What is Ethereum’s upcoming Beacon Chain?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

This time, we’re going to talk about Ethereum’s Beacon Chain. Sounds funny, but it’s serious business - it is supposed to help solve the scalability problems Ethereum suffers from.

Right now, Ethereum is like a busy airport with millions of travelers arriving. Those travelers, which are the equivalent of blockchain transactions, are all crowding up in front of a single customs agent. Even worse, the agent takes bribes, so whoever pays most, gets to go first. This is what makes Ethereum’s transactions so expensive in addition to being slow.

But now, let’s say you’ve recently returned from traveling internationally, and you need to get through the very busy customs section at that airport. Suddenly, over the noise of the crowd, you hear a new customs supervisor start organizing everyone.

The supervisor divides the crowd into groups and then points each group to the shortest line in front of other agents in booths on the other side of the room.

This agent is doing the job of Ethereum’s Beacon Chain, which is designed to route transactions between Ethereum’s upcoming “shard chains”. Think of those as Ethereum going from one customs agent to many.

And that’s what the Beacon Chain does. When in effect, it may actually solve the things we criticize so often about Ethereum: Slow and expensive transactions that are only for the wealthy.

And when will that happen? Unfortunately, your guess is as good as ours. The date has been pushed out so many times, we can’t even count anymore.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.