Beacon Chain

    Beacon Chain

    The Question

    Ethereum recently switched to using a Proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus protocol. For more information on this switch, please see The Ethereum Organization.A new schema (`ethereum.beacon_chain`) was just released containing data around the Consensus Layer that can be used to analyze the Beacon Chain. Documentation for these tables can be found here.

    Using the beacon_chain schema, analyze the decentralization of the PoS network, as well as slashings of proposers and attesters since the Merge.

    Build a dashboard to summarize your findings / provide ongoing slashing monitoring.

    Introduction

    Beacon Chain

    What Is a Beacon Chain? 1

    The Beacon Chain lies at the core of Ethereum 2.0; it stores and manages the registry of validators and coordinates the shard chains. The Beacon Chain went live on Dec. 1, 2020 at noon UTC.

    The Beacon Chain is a brand-new, proof-of-stake blockchain. It can be poetically described as the spine that supports the whole of the new Ethereum 2.0 system, the heartbeat that keeps the system alive, the conductor coordinating all the players. Another good metaphor is to think of the Beacon Chain as of a big lighthouse, rising above a blue sea of transaction data. It’s constantly scanning, validating, collecting votes and doling out rewards to the validators that correctly attest to blocks, deducting rewards for those not online and slashing the ETH rewards from malicious actors. 

    The key function of the Beacon Chain is to manage the proof-of-stake protocol itself and all of the shard chains. There are a number of aspects to this: managing validators and their stakes; nominating the chosen block proposer for each shard at each step; organizing validators into committees to vote on the proposed blocks; applying the consensus rules; applying rewards and penalties to validators; and, being an anchor point on which the shards register their states to facilitate cross-shard transactions. The important note though is that the Beacon chain cannot run smart contracts, that’s what the shard chains will be for.

    The Beacon Chain is the coordination mechanism of the new network, responsible for creating new blocks, making sure those new blocks are valid and rewarding validators with ETH for keeping the network secure. Proof-of-stake has long been part of Ethereum’s roadmap, and addresses some of the weaknesses of proof-of-work blockchains such as accessibility, centralization and scalability. Instead of miners expending energy to validate blocks, randomly selected validators (each containing their stake of 32 ETH) propose new blocks, which are voted on by other validators. 

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    Findings

    • There has been 35.6k total validators , growing positively per day.

    • Total of 2470 blocks was produced after merge and growing positively.

    • 38 k deposits had been made , deposited 1.13M ETH

    • Avg deposit amount was 29.8

    • over 90 % of validators have deposited 32 ETH

    • over 99% of proposers didnt slashed

      Slashing describes the process whereby other network participants forcibly eject an offending validator from the Beacon Chain while continuously draining their balance. In the most extreme cases, a slashed validator may lose their entire stake in the network.

    • What happens to slashed ETH?

      Slashing means that a significant part of the validator's stake is removed: up to the whole stake of 32 ETH in the worst case. Validator software and staking providers will have built-in protection against getting slashed accidentally. Slashing should only affect validators who misbehave deliberately.

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