Ethereum researcher Justin Drake has presented a proposal to redesign Ethereum’s consensus layer with a new framework called ‘Beam Chain’, intended to replace the existing Beacon Chain. At the recent Devcon event in Bangkok, Drake highlighted that the current Beacon Chain, established five years ago, may have become outdated. He emphasized the importance of evolving consensus mechanisms in light of advancements in understanding maximal extractable value (MEV) and developments in cryptographic technologies like zk-SNARKS. One of the key changes proposed is to significantly reduce the staking requirement for validators from 32 ETH to just 1 ETH, potentially improving blockchain health and validator participation. While this roadmap outlines his vision, Drake clarified that it remains a proposal pending community consensus, stating that he does not support labeling it as ‘Ethereum 3.0’ since it focuses solely on the consensus layer.

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