The Beacon Chain is a ledger of accounts that conducts and coordinates the network of compters securing the network (called
stakers).
It isn't quite like the
Ethereum Mainnet of today. It does not process transactions or handle smart contract interactions.
The Beacon Chain is a new consensus engine (or "consensus layer") that will soon take the place of proof-of-work mining, bringing many significant improvements with it.
- The Beacon Chain doesn't change anything about the Ethereum we use today.
- It introduced proof-of-stake to the Ethereum ecosystem.
- It will coordinate the network, serving as the consensus layer.
- It is an essential precursor to upcoming scaling upgrades, such as sharding.
