In the words of Ethereum leading engineer Tim Beiko, the transition from the existing Ethereum Mainnet to the beacon chain PoS system, commonly known as The Merge, is now plainly in sight. A recent blog post by Beiko outlined the procedures needed before the world’s second-largest project moves to PoS. A few mainnet Shadow Forks without difficulties are required in the beginning. After announcing the first-ever shadow fork, Ethereum developers executed it in early April as a way to test developers’ assumptions on the Ethereum network. According to Ethereum engineer Marius van der Wijden, the first shadow split was a big success. Despite this, he also pointed out that there were serious flaws.
There were several open-source Ethereum clients and servers that ceased working as a result of the switchover. The present gas limit was also a problem. However, the second mainnet shadow fork (MSF2) went practically well, adding that there were some complications with the first shadow fork. It’s possible to upgrade current testnets if MSF3, another shadow fork, happens without difficulties and stays stable after. For Ethereum nodes to retrieve blocks on the Ethereum blockchain and Ethereum-related smart contracts to pass different merging test suites, the network must complete a few shadow forks.
Hive is the initial test suite, which may be used to test the new Engine APIs that various clients utilize to interact. Kurtosis, a platform for end-to-end testing of task decentralized blockchain, will be used to identify implementation flaws across users and monitor multiple network health measures in addition to upgrading Hive. Another option is to use tools developed by the development and research teams to aid in the detection of possible problems. These are examples of debugging APIs, faulty block generators, and more.
As the last step, the Merge would then be deployed across the three currently active public testnets, Goerli, Ropsten, and Sepolia. The public testnets would be the last step before determining a merging date for the mainnet since they need wider cooperation of the Ethereum ecosystem. “It’s done! We’ll be ready to migrate to mainnet after all of these things have taken place and have been seen to be secure for a few weeks.” Beiko made a statement on the situation. It’s worth mentioning that The Merge hasn’t yet been set a date, but this doesn’t mean you cannot buy Ethereum. A few months after the end of June, Beiko said the main network upgrade was expected to be finished. As far as I can tell, the date is not set for June, but rather a few months later. Beiko remarked on Twitter at the time, “No concrete date yet, but we’re certainly in the last chapter of [proof-of-work — PoW] on Ethereum.”
Despite Ethereum’s Merge, Legislative and Practical Challenges Remain.
“The Merge,” Ethereum’s switch to Proof of Stake (PoS), will certainly prompt some present Bitcoin (BTC) investors to migrate some of their cash over to ETH,” an industry source said. Users will be able to invest, and there won’t be any preliminary investment until The Merge has been accomplished for ETH investors. Others, on the other hand, argue that despite the excellent return on ETH, regulatory scrutiny means that Ethereum investors face greater uncertainty in the future. Ethereum’s network is transitioning to the proof-of-stake resolution technique when an increasing number of institutional investors are getting involved in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The majority of these investors have only had experience with BTC.
Nevertheless, financial institutions who wish to send a green signal may become more interested in Ethereum as criticism rises toward the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus protocol of Bitcoin. This might result in increased investment in Ethereum. It’s worth mentioning that there is currently no established timetable for Ethereum’s shift to PoS. Based on remarks from the project’s top developers, it’s safe to assume that The Merge will be completed by the end of 2022 or early 2023.
Ethereum Merge dates have been repeatedly pushed back in the past, and the most recent estimate has the event taking place between May and June of this year. Many officials are confident that ETH will grow increasingly popular among investors looking for a return on investment. Bitcoin and other crypto markets regularly violate expectations, despite what people think or wish. However, it is improbable that the price of Ethereum (ETH) would rise beyond $10,000 this year without the price of Bitcoin (BTC) reaching at least $120,000. The two cryptocurrencies still move in relative harmony until, one day, they don’t.