Beacon ETH (BETH)

BETH is a staking derivative that represents ETH locked in Ethereum's Beacon Chain. Here are its main characteristics:

Primary Use Cases

Staking representation

• Represents your stake in Ethereum's proof-of-stake system
• Allows you to earn staking rewards (~3-4% annually) without running a validator

Liquidity while staking

• You can trade, lend, or use BETH in DeFi while your ETH generates rewards
• Solves the problem of capital being locked up

DeFi composability

• Use BETH as collateral in lending protocols
• Participate in yield farming or liquidity pools
• Leverage your staked position

Important Context

• Introduced by Lido: The most common form comes from Lido, a liquid staking provider
• Not native: It's a wrapper around staked ETH, not an official Ethereum token
• Counterparty risk: Using third-party staking services involves trusting that provider

Trade-offs

• Advantages: Liquidity + rewards
• Disadvantages: Potential smart contract risk, fees charged by providers, less decentralized than solo staking

If you want staking rewards without the technical complexity or capital lock-up, BETH-like products serve that purpose—though you're relying on a service provider.

Beacon Chain (ETH2)

Beacon Chain is Ethereum's own blockchain — it's not built on top of another chain.

Key points:

• Separate chain (initially): Beacon Chain launched in December 2020 as a distinct blockchain running parallel to Ethereum mainnet
• Consensus layer: It introduced Proof of Stake (PoS) to Ethereum while the original chain still used Proof of Work
• Merged with mainnet: In September 2022, Beacon Chain merged with Ethereum mainnet in "The Merge," unifying them into a single chain
• Post-merge: Beacon Chain is now the consensus layer of Ethereum — it handles validation and block proposals, while the execution layer processes transactions

Current architecture:

Today, Ethereum consists of:

1. Consensus layer (formerly Beacon Chain) — validates blocks via staking
2. Execution layer (mainnet) — executes transactions

So while Beacon Chain started as technically separate, it's now fully integrated as Ethereum's core consensus mechanism rather than a separate blockchain.

Beacon ETH: Programmability & Smart Contracts

Smart Contract Support

Yes, Beacon ETH (Ethereum 2.0's consensus layer) does support smart contracts, but with important caveats:

• Execution Layer Integration: Smart contracts actually run on Ethereum's Execution Layer (formerly called Eth1), not directly on the Beacon Chain
• The Beacon Chain handles consensus and staking, while the Execution Layer processes transactions and contracts
• After The Merge (Sept 2022), these layers work together seamlessly

What You Can Actually Do

Full dApp Support:

• Deploy smart contracts using Solidity, Vyper, and other EVM languages
• Build decentralized applications exactly as before
• No loss of programmability from Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake

Beacon Chain Limitations:

• The Beacon Chain itself has limited programmability—it's primarily for consensus
• You can't directly deploy contracts on the Beacon Chain
• Staking and validator operations are the main Beacon Chain functions

Practical Reality

For developers: Nothing changed. You write smart contracts and dApps the same way as Ethereum 1.0. The Beacon Chain upgrade improved security and sustainability, not developer experience.

Is there a specific use case or contract type you're considering?

Beacon Chain Transaction Speed

Confirmation Time

12 seconds per slot (the basic unit of Beacon Chain time)

• Transactions are typically finalized in 2 epochs = ~32 slots = ~6.4 minutes
• However, practical finality often occurs faster due to Ethereum's consensus mechanism

Throughput

This varies significantly by implementation:

Beacon Chain (consensus layer):

• ~1,000-2,000 validator attestations per slot
• Not directly comparable to transaction throughput

Execution Layer (where actual transactions occur):

• ~15-30 transactions per second for basic Ethereum transactions
• Can reach higher throughput with:
  • Layer 2 solutions (Arbitrum, Optimism: 2,000+ TPS)
  • Rollups and other scaling solutions

Key Context

The Beacon Chain itself is the consensus mechanism, not the transaction processing layer. Actual transactions execute on the Execution Layer (formerly Mainnet), which processes at the ~15-30 TPS baseline.

For faster confirmation:

• 1-block confirmation: ~12 seconds (minimum security)
• Practical finality: ~6.4 minutes (cryptographic guarantee)

Are you asking about specific transaction types or comparing to other blockchains?

Beacon Chain Data Storage

The Beacon Chain (Ethereum 2.0's consensus layer) has very limited direct data storage capabilities:

Key Limitations

No meaningful on-chain storage:

• The Beacon Chain is designed for consensus and staking, not data storage
• It can only store small amounts of validator and consensus data
• Storing arbitrary data on-chain would be impractical and expensive

Better Alternatives

For Ethereum data storage, consider:

1. Execution Layer (Mainnet)

   • Use smart contracts on Layer 1 or Layer 2
   • Limited by gas costs (expensive for large data)
   • Suitable for small, critical data

2. Decentralized Storage Networks

   • Filecoin - dedicated storage blockchain
   • IPFS - distributed file system (often used with anchoring to Ethereum)
   • Arweave - permanent storage
   • Swarm - Ethereum-native storage

3. Layer 2 Solutions

   • Cheaper than mainnet but still expensive for bulk data
   • Better for frequently-accessed data

Practical Approach

Most projects store:

• On-chain: Contract state, hashes, references
• Off-chain: Actual data on IPFS/Filecoin/Arweave
• On-chain: Links/hashes pointing to off-chain data

What type of data are you planning to store? That would help determine the best solution.