Ethereum 2.0 launches second testnet ahead of Phase 0 launch

Ethereum has successfully launched another rehearsal testnet (dubbed Zinken) for the upcoming Phase 0 of Ethereum 2.0.

The launch took place at 12:00 UTC on Monday, and unlike previous attempts, this one went smoothly, with adequate participation and no major bugs.

In contrast, Spadina, the first testnet designed to test Launchpad for stakers, suffered a bitter failure.

As Cointelegraph reported at the time, the Spadina testnet was affected by low participation rates, meaning that many validators who signed up to participate in the testnet failed to bring their clients online. While it was initially believed that this was due to a lack of economic incentives, further analysis showed that client bugs were the reason why most people were unable to participate.

Maintaining a high participation rate is critical to the integrity of the network because more than 66% of stakers must confirm a block for the blockchain to be considered final, meaning that blocks can no longer be reversed.

Zinken became the first testnet to pass the finalization threshold within minutes of its launch, proving to be the most successful testnet to date. While it is still below the 90% ideal, participation has surpassed 75%.

Ethereum 2.0 developers were pleased with the launch, noting that the “Discord group is pretty quiet” — a positive sign compared to the previous steady stream of bug reports and issues.

This is the confirmation that developers need before they can move forward with the mainnet launch. Vitalik Buterin, who was also present during the call, added that the team may still run some rehearsals, but that will most likely be left to the developers to complete.

Danny Ryan, the Ethereum 2.0 lead coordinator at the Ethereum Foundation, is optimistic that a 2020 launch is likely.

“That’s my impression that 2020 is a feasible target for launching Phase 0. It’s an ongoing conversation with the client teams, and we need to take our time to look at this testnet. But my understanding is that this will be pushed forward to the next series of things. There are always roadblocks that could come up, so we need to do this responsibly.”

He noted that readiness is difficult to measure and requires input from all players, but good progress has been made recently in this regard.

Phase 0 of Ethereum 2.0 will launch a beacon chain, the first component of the new blockchain. However, activity on Ethereum 1.0 will continue as before, as there will be little interaction between the two blockchains other than a one-way deposit contract. Until a later phase arrives, stakers will not be able to withdraw or transfer their pledged ETH.

Source: Cointelegraph