The Ethereum Merge May Finally Take Place This September

Following Ethereum's Sepolia testnet's successful shift to proof-of-stake, there is only one step left to the merge.

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Three of its testnets, namely Ropsten, Sepolia, and Goerli are pivotal to the Ethereum merge. To date, the first two have moved across to Proof-Of-Stake, with only Goerli left.

The Ethereum foundation will also shut down its Klin, Rinkeyby, and Ropster testnets eventually.

While a hard date has not been set, lead Ethereum developers are eyeing September 19th as a possible date. This will follow Goerli's planned merge on the 11th of August.

Also Read: Will Ethereum Dethrone Bitcoin? Everything You Need To Know About The Merge

Foundation Delays Difficulty Bomb

The difficulty bomb, part of the process to upgrade Ethereum from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake, is an incentive of sorts to make sure the merge happens on time.

Hardcoded to execute at a specific block height, it acts as a deadline for developers to complete the merge.

https://twitter.com/Nexo/status/1542481764400205824

Last month, it was delayed by 100 days in the Gray Glacier network update. Should the merge not be completed by then, mining will become exponentially difficult.

This would mean an increase in block time from the current 15 seconds, with the Ethereum mainnet probably becoming unusable.

Will We Finally Get Eth 2.0?

Users have been excited over Eth 2.0 ever since the beacon chain launched in 2020. However, the novelty of this transition has led to multiple delays over the years.

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However, the bear market has dropped Ethereum gas fees to usable levels. Despite this, wider narratives of low throughput and high energy usage still reign overhead.

Image Courtesy: ox-currencies

Furthermore, while it may have been the first layer 1 to achieve mass adoption, it has yet to solve the blockchain trilemma.

While the Ethereum merge has been delayed multiple times, current projections for Q3/Q4 of this year are likely to come true.

Till then, sit back, relax, and learn more about Ethereum 2.0.

Also Read: 4 Crypto Narratives For 2022 To Look Out For And How To Play Them

https://chaindebrief.com/4-crypto-narratives-for-the-rest-of-2022/

[Editor’s Note: This article does not represent financial advice. Please do your own research before investing.]

Featured Image Credit: Pymnts