Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum 2.0 launch will happen shortly

According to the roadmap that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared during his keynote at the Devcon4 conference in Prague, Ethereum 2.0 is scheduled to be released to the public shortly.

The project is called “Serenity,” and encompasses multiple projects Ethereum developers have been working on since 2014.  Among major updates we’re expecting to see in Ethereum 2.0 are a transfer to the proof-of-stake algorithm, also known as “Casper project,” scalability improvements through a process known as sharding, and also various other protocol enhancements.

According to Buterin, before the “big launch” developers will have to accomplish some final tweaks, which will include stabilizing protocol specifications and cross-client testnets, integrating at least two implementations of Ethereum 2.0. Additional testing is important, Buterin noted, judging by the mistakes which could have been avoided if the release of Ethereum 1.0 wouldn’t be pushed too quickly.

Buterin didn’t name the exact date for the public launch of “Serenity,” just saying that it was “really not so far away.”

In another update presented at Devcon4 this week, the Ethereum developer who co-authored the ERC-20 token standard with Buterin in 2015, introduced a new model for Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), that he claims will better protect investors from fraud.