Ethereum Beacon Chain faces finality issues causing mass confusion

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  • Ethereum developed the Beacon Chain to ensure that the PoS logic was sound and could function effectively.
  • Blockchain finalization or finality is the assurance or guarantee that any crypto transaction cannot be altered, reversed or cancelled after they completed.
  • Ethereum core developer Eric Conner stated that the network did not go down; instead, it was a bug in some client accounts.

Several names are well-known in the crypto market when mentioning digital currency. These titans have dominated the franchise since its debut in 2009. Ethereum is known as the second largest cryptocurrency and has had a long-standing reign only second to Bitcoin, the original crypto coin. Despite its power, Ethereum has clarified that it does not seek to compete with Bitcoin but aims to establish a blockchain ecosystem. Unfortunately, the Ethereum Beacon Chain has suffered several block finalization or finality issues in its endovenous to develop environments that facilitate blockchain innovation.

This has significantly reduced a significant portion of its progress, leaving its users needing clarification.

Understanding the Ethereum Beacon Chain

Ethereum was among the first altcoins created after Bitcoin gained some recognition during its early stages. It implemented a Proof-of-Work mechanism similar to Bitcoin but soon proved problematic. Ethereum exchange never intended to compete with Bitcoin.

In fact, according to Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum was built to provide a blockchain ecosystem that would grow and expand the crypto market. Thus to achieve its goal, Ethereum developed environments that gave innovators the freedom of creation. This led to numerous inventions, such as Polgon, Uniswap, Sandbox, and Decentraland. 

Also, Read Ethereum 2.0 provides cheap and fast crypto mining techniques.

Unfortunately, the Proof-of-Work utilized an immense amount of energy. The energy consumption of Ethereum reached staggering energy levels ranging between 46.31 Twh to 93.98 TWh per year. These energy levels were enough to sustain a relatively small country. This landed the second-largest crypto coin in many lawsuits and clashes with environmentalists. It became clear to Vitalik that a new and greener option was required.

Beacon-Chain
Before the merge, the Beacon chain could implement the PoS mechanism while running the PoW transactions.[Photo/Medium]
The Ethereum Becaon chain was the result of ongoing research and testing. The original proof-of-stake blockchain ecosystem took the entire crypto market by a wave. 

Ethereum developed the Beacon Chain to ensure that the PoS logic was sound and could function effectively without affecting the entire crypto market. Its sophistication proved worthwhile, enabling it to operate parallel to Ethereum’s PoW blockchain ecosystem.

Its practicability paved the way for the next version of the second-largest crypto coin, Ethereum 2.0. When the merge occurred in 2022, the Beacon Chain could accept all transactions from the original Ethereum chain. This new blockchain ecosystem was efficient and faster and provided fewer drawbacks than its predecessor, paving the way for a new era within the crypto market.

Unfortunately, the Beacon Chain has recently faced numerous block finalization issues causing many questions about its efficiency.

The Beacon Chain suffers severe block finalization issues.

Blockchain finalization or finality is the assurance or guarantee that any crypto transaction cannot be altered, reversed or cancelled after they completed. It is crucial in establishing the crypto market’s well-known immutability factor. The latency level of a blockchain generally affects the chain’s blockchain finalization rate.

Also, Read Wintermute’s DeFi operations were compromised after a US$160 million crypto hack.

For any exchange, much less the second largest crypto coin, having a block finalization issue could hint at disaster for the entire blockchain ecosystem. Within the Beacon Chain ecosystem, a finalist takes about 15 minutes, but recently, it has faced several issues. It has experiences issues since 12th May as the block finalization system remained non-functional for about an hour.

This issue has occurred twice in 24 hours, and the cause of the outage remains unclear. Unfortunately, despite being unavailable for a few minutes, sit has caused a ripple effect throughout the crypto market. Many have questioned whether the PoS system is finally failing only months after its first initializations.

Ethereum takes a clear stance.

According to Adam Cochran, a prominent Ethereum supporter, “ETH beacon chain finality has now failed for over an hour, we’re at inactivity leak time, and there is no denying this is now a liveness fault. Hoping that this is just an implementation issue for a single client to fix and not a larger protocol issue.”

With others wondering if the block finalization issue is of significant concern, the second-largest crypto coin appears unfazed by the event. Ethereum core developer Eric Conner stated that the network did not go down; instead, it was a bug in some client accounts.

Despite the calm take by the organization, the block finalization issue remains a heated debate within the crypto community. Essentially since the transactions did not get finalized, it can mean they can be potentially re-ordered or ignored. Others have stated that third parties might take this opportunity and exploit the PoS bug. 

Several major parties, such as Superphiz, a prominent Ethereum builder, have stated that as bad as block finalization is, it still functions but only takes longer.

Also, Read Blockchain adoption in Africa is hampered by scepticism.

Conclusion

The Beacon Chain has paved the way for a new era in the crypto market. The block finalization issue has raised several questions but has remained functional. This blockchain ecosystem is still new, and it might take time to sort out every bug. However, experts have cautioned users to expect more waves until they resolve the issue.

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Ken Mutuku
Ken Mutuku
Your Guide to the Future of Tech, Web3, and Digital Storytelling. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for concise communication, Ken Mutuku is your go-to professional for decoding the next wave of technological evolution. Whether through captivating videos, insightful articles, or engaging presentations, he masterfully crafts messages that deeply resonate with his audience, setting him apart in the digital landscape.
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