If you have been keeping up with the crypto news, you must have come across the various steps that the Ethereum Blockchain has been taking to complete its transition from a Proof of Work consensus mechanism to a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism.
What is Ethereum Merge?
According to the technical definition by the Ethereum Foundation, the Merge represents the joining of the existing execution layer of Ethereum (the Mainnet we use today) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain. It eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining and instead secures the network using staked ETH.
This is being done with the objective of primarily becoming more energy sustainable but also at the same time will make it more secure and scalable. Ethereum Merge has been one of the biggest issues Ethereum has been plagued with. Since it most popular among developers building dApps, smart contracts and DeFi protocols – it has been plagued with network congestion and transaction fee issues. Ethereum’s transaction speeds are now much lower than some of its closest competitors and its gas fees have skyrocketed amid the surge in interest in DeFi.
But adjusting the second-largest blockchain from one system to another is an incredibly complex, multi-step process. It’s important that each decision be assessed thoroughly. Therefore, this has been in the works for quite some time and it is yet to be seen when the final version is launched onto the mainnet.
However, this new Ethereum Merge Update is slated to solve a large chunk of those problems and keep the network ahead of its competition and also reward those who have been with them along the journey, and staked actual value for Ethereum 2.0.
Additional Read: Ethereum Merge Update
Latest News On The Goerli Update
The last testnet before the completion of the ethereum merge, the Goerli Testnet, is expected to transition to Proof of Stake sometime between August 6, 2022, and August 12, 2022. However, this said date by the Ethereum developers could change depending on how fast the hash rate functions. While many will have their eyes on the final Merge date that is set to happen in September of 2022, this last test will set the stage for what happens on the Ethereum mainnet.
📢📢📢 Goerli/Prater Merge Announcement 📢 📢📢
Prater will run through the Bellatrix upgrade on August 4th, and merge with Goerli between August 6-12th: if you run a node or validator, this is your last chance to go through the process before mainnet 🚨https://t.co/JAz5AJe12B
— Tim Beiko | timbeiko.eth 🐼 (@TimBeiko) July 27, 2022
CoinDesk reported that ‘Just last week, Ethereum developers announced the parameters for which the Goerli merge will occur. The test is a two-step process, with the first step happening most likely today or tomorrow (August 3-4). This first step is known as Bellatrix, which is when Goerli’s Beacon Chain, Prater, upgrades in preparation for the testnet merge. Bellatrix will be completed at epoch 112,260. Once Bellatrix is activated, it will next merge with Goerli when it hits a Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) of 10,790,000. After the two merge, Goerli will continue to run as a PoS blockchain.
The Ropsten testnet merge is happening very soon
Then the Sepolia testnet merge
Then the Goerli testnet merge
Then the Ethereum mainnet merge
We’re so close that I can smell it 🐼
— sassal.eth 🦇🔊🐼 (@sassal0x) June 8, 2022
While this will be the last testnet to take place before the official Merge happens, some experts think that the Ethereum developers will use every opportunity it gets to continue to test smaller dev-nets and shadow forks, leading up to the main event. This is just to make sure the transition is smooth and happens without any glitches.
Hoping that there are no issues that arise during the Goerli-Prater merge, the final chapters of the pre-Merge era are coming to an end. Following this, the next phase of a post-Merge Ethereum is around the corner. The next phase for the ETH developers will be to focus on scalability and making the ETH network more secure!
Source: CoinDesk
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