The Anticipated merge from the Ethereum (ETH) network, where it will move from a proof of work (PoW) to a proof of stake (PoS) consensus is getting closer and closer. The big update was always delayed, but Ethereum core developer Preston Van Loon believes that August will finally be here.
Ethereum merge
During the Permissionless At the conference, Van Loon told a packed house that the current plan is to launch the merge in August. A small caveat is that everything has to go according to plan until then. In the past it often happened that eventually the update was postponed again†
“As far as we know, if everything goes according to plan, August – it just makes sense.”
Ethereum core Dev @preston_vanloon just said the eth merge is ready,they are now only testing, and expects the merge to happen in August. packed room @Permissionless are excited about it. Great question @TrustlessState† Also on panel @drakefjustin pic.twitter.com/vX4beNatJ5
— Benjamin Cohen (benjicohen.eth) (@benjicohen421) May 19, 2022
Ethereum co-developer Justin Drake also indicated that completing the merge is the top priority right now. Also, the Ethereum team would really like to get this done before the so-called “Difficult Bomb” starts.
The difficulty bomb refers to the program that is in the Ethereum blockchain is encrypted and that intentionally slows down the network. It was designed to encourage the transition to PoS by making it more difficult for miners to lag behind the proof-of-work chain after the merge.
Scalability Ethereum
Although the arrows are now aimed at an August launch, this is of course not yet a definite date. A lot could still happen that this could possibly lead to disaster. Nevertheless, investors are looking with high hopes at the possible merge.
This merge will bring a lot of revolutionary changes to the Ethereum network. First of all, the switch from PoW to PoS is of course extremely important. Especially today when energy consumption and climate change are of great importance in political discourse.
It will also lay the foundation for making the network much more scalable. The transaction costs on the Ethereum network can be extremely high at times and this has everything to do with overload. The merge could end this sooner or later.