What is Ethereum Deposit Contract?

A deposit contract is a smart contract on Ethereum Execution Layer (formerly Ethereum 1.0) that allowed a user to create a validator node on the Ethereum network — a node that contributes to network consensus and block creation — by depositing 32 ether (ETH) into the node. The deposit contract for Ethereum Consensus Layer (previously Ethereum 2.0) went live on November 4th, 2020 and users had to stake their 32 ETH before the November 24th staking deadline. This launch required at least 16,384 individual users to fulfill the 32 ETH obligation.