Altair upgrade: one step closer to Ethereum 2.0

On the 27th of October at 10:56:23 UTC, the long-awaited first update of the Beacon Chain, the main component of the Ethereum 2.0 testnet, will occur. The name of this update is Altair.

The historical transformation of Ethereum has been evolving in stages. The network updates have already created some buzz, as each stage of modernization is accompanied by fundamental changes. Altair will implement some options described in the previous EIP-2982 update, mainly the “punitive measures” and support for light clients of the network.

“The update will provide core consensus support for light clients, fix some validator reward issues, and adjust EIP-2982 penalties”, said Danny Ryan, the lead developer of Ethereum 2.0.

The Beacon Chain nodes must update the current version of the client to be compatible with the new version of Altair. The validators also need to update the system. The developers warn that a failure to comply with these particular requirements will result in penalties.

The distribution of rewards will also be balanced. After the upgrade, the reward for the block offer will constitute approximately 12.5%. At the moment, this value is equal to 3% of the total reward.

The interesting news is that for revealing Altair bugs, the developers promise a generous reward of up to $100,000. You can find the details on the official website.

The Altair update is a milestone of the first phase of Ethereum 2.0 implementation. The ultimate goal of the transition to Ethereum 2.0 is:

• improvement of scalability;
• higher security;
• full transition to the PoS algorithm.

In addition to eliminating existing bugs, the update will create a basis for implementing the team’s plans. According to the network experts, the hard fork will be followed by the development of logic and specifications for the merger with the main Ethereum network and testing the software with other teams.