They hope that Ethereum 2.0 will allow solving scalability problems and leaving them in the past. The Ethereum Foundation is the main development entity of the Ethereum Network.
“As the use of technology grows, scalability continues to be a huge challenge,” according to Aya Miyaguchi, CEO of the Ethereum Foundation. The executive stated that scaling is easy for someone who does not care about decentralization. However, she commented that it is hard to try to scale, without compromising decentralization, so that everyone can participate.
Regarding the challenges that blockchains face, Miyaguchi noted that transparency is a key benefit that they can provide. She said that it is not possible to solve many problems with greater transparency and there is also a challenge to privacy. In that regard, she added that they are working to provide education about the benefits of public blockchains.
“There has been an evolution in privacy enhancements (such as zero-knowledge tests),” according to Miyaguchi. She expressed that they also hope to be able to respond to these challenges gradually. Besides, she explained that these technologies are even helping companies become more comfortable using public blockchains.
Decentralization and the Creation of a Free Internet
Concerning how decentralization works to create a free Internet, she said that the perspective of apps depends on who builds them. However, she argued that many of these tools allow access to tamper-proof information or borderless financial tools. That situation prevents governments from having unnecessary control.
In May 2019, Ethereum posted on their blog that they were on their way to becoming more decentralized and sustainable. They reaffirmed that the Ethereum Foundation’s number one priority is to release version 2.0 of the network. This software update intends to stop using Proof of Work and move on to Proof of Stake.
This change in the consensus protocol uses the network to reach an agreement on the information registered in the chain. This system does not require miners to spend computing resources to validate new transactions but it will be based on stakers. The latter will demonstrate their reliability by blocking large stakes of money.
Decision Making and Governance of Ethereum
Looking to the future, Miyaguchi is addressing decision-making processes and governance in the Ethereum ecosystem. She clarified that the Ethereum Foundation and the Ethereum community are very different, as are their governments.
According to Miyaguchi, the Foundation was initially similar to a developer house. Many builders who maintain the network believed it important to ensure that no one party had too much influence. However, the decision-making process has been decentralized since its launch. For that reason, they have taken a different approach, which they often describe as “a philosophy of subtraction.”
She explained that independent teams and people worldwide feed the system (helping to decentralize it) in exchange for rewards in Ether (ETH). Since this token serves as fuel for every action taken on the network, the system creates its demand.
The Search for Scalability on Ethereum
For years, Ethereum developers have presented various proposals to solve blockchain scalability problems. These drawbacks have occurred particularly due to the overload of transactions on the network.
In 2019, Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin stated that “scalability is a bottleneck for this network as the blockchain is almost full.” They hope that upcoming network updates and the arrival of Ethereum 2.0 will allow solving the scalability problems and leaving them in the past.
By Alexander Salazar
