Here’s Why Ethereum Rebranded the Much-Awaited Ethereum 2.0 to Consensus Layer

Ethereum developers have been working hard enough for the successful launch of the much-awaited Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Ethereum 2.0. However, on Monday, January 24, the Ethereum Foundation announced that it will go ahead with the rebranding of “ETH 2.0” to now what shall be called as the Consensus Layer.

Well, this will partly help to get away with the notion that Ethereum shall be completely abandoning its previous blockchain network in a move to transition towards the new one.

Besides, Ethereum will proceed ahead with conducting “The Merge” along with integrating other upgrades such as sharding. For this, Ethereum will have to first migrate from the PoW to the PoS network after merging with the Beacon Chain. Later, Sharding can be introduced to improve network scalability.

Ethereum developers noted that a rebranding was necessary since the network will be retaining some of the former elements specifically at the software client level. Thus, the ETH1 has been referred as the “execution layer” while ETH2 shall be referred to as the “consensus layer”.

Currently, smart contracts and network rules reside inside the “execution layer”. The “consensus layer” will make sure that the rules are followed and will penalize those who break them.

After complete integration, the two will follow under the Ethereum umbrella as the network will retain its name of Ethereum. Although the Beacon Chain went live back in December 2020, developers realized that it would take them more time and efforts to fully integrate all the components of Ethereum 2.0.

Furthermore, one of the developers - Danny Ryan - also proposed a way for Ethereum to integrate the Proof-of-Stake without deserting the current network. The Ethereum Foundation said that the rebranding is important to them for a host of other reasons.

Apart from getting rid of the impression that the network is completely different, the rebranding also helps to stay away from the scammers. The bad actors have been constantly conning gullible investors asking to exchange their ETH for the ETH 2.0 tokens. However, no separate tokens for the Ethereum 2.0 exists.

Furthermore, the rebranding will also bring staking clarity. Users get a clear understanding that the ETH tokens staked on the Beacon chain are the same ETH tokens in existence, and not any different ETH 2.0 tokens.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that the fully-merged network can be expected by the end of this year. As of press time, ETH is trading $2,454 levels.