Ethereum 2.0 will host the first HF1 hard fork to bring key updates to the recently launched Beacon Chain. The update will include support for light clients and changes to the validator fines system.
According to the plan published by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, the first hard fork under the HF1 index will soon take place in the Ethereum 2.0 signal chain. The hard fork will allow developers to make several key updates to the recently launched Beacon Chain, which will serve as a useful benchmark for bigger changes in the future.
The biggest practical change will be support for lightweight clients – nodes with minimal resource requirements that can run on mobile devices. This will create “minimal trust wallets” that can validate the blockchain themselves rather than relying on external service providers.
Light client support is provided through dedicated “sync committees” —groups of validators that are randomly assigned to create custom signatures that make it easier to determine the correct version of the chain.
Other improvements include fixes to the rules for choosing a fork, in which the developers have identified several protocol options that are potentially vulnerable to reorganization attacks. These vulnerabilities could have allowed attackers to infiltrate the network while controlling only a small fraction of the validators. Buterin wrote that these flaws were known even before the launch, but were discovered too late to be corrected.
In terms of practical changes, the hard fork is aimed at completely changing the principle of punishing validators for unfair work. Currently, Ethereum 2.0 stakers could be penalized for low activity or for trying to support a minority fork of the chain.
The developers plan to rework the mechanism to make life easier for stakers with unstable internet connections. The system will consider whether the validator has been inactive continuously or periodically. For example, a staker who disconnects from the network ten times for six minutes will lose ten times less money than a validator who simply disconnects his node for sixty minutes.
While some changes will make the system more flexible to inadvertent errors in the behavior of validators, the development team is changing some parameters to introduce more severe penalties for unfair work.
It is unclear when the hard fork will take place as some details of the proposal need to be finalized and verified. Meanwhile, Ethereum 2.0 developers are discussing the naming system for this and future hard forks. The topics suggested include, among others, the names of stars, planetary systems, World of Warcraft zones, and months of the year.
As a reminder, the number of coins blocked for staking on the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract has recently reached 3,066,914 ETH.
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