However, despite its success, is still a nascent technology, to support these applications and those not imagined yet, it needs to address a key issue.
Ethereum’s grand plans for the future continue in the background, with decentralized Ethereum Proof of Stake pool Rocket Pool’s senior blockchain developer Darren Langley releasing an overview of the so-called ‘.
So, before we even start, it’s important to explain what is exactly Ethereum 2.0. It is actually a term used to describe a series of potential updates to Ethereum to make it, for lack of better terms, faster and better.
Potential updates to address current scaling issues, issues with mining, and to some extent issues with security include proof-of-stake solutions (Beacon Chain, Casper FFG), Sharding, eWASM, Plasma, Raiden, and more.
And while one of these components – namely ethereum’s implementation of WASM, has the potential of being tested in the earlier roadmap for ethereum 1x, the majority of the work to build out ethereum 2.0 is still ongoing as a separate project.
And that work is being carried out by spread out across the globe.
First is Toronto based ChainSafe Systems who are currently building an ethereum 2.0 client written in Javascript. Leader of the team, Mikerah Quintyne-Collins says that their motivation is to bring a whole host of web developers to the ethereum] ecosystem.
Harmony Team is our second group of Ethereum enthusiasts who were recently awarded $90,000 through the Ethereum Foundation grants program to build out specifications for ethereum 2.0. They tend to operate under a General Public License (GPL) designed to ensure any implementations of the code remain “free software and stay free software,” as described in the official GPL guide.
Third group is Parity Technologies, programmed in Rust and built for “mission-critical use,” meaning fast synchronization speeds and maximum operation uptimes. Their Head of Public Affairs. Peter Mauric said:
“Ethereum 2.0 is going from this experimental project that Vitalik launched just a few years ago to a more production ready blockchain protocol.”
PegaSys, the fourth team, is building out ethereum 2.0 specifications for an existing ethereum Java client called Pantheon. Pantheon uses an open-source software license called Apache 2.0 to enable businesses building products on top of the ethereum platform to monetize their intellectual property.
Building out the first implementation of ethereum 2.0 in programming language Go, Prysmatic Labs, the fifth team, launched this January with the goal of helping the ethereum blockchain reach scalability. Named Prysm, the ethereum 2.0 client will act as a counterpart to the blockchain’s current most popular client implementation also written in Go called Geth.
Recently awarded a $150,000 grant from the Ethereum Foundation, Sigma Prime company is now working on building an ethereum 2.0 client called Lighthouse written in programming language Rust. This should increase transactions per second and make significant environmental gains under a proof-of-stake consensus protocol.
A messaging platform and mobile browser specifically designed to engage users on the ethereum blockchain, Status unveiled this August active development for an ethereum 2.0 client called Nimbus written in programming language Nim.
The last one is Trinity, a current ethereum client written in programming language Python. Championed to be the new standard Python implementation for ethereum, Trinity features upgraded code to the now dormant PyEthApp originally authored by Vitalik Buterin.
Having launched this year in a preliminary alpha phase, Trinity is comprised of six developers including Merriam all except one of whom are contracted to work by the Ethereum Foundation.
Expected to build support for ethereum 2.0 specifications as well, lead architect for Trinity Piper Merriam highlighted developing “at the boundary between research and implementation” was what he did best.
Serenity as a Beginning of a Global Collaboration Hub
Each of the Ethereum 2.0. solutions either addresses (AKA it makes transactions faster and thus creates a better environment for smart contracts and DApps), changes the way Ethereum is mined, and/or helps make the network more secure.
Except for scalability, Ethereum 2.0. addresses also sustainability, efficiency, and flexibility. It combines several streams of work and will be rolled out incrementally over the next few years.
With the above in mind, there is also an all-in-one solution (and also a long-planned final phase of Ethereum 1.0 that takes us to 2.0) being discussed called Serenity.
Serenity is an idea that combines most of the Ethereum upgrade ideas noted on this page (including Proof-of-Stake, eWASM, and Sharding) together on a new parallel chain that would run alongside and be fully compatible with the existing chain. The truth is, that the Serenity has a rocky path behind. After Ethereum took the technology behind bitcoin, it substantially expanded its capabilities. Now, it has its own network, with its own Internet browser, coding language, and payment system. Most importantly, it enables users to create decentralized applications on Ethereum’s Blockchain.
