Ethereum’s Game-Changing ‘Merge’ Is Almost Here

As the “merge” approaches, Ethereum developers have released the first-ever mainnet Proof of Stake (PoS) shadow fork.

The test, which was done alongside Ethereum 2.0 beacon testnet and named “mainnet-shadow-fork-1” by Marius van der Wijden, an Ethereum developer, is the latest and most symbolic move so far in the switch from PoW to PoS.

In the run-up to the merge, the shadow fork involves stress testing assumptions about current testnets and/or mainnet in terms of syncing and state growth. The team has already “noticed some seemingly minor issues” with various Ethereum network core implementation nodes, which it plans to fix over the next few weeks.

On March 15, the Kiln execution layer was introduced under proof-of-work with a Beacon Chain that was running proof-of-stake.

The Kiln testnet aims to give the community a chance to practice running nodes, deploying contracts, and testing infrastructure in order to assist them acquire a better understanding of the post-merger environment. Kiln is now completely proof-of-stake based.

Kintsugi, a merging testnet named after the Japanese tradition of breaking pottery and repairing it with gold to make it stronger and more beautiful, existed before Kiln.

Despite the fact that the merge date has yet to be announced, Ethereum developers have hinted at what to expect from the process. As per a blog post last month:

“Assuming no issues are found with Kiln, once clients have finalized the details of their implementations, the existing Ethereum testnets (Goerli, Ropsten, etc.) will run through The Merge.”

If these testnets transition and settle without problems, a terminal total difficulty value (the amount of total difficulty reached by the network that triggers the consensus upgrade) will be set for the mainnet transition. The blog stated, “Only then will it be possible to estimate the exact date for The Merge.”

Ethereum’s planned fusion between the mainnet and the Beacon chain PoS consensus, according to researchers, is expected to happen before the end of Q2.

Institutional and individual traders have already begun ramping up in anticipation of the merger, with the value of staked Ether appearing to remain constant. According to data from DefiLlama, Ether’s TVL is currently $150.34 billion, or around 54.87% of Defi’s total value locked (TVL).

As demand for the asset continues to rise, traditional market companies like as Goldman Sachs and CME have released ether-pegged derivatives, with commentators anticipating that Ether’s price will rocket post-merger.

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Patrick

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