Ethereum has had a busy and eventful week, from the news that Ethereum 2.0 has crossed 200,000 validators to India announcing plans to utilize the Ethereum blockchain to provide tamper-proof Diploma certificates. Let’s look at some of the developments in the Ethereum space.
Ethereum 2.0 Crosses 200,000 Validators, Sees Surge In ETH Staked
Ethereum 2.0 crossed 200,000 validators this week, with a total of 6.6 Million ETH staked on the platform, equalling a total of $14 Billion. Ethereum 2.0 has seen a continuous increase in the number of validators joining the platform. Ethereum 2.0 added 20,000 new volunteers, seeing a jump from 180,000 validators to 200,000 validators in under four weeks.
The addition of new validators has also significantly driven up the number of ETH staked on the platform. A month ago, there was ETH valued at around $12.7 Billion staked on the platform. That figure has jumped to $14 Billion worth of ETH staked at the time of writing.
Continuous Adoption
Ethereum has seen a recent surge in popularity, and with the approval of the Ethereum 2.0 merge chain, we will see the process of the switch from Ethereum’s Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism formally beginning. Ethereum’s London hard fork will see the EIP-1559 burn gas fees after changing the current auction mechanism. Base fees will be included in the next block, allowing users to add a tip to process their transactions faster.
India To Use Ethereum Blockchain In Higher Education
The Government of the Indian state of Maharashtra announced that it has partnered with LegitDoc. This Indian blockchain startup will help it implement a credential system that will provide tamper-proof diploma certificates. The Ethereum blockchain will power the system.
Countering The Rise In Forgery
The step has been initiated to curb the rise in forged documents, especially educational qualification documents. The Maharashtra State Board of Skill Development (MSBSD) has also opposed India’s crypto ban and has promoted the use of Ethereum based blockchains. Neil Martis, CEO of LegitDoc, stated that MSBSD would push for digital verification methods for all manual verification requests. Martis further added,
“We have an active work order from the Government of Karnataka (Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology). We are in talks with the Government of Telangana (school education department) and the Higher & Technical education department of Maharashtra to implement LegitDoc for their student community.”
Several educational institutions such as NIT Surathkal are also in talks to implement blockchain technology to counter the rising number of forged documents. Chairman of MSBSD, Anil Jadhao, pointed out,
“In the last 10 years, there has been a rampant increase in forgery of government-issued documents which have caused huge financial and reputational losses to the stakeholders involved.”
Loss Of ETH Highlights Scalability Issues Once Again
The Stoner Cats NFT launch left a bad taste in the mouth of some, with users losing a total of 310 ETH during the launch and brought back into focus long-standing issues with Ethereum. The total value of ETH lost during the launch totaled around $700,000.
What Happened During the Launch?
Users who failed to set the gas limit high enough ended up losing their transactions, as miners chose to opt for other higher-paying transactions into the blockchain, leaving those transactions in limbo. 0xWave put the situation in perspective,
“In this case, the gas limit wasn’t set high enough to cover all steps in the transaction, so the transaction failed. However, it’s not failing until it runs out, so ~100% of allocated gas is actually being used even without the transaction succeeding.”
The root of the problem was Ethereum users being charged even if the transaction has run out of gas.
Scalability Issues Still Plaguing Ethereum
The high prices resulted from Ethereum’s scalability issues, with the number of transactions during the launch of the Stoner Cats NFT approaching dangerously close to network capacity.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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