to a new mechanism. The move will bring to a close all forms of PoW mining operations on the network.

Impact of the Transition

If the Ethereum team’s plans go according to plans, the transition should take place before summer this year. It is worth noting that the blockchain runs all types of applications and projects. This also includes the second-largest crypto in the world.

Once Ethereum moves over to the PoS system, energy usage is expected to come down by 99.95%. This will make the platform the most sustainable, major network on the crypto market. The MIT team also named the following tokens as the key players in the PoS ecosystem:

• Solana SOL
• Cardano ADA
• Algorand ALGO

According to the MIT team, the moment when Ethereum makes the transition from PoW to PoS consensus will be a groundbreaking moments in the area of wider adoption of the latter algorithm. This will further make Ethereum the largest network to start using PoS.

Interestingly, HIVE Blockchain Technologies and Hut 8 Mining Corp have continued with their investments in mining equipment. These are some of the major Ethereum miners. Currently, Ethereum is trading between $2,800 and $2,900.

MIT’s Top Technological Breakthroughsof 2022

The PoS algorithm to be adopted by the altcoin has been ranked as the 6th most important technological breakthrough of 2022 in MIT’s list. The list also includes the following developments in it:

• Tracking the Covid-19 variant
• Long-lasting batteries
• Compact fusion reactors
• Use of ArtificialIntelligence in the development of drugs
• Malaria vaccines

MIT publishes this list every year. 

All the technologies included in this list have similar characteristics. All of them have the capability to cause foundational changes to their specific fields. 

The Proof of Stake Blockchain Technology

According to the MIT Technology Review, Ethereum’s PoS blockchain can set an example for the wider adoption of this energy-saving technology. Proof of stake is a consensus mechanism that is used by blockchain networks for achieving distributed consensus. In this system, users stake their Etherand become validators and part of the network. The function of these validators is the same as that of miners in a PoW system. They order transactions and create new blocks to enable all the nodes to give consent on the state of the network.

Some of the key advantages of the PoS system over the PoW system include:

• Improved energy efficiency
• Reduced Hardware requirements, thus lowering the barriers to entry
• Strongershard chains support
• Greater immunity to centralization

While the transition will be a major development for Ethereum, it may not be a groundbreaking one in the crypto ecosystem. This is because, out of the 10 major cryptos, 6 of them are based on the proof of stake consensus mechanism or a related model. Bitcoin is an exception, however.  

Still, Ethereum 2.0 is expected to bring major changes to the crypto market. If everything goes according to plan, the transition should be completed in the first half of the year.

Ethereum has already released its Beacon Chain. This PoS based blockchain is focused on growing the platform’s number of validators. The shift to Ethereum 2.0 will begin with a process called Merge. It will involve combining the existing blockchain, a new execution layer, and the consensus layer of Ethereum 2.0.