Ethereum's next iteration, ETH 2.0, has completed a preliminary review of the protocol specifications. The reviewer, Least Authority, believes that these specifications are carefully designed, but recommends some minor changes.
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ETH 2.0 passed the audit without much hindrance
After successfully reviewing the ETH 2.0 code base and framework, Ethereum is one step closer to implementing a Proof of Stake (PoS) layer on the blockchain.
Ethereum will also be one of the earliest PoS networks using sharding technology, which means that there is no reliable model for the development of ETH 2.0 to learn from. During the review, Least Authority worked closely with the ETH 2.0 team to understand this agreement and uncover any limitations in the design.
They eventually found that the ETH 2.0 technical specification is reasonably structured and has strong security measures. However, they suggested further reviewing the following two: block proposer mechanism and P2P network.
During the review, attack vectors were found in both places. Proposals to mitigate these hidden risks are still in active research. This means that there is little or no clear source of knowledge to draw on.
The ETH 2.0 research and implementation team has recognized these flaws in the design.
ETH 2.0 is scheduled to be released in July 2020. The initial date was set to January 2020, but due to delays in implementation, developers pushed back the date. The testnet for ETH 2.0 has been in use since December 2019, and node clients have made a lot of progress since then.
After the first code review is over, the ETH 2.0 team can focus on improving the protocol and eliminating these deficiencies pointed out by Least Authority.
