The Ethereum Foundation has declared that all references to ETH1 and ETH2 will be removed.
There is no such thing as ETH2, only Ethereum
The original Ethereum blockchain, formerly known as Eth1, will now be known as the “execution layer,” while the Proof of Stake blockchain created by Eth2 will be known as the “consensus layer.” The Ethereum Foundation detailed its reasoning for the change in a blog post published on Monday:
One major problem with the Eth2 branding is that it creates a broken mental model for 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. By removing Eth2 terminology, we save all future users from navigating this confusing mental model.
Furthermore, the Ethereum Foundation wishes to emphasize that no official ETH2 coin exists, despite the fact that numerous staking service providers, including Coinbase, have referred to their staking share tokens as ETH2. Furthermore, some scammers appear to have attempted to imitate Ethereum by saying that customers must convert their tokens to ETH2.
An essential piece of #Ethereum’s Serenity upgrade, the Beacon Chain’s deposit contract, is live. This begins a transition to #Eth2.@EthDotOrg Guide: https://t.co/PkKwLnXKS4
Launchpad: https://t.co/CFgFwAs46f
Deposit Contract Address: 0x00000000219ab540356cBB839Cbe05303d7705Fa— Ethereum (@ethereum) November 4, 2020
The roadmap has not been altered
The Ethereum Foundation explains that there will be no token migration and that Ethereum users will be able to own and utilize the ETH token as usual once The Merge is completed. It will eventually convert the network to a Proof-of-Stake consensus.
According to the blog post, the renaming will have no effect on Ethereum’s roadmap. So far, no official release date for The Merge has been disclosed. However, an official upgrade doc predicts that the upgrade will be available in Q2 2022.