Ethereum 2.0 is go: Genesis block of beacon chain winks into existence

After literally years in the making, the genesis block of the Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain has finally seen the light of day. The repeatedly delayed scalability and security upgrade to the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap confidently took its first breath as planned, at just after 12 pm UTC on Dec. 1.

PoS aims to provide a more energy-efficient method of securing the network by requiring validators to lock Ether (ETH) into a staking contract, rather than solve cryptographic puzzles using computing power. The planned launch date was confirmed just a week ago, as the seven-day countdown could only be initiated once a total of 524,288 Ether had been deposited in the staking contract.

Timeline of Ethereum, Ultracoin