According to Ethereum developers, the highly anticipated upgrade of the Ethereum network could happen sooner than expected. For now, September 15 or 16 seems feasible.
Upgrade to proof of stake
The Merge, which will complete Ethereum’s move to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, was originally set to take place on or around September 19. But Anthony Sassano, co-founder of Ethereum research website EthHub, said the following on Twitter:
“The Merge of the Ethereum mainnet is tentatively scheduled for about September 15/16.”
He added that the news today came from a phone call with major Ethereum developers.
There are two more steps left until Ethereum completes its upgrade: these are known as “Bellatrix” and “Paris”. During a meeting, developers said that “Bellatrix” will take place on September 6.
The final part of the upgrade, known as “Paris”, occurs when Ethereum’s hash rate (a measure of a network’s computing power) reaches a certain level. That is currently expected to happen on September 15. This could change in the coming days and weeks, as a network’s hash rate is not constant and can increase or decrease over time.
The benefits of Ethereum 2.0
The upgrade from Ethereum to ETH 2.0 means that instead of being a proof-of-work blockchain, Ethereum will be a proof-of-stake. This largely eliminates the miners. Validators will take their place and keep the network safe by locking down the network’s native crypto, ETH.
It will also make the blockchain faster, more scalable and much more energy efficient. At the Ethereum Community Conference in France in July, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the upgrade “will be great for decentralization.”
The change is also expected to have a deflationary effect on ETH, as staking is likely to slow the rate at which the supply of ETH increases. And if supply growth slows while demand increases, that could benefit Ethereum investors.
It should therefore come as no surprise that as the upgrade approaches, the price of Ethereum has increased. At the time of writing, the Ether price is around $1,900, which means that the price has risen by almost 17 percent in a week.
