Ethereum developer Danny Ryan, in an update published on Jan. 20., provided a high-level update of the progress and plans for Ethereum 2.0 in 2021.

• Ryan emphasizes that the post offers his vision and outlook for 2021 and that the whole development process is subject to change
• He described the beacon chain as a resounding success, lauding the community coming together to form a consensus on proceeding with eth2
• The current development focus is on getting current applications to work on the beacon chain without interrupting the user experience
• 2021 will be dedicated to testing and analyzing network loads on the beacon chain, after which merging eth1 and eth2 will become the priority
• The first upgrades to the eth2 beacon chain will bring validator incentives, state management, and native light client support
• Vitalik Buterin also shed light on eth2 development in an AMA in Nov. 2020, expecting light client support to be followed by sharding and merging
• Launched in Dec. 2020, the beacon chain for Ethereum 2.0 is the first step in a multi-phased transition into a scalable, staking-based network
• Since meeting the initial requirements of staking for the beacon chain, ETH 2.0 has attracted $3.5 billion in staked ETH