Ethereum has launched the Kintsugi testnet, one step closer to The Merge

Ethereum has launched the Kintsugi testnet, the latest step in the process of replacing the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism with Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

Kintsugi is one step closer to PoS

Ethereum Foundation member Tim Beiko has notification that the Kintsugi testnet is now up and running. While little has changed for application developers, it is recommended that they and others use the testnet.

“The Kintsugi test network offers the community the opportunity to experiment with Ethereum after the merger and to identify problems.”

Kintsugi is a preparatory step for the “unification” of Ethereum 2.0. The merger will combine Ethereum’s existing mainnet, which processes transactions, with Ethereum 2.0’s beacon chain, which does staking. If successful, it will replace Ethereum’s PoW consensus mechanism with PoS and end energy-intensive mining.

Although there were “soon-and-death” development networks, Beiko says the Kintsugi test network will take longer.

It looks like the testnet was live for a few days before it went public on Thursday, December 16.

Consolidation will take place in the first half of 2022

Ethereum 2.0 starts in December 2020 with “Phase 0”. This step includes the launch of the Beacon Chain, which introduces staking as a means of generating rewards for node operators. It does not use staking for consensus purposes.

The merger of Mainnet and Beacon Chain is planned for Q1 / Q2 of 2022. There was earlier discussion that the event could take place quickly before the end of 2021, but that failed. Consolidation is also known as “Phase 1.5”.

After consolidation, Ethereum 2.0 will enter “Phase 2” – the introduction of sharding, a scalable feature that improves fees and transaction times. Sharding is expected to arrive in late 2022.

According to a November report by ConsenSys, over 8.4 million ETH were staked on the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain.

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