Once delivered, Ethereum 2.0 will support massive on-chain transaction throughput while balancing decentralization and security. With this foundation, Ethereum has the potential to be a key piece of infrastructure for the world’s transfer of value, a platform for new economic system and a hub for global collaboration;
According to Vitalik Buterin, Serenity is the new name for Ethereum 2.0. That said, one might generally think of all the upgrades that will take us to the next phase of Ethereum as “Ethereum 2.0.” It is largely a matter of semantics. The bottom line is that we are discussing upgrades that address Ethereum’s sticking points and take it to the next level.
At the that happened in October in Prague, Buterin said:
“Ethereum 2.0 is a combination of a bunch of different features that we’ve been talking about for several years, researching for several years, actively building for several years that are finally about to come together in one cohesive whole.”
Presenting the concept in Taiwan in November, Vitalik said that the faced by Ethereum today are privacy, smart contract safety, consensus safety, and scalability. According to Buterin, he and his team is ready to provide already developed solutions to the first three issues.
Last but not the least is the last week’s conclusion on the much-awaited . The core developers’ team finally agreed to launch the hard fork on block number 7,080,000. Afri Schoedon, the release manager for Parity Ethereum client says that this can tentatively happen between January 14-18.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services, has announced its plan to roll out the global payment innovation (GPI) pre-validation programme which will look at using predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the predictability of international payments. The first step of the programme is piloting an integrated pre-validation GPI service with 15 banks from around the world.
According to the , the pilot will focus on enabling the speedy identification and elimination of errors and omissions in payment messages. Errors in payment data often lead to payments being longer, and the service, equipped to eliminate errors and omissions in payment data, is expected to enable speedy and seamless transactions, thereby reducing delays and costs, significantly increasing efficiencies in the payments process and improving customer experience.
Based on a real-time API-based mechanism, the pilot will enable banks to send and receive API calls over SWIFT to seamlessly check beneficiary account information with the ultimate receiving banks. This, in its turn, will allow banks to speedily remedy any inaccurate or missing information, reducing delays and costs. Ultimately, the service will be available to all 10,000 banks across the SWIFT network.
The pilot is set to go live in early 2019. The banks taking part in the pilot include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of China, Barclays, BBVA, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, E.SUN Commercial Bank, ICBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, J.P. Morgan, National Australia Bank, Piraeus Bank, Société Générale and Wells Fargo.
Together with the pilot banks, SWIFT will agree on the global industry specifications for the GPI pre-validation service by the end of this year.
Proved Outcomes
In October, SWIFT GPI was successfully tested. Banks in China, Singapore, Thailand, and Australia demonstrated how SWIFT GPI can be leveraged to continue to transform cross-border payments. Fully integrated with GPI payments, the service will facilitate real-time dynamic bank-to-bank interaction using APIs to improve the predictability and efficiency of international payments.
Luc Meurant, Chief Marketing Officer, SWIFT, commented:
“SWIFT GPI has already created a fast and frictionless cross-border payment experience for many banks and corporates – but we know that there are still payments which can be sped up further by ensuring the correct information is provided at the start.”
He added:
“By embedding this new capability in the same payment messaging channel, thousands of banks will benefit from the resulting efficiencies, thus boosting the financial services industry as a whole as we move toward universal implementation of GPI in 2020.”
Manish Kohli, Global Head of Payments and Receivables, Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions, said:
“The GPI pre-validation pilot is a significant step forward for the payments industry in building a platform on which banks can interact with each other in real-time, both pre-transaction and post-transaction. This service is an enabler of our goal to provide real-time ubiquitous cross border payments by allowing banks and our clients to rectify any issues at the point of origination, achieving seamless end-to-end fulfilment along the payments delivery chain.”
Later, the service will be complemented with a post-payment investigation and reconciliation features allowing for fast resolution of the remaining factors that slow down the payments process. The initiative of SWIFT can help the company in its competition against Ripple which is taking all the imaginary steps to SWIFT.
Trace Mayer is calling for all bitcoiners to participate in a “Proof of Keys” celebration on Genesis Block day. “Not your keys; not your bitcoin,” he emphasized, urging bitcoiners to declare monetary sovereignty by withdrawing all of their bitcoins held with trusted third parties to software for which they control the private keys.
