ETH 2.0 Deposit Contract Released | What Can we Do with it?

4 min readNov 6, 2020

Yesterday, the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract was finally deployed and released, which means that it will be possible for Ethereum to start the beacon chain.

1. What is the Beacon Chain?

According to the Ethereum 2.0 plan, there are at least three stages before the official launch: stage 0, 1, and 2. Stage 0, or the beacon chain plan, will be launched on December 1st this year, and phase 1 and phase 2 will be released in the next few years.

2. Under what conditions will the beacon chain launch?

According to official sources, if 16,384 (²¹⁴) validators participate before December 1st, the beacon chain 2.0 will officially launch. If this amount cannot be met before December 1st, the mainnet will not be launched until 7 days after reaching this standard.

3. What is a validator?

If you lock 32 ETH (²⁵) to the ETH 2.0 deposit contract (you cannot transfer funds directly), you can become a validator, which means that a total of 524,288 ETH needs to be staked to launch the beacon chain.

4. How to become a validator?

If you want to become a validator of ETH 2.0, first you need to be aware of the risks

● The 32 ETH staked cannot be transferred before 1.0 is launched

● The operation of the node requires certain technical capabilities.

● If there is a problem with the node operation, it may cause the ETH staked in the network to be “penalized.”

Therefore, we do not recommend that ordinary users become validators.

If you want to become a validator anyways, please note the following:

1. Never send assets directly to the deposit contract.

2. If you want to run the validator service yourself, be sure to use the launchpad (quick launcher) to deposit 32 ETH.

3. After depositing ETH, you must run a client software locally 24/7 and configure your validator according to the instructions.

4. Whether you are running the validator yourself or choosing to hand over the ETH to others to operate, please understand the basic concepts of Eth2.0

● Its phased launch plan: ETH staked in the beacon chain stage cannot be transferred. POS and POW run independently and in parallel

● Responsibilities of the validator (to stay online. There may be a risk of losing funds in case of large-scale network errors)

● The operators’ technical skills, risk-sharing, risk management, and so on.

How to become a validator. Instructions: https://medalla.launchpad.ethereum.org

5. Other ways to participate in ETH 2.0?

TokenPocket wallet is already preparing for the user-oriented ETH 2.0 staking service. By then, users will not need to run their own nodes while being able to easily participate in ETH 2.0 by using TP’s one-stop node service.

In addition, users who are interested in the ETH beacon chain status can use the watch mode of the TP wallet to understand the current staking progress. (See the tutorial below).

At the same time, you can also join TokenPocket’s Telegram group to get the latest developments in ETH 2.0 and learn more about ETH 2.0.