Why did Ethereum rebrand ‘Eth2’ as the Consensus layer?

The Ethereum Foundation has now renamed the terms Eth1′ and ‘Eth2 to Execution layer and Consensus layer respectively. Announcing the same, the team behind ethereum.org published a blog on January 24 2022 detailing the change in the terminologies and the reasons behind it while maintaining the roadmap to scale the blockchain in a decentralized way remains unchanged.

As per the blog, the ‘execution layer’ previously called Eth 1.0 is the Proof-of-Work consensus model that is today called Ethereum. On the other hand, the Proof-of-Stake Beacon Chain, which is slated to take over consensus processes after the merging of the two blockchains, will henceforth be known as the ‘consensus layer.’

The crucial step in this regard will be the next merge, where the existing Proof-of-Work chain will unite with the Proof-of-Stake Chain. It is scheduled tentatively for June 2022. But why the name change?

Here’s why Ethereum decided to phase out the term Eth2

As per the blog, one of the major problems with the Eth2 branding is that it creates confusion among new users of Ethereum. ‘They intuitively think that Eth1 comes first and Eth2 comes after. Or that Eth1 ceases to exist once Eth2 exists. Neither of these is true, ‘ the post stated. And removing Eth2 terminology would help future users from navigating this ‘confusing mental model.’

Next, it claims that Eth 2.0 has turned into an inaccurate representation of Ethereum’s roadmap and the new names provide an accurate picture that allows content to reach a broader audience.

Another crucial reason behind the decision to scrap the old names is to eliminate this scam vector where attempts were made by malicious actors to use the Eth2 misnomer to fool users by asking them to swap their ETH for ‘ETH2’ tokens or telling them they must somehow migrate their ETH before the Eth2 upgrade etc.

Further, the team aims to provide clarity to those staking operators who have represented ETH staked on the Beacon Chain with the ‘ETH2’ ticker. On whether the update has any effect on the Ethereum roadmap, the post stated,

“It doesn’t! It’s important to understand that this renaming represents a change in naming only. The features on Ethereum’s current roadmap (i.e. the merge, sharding) and future features will still happen on the same timeline.”