James Atkins
Editor
Editor
After much discussion and debate, the developers working on the Ethereum Merge have finally confirmed dates for when the switch will happen.
According to their plan, ETH holders will receive a certain amount of ETH2 tokens at a 1:1 ratio. This means that if you hold 10 ETH, you’ll receive 10 ETH2 tokens.
Ethereum’s shift from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), which has been long awaited, will occur soon via the Merge.
On Wednesday, the Ethereum developer team confirmed that everything is ready for a September switchover. This change is crucial to the world’s largest smart contracts platform.
“ETH2.0 is the most ambitious upgrade in Ethereum’s history, and will enable Ethereum to scale to becoming the world computer supporting millions of users and applications,” wrote Danny Ryan, one of the ETH core devs.
ETH 2.0 is a multi-phase upgrade that began with the launch of ETH Beacon Chain in December 2020. The ETH 2.0 Merge is the third and final stage of ETH 2.0, which will see ETH move from PoW (Proof-of-Work) to PoS (Proof-of-Stake).
“Thank you to everyone who contributed research, specifications, development, analysis testings, breaking or fixings that got us to The Merge. Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake has been a long time coming.” the team write.
The announcement says that Ethereum successfully processed updates on all the public testnets. The only thing left to do is for the Merge to activate on the Beacon Chain, and then Ethereum will be updated too.
The first phase, involving the Bellatrix and Paris upgrades, is expected to ship on September 6. The second upgrade, which would fully convert Ethereum to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain, will take place between September 10-20.
As with any complex system upgrade, ETH developers are erring on the side of caution. They’ve set a window for each phase to allow for any unforeseen issues that may arise.
“The ETH community should remain aware that there is always a non-zero risk of delay or interruption during The Merge process. We ask ETH users, developers and service providers to plan accordingly and to expect some degree of turbulence during ETH 2.0’s launch period,” ETH developers said in a blog post.
The Merge is the final stage in ETH 2.0’s long journey from conception to reality. The mainnet upgrade will see ETH move from its current proof-of-work consensus algorithm to a new proof-of-stake system. This will have myriad impacts on ETH’s price, network security and overall ecosystem.
The Paris upgrade will happen when the Terminal Total Difficulty is reached. The first block will be produced by the Beacon Chain validator.
“The Merge transition is deemed complete when the Beacon Chain’s last block has been settled. This will happen 2 epochs (or approximately 13 minutes) after the first post-TTD block is produced under typical network conditions,” the team explain.
The Ethereum developers had announced that the shift to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) would happen in mid-September, which might have caused ETH price’s value to surge upwards past $2,000.
ETH price surged to $2,000 after ETH developers confirmed the date of the Ethereum Merge. The ETH developers said that the merge would be complete 2 epochs (or ~13 minutes) after the first post-TTD block is produced.
ETH developers also said that they would keep the community updated on the status of ETH 2.0. They encouraged ETH users to participate in ETH 2.0’s testnets to help with the development process.
ETH investors are eagerly awaiting the ETH merge as it will signal the beginning of the PoS era. We certainly like to hear your thoughts on this, hit the comment section and tell us!
I have been writing copy for blockchain-related projects since 2017. I understand the importance of being able to communicate clearly and effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences. By leveraging my understanding of the crypto industry trends, I can help increase adoption in this rapidly evolving landscape.