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Proof of Keys
Early bitcoin promoter, investor and podcaster Trace Mayer is hoping to inspire the community to take their bitcoins out of exchanges and third-party wallets on Genesis Block day.
“Let’s start a new #bitcoin cultural tradition,” he on Sunday. “I want to start a new cultural tradition where we declare and re-declare our monetary sovereignty every Jan. 3 as a celebration of the Genesis Block,” he said. Mayer has created a website, , to provide details of the event and spread the word. He described:
Every January 3rd the bitcoin community HODLers of last resort participate in a Proof of Keys celebration by demanding and taking possession of all bitcoins held by trusted third parties on their behalf.
The concept for the event from Reddit user “sotashi,” whom Mayer credited on his new website. He further explained that “By demanding and taking possession of their assets, individuals will learn real fast with blockchain proof whether they are part of the elite HODLers or not. Proof of Keys is the annual HODLer initiation.”
Genesis Block Celebration
Mayer has invited anyone interested in participating in the Proof of Keys event to tweet or retweet his message and fill out a form on the Proof of Keys with links to their tweets. Their names will then be displayed on the website. At the time of this writing, 70 people have filled out the form, including crypto personalities such as Keiser Report co-host Stacy Herbert and Adamant Capital founder Tuur Demeester.
This event will also be “The ultimate stress test,” Mayer added, given that the movement of participants’ coins would result in a large number of transactions on that day. Noting that “Companies and exchanges must prove their trustworthiness and consensus,” he asserted:
This simple exercise costs little, perhaps a few transaction fees, yet proves possession and strengthens network consensus.
“Remember, remember the 3rd of January! And please help spread the word,” Mayer reiterated, adding that “Then on the 4th of January there can be a return to business as usual with renewed confidence based on Proof of Keys.”
Will you be participating in the Proof of Keys event? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Trace Mayer.
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Cryptocurrency debit card provider Wirex has introduced Iban support for all EUR accounts in the past few weeks. Users in the European Economic Area (EEA) are now able to fund their accounts by bank transfer and receive euro payments. They can also have their salary deposited directly into their Wirex account.
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Iban Added to Wirex Accounts in the EEA
The U.K.-based fintech startup has rolled out Iban functionality across Europe after a successful pilot in four countries over the last couple of months. In September, the company Iban support for accounts opened in Spain and France. Later Italy and Germany were added. U.K.-registered accounts had Iban numbers even earlier. The company also raised the funding limits for account holders in the EEA to £15,000, €16,000 and $20,000.
Iban, or international bank account number, is a system of identifying bank accounts that allows international payments. Each Iban is unique and consists of up to 34 alphanumeric characters representing country code, domestic bank account number, branch identifier, and routing information. The Iban also has two check digits which allow the verification of the number and reduce the risk of errors.
Wirex has been a popular choice for cryptocurrency users in Europe since it became the first platform to crypto debit after they were suspended by Visa last year. Its cards allow users to spend several major cryptocurrencies – bitcoin core (BTC), litecoin (LTC), ethereum (ETH), and ripple (XRP) – in stores and online, anywhere Visa is accepted. That’s possible thanks to instant conversion to three leading fiat currencies – British pound (GBP), euro (EUR) and U.S. dollar (USD). Wirex wallets support all three currencies and can be linked to the Wirex plastic and virtual cards.
Expansion in North America
The British fintech startup has announced plans to offer its services to customers in North American markets. In August, the company was a Fintrac and Money Service Business registration by regulators in Canada, where users can already set up and use Wirex cryptocurrency wallets. The next step is to introduce fiat currency accounts and start issuing contactless crypto debit cards.
Wirex is also preparing to launch in the United States. The company recently posted in its blog that it’s currently looking for beta testers to trial its onboarding process in the U.S. In the announcement, Wirex detailed:
We’ll soon be testing our market-leading offering on American soil for the first time. We’d like to know your thoughts – what you like, what you don’t like and if you detect any bugs that may need our attention before the launch.
Residents of seven pilot states, Nevada, Alaska, Virginia, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Louisiana, and Montana, who have a registered Wirex account have been invited to apply. Wirex will grant approved candidates access to the testing program and they will be able to try its new features before the service is rolled out to the public in the U.S.
What do you think of Wirex adding Iban support for European accounts? Tell us in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Smartmockups, Wirex.
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