Will Ethereum’s ETH 2.0 launch In July as planned?

But Afri Schoedon, an Ethereum developer coordinating the ETH 2.0 testnet, pushed back on Twitter. "The final spec is not implemented in any client," he wrote, and Ethereum had yet to launch any "coordinated testnet." Schoedon added he hadn't watched the talk but expressed concern that Buterin seemed to have endorsed the July target for the network upgrade.

In response, Buterin posted to Twitter that he had not said July. He noted that Casey had brought up the month but he hadn't heard it in the question itself. In a subsequent tweet, Buterin took responsibility for the mishearing, acknowledging he should have paid closer attention to the word when Casey posed the question.

Through email to CoinDesk, Buterin provided his full account: "The question indeed contained 'July,' I don't recall hearing 'July' so it sounds like it's my fault for mishearing." The Ethereum co-founder then apologized to the Ethereum community and the broader crypto sector. He maintained that ETH 2.0 development proceeds as planned, noting the team doesn't foresee major obstacles in the work ahead. For specific timelines, Buterin deferred to what client developers would say.

Ethereum ranks as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Developers working on Ethereum outnumbered those of any other blockchain platform due to the diverse projects built on top of it. Ethereum launched with a proof-of-work consensus mechanism, matching Bitcoin's approach. But the original roadmap always included a shift to proof-of-stake, the central goal of ETH 2.0. The upgrade has encountered multiple delays over time. According to Schoedon, Phase 0 of the overhaul might not arrive until 2021.