Despite the enthusiasm that has always surrounded Ethereum (here the quotation in real time), many people still do not fully understand the significance and potential for large institutions and businesses of the second largest blockchain in the world. Given the huge growth and use of the protocol, now is the time for large enterprises to take a look at the Eth 2.0 opportunity.
The future of Ethereum
Ethereum, currently the second largest market capitalization network with over $ 40 billion in value, aims to be a globally distributed computer for peer-to-peer contract execution.
In other words, it is "a worldwide computer that you cannot turn off". More importantly, Ethereum has become the most widely used blockchain protocol in the world with over $ 6 billion per day. Eth 2.0, the next iteration of this distributed system, represents years of research and effort coordinated by teams from around the world.
A major goal of Eth 2.0 is to enable the protocol to continue growing and scaling to support trillions of dollars in decentralized value transfer.
Prior to the launch of the new infrastructure on December 1, more than 835.520 ETH were invested in the related deposit agreement, far exceeding the minimum ETH required to start the new network.
Not only is this launch a huge milestone for the crypto community, but the transition also represents a significant change in how the protocol will be protected as the network moves from mining (proof-of-work or PoW) to staking (proof-of-stake, or PoS).
Business considerations
The minimum required to participate in Eth 2.0 is a sum of 32 ETH and an active validator. In the five years since Ethereum's debut, a number of new PoS protocols have been launched including Polkadot, Celo, NEAR, and Flow.
There has also been a proportional increase in companies making it safe and easy for token holders and institutions to earn rewards as network validators. These enterprise-grade, cloud-based blockchain infrastructure providers can strengthen the network by geographically distributing network nodes, without introducing the costs associated with proof-of-work mining.
What is more, we are seeing a trend towards professionalisation of the industry staking as new products are introduced to the market that provide liquidity for the tokens staked.
Lo staking represents an opportunity to own a small portion of the growing Web 3.0 ecosystem. A distributed web based on blockchain technology is a drastic change from the internet we know today, where there is no way to own or monetize its use.
Finally, asset taxation is an important consideration for institutions. Clarity, in this case, would provide even more guarantees that participation in PoS networks will not lead to an excessive tax burden.
Eth 2.0 represents a fundamentally new type of business opportunity. While still in the early stages of its launch, an established ecosystem of professional companies already exists to support institutional investors with cloud-based infrastructure. It's experimental, but the rewards are there for brave new users.
