The biggest differences between Ethereum and Ethereum 2.0 involve the use of the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, shard chains, and the beacon chain. Let’s take a look at these differences in more detail.
Proof of Stake
Sharding
Shard chains are just like any other blockchain, except they only contain specific subsets of one whole blockchain. This helps nodes by only having to manage a slice, or shard, of the Ethereum network. This should increase transaction throughput and Ethereum’s overall capacity.
The beacon chain
With shard chains working in parallel, something’s got to make sure they all stay in-sync with one another. Well, the beacon chain takes care of that by providing consensus to all the shard chains running in parallel.
The beacon chain is a brand new blockchain that plays a central role in Ethereum 2.0. Without it, information sharing between shards wouldn’t be possible and scalability would be nonexistent. For this reason, it’s been stated that it’ll be the first feature shipped on the road to Ethereum 2.0.