Ethereum (ETH) is set to make the long-awaited switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. In fact, Sepolia testnet nodes for Ethereum now support Proof-of-Stake (PoS). a significant step indicating that the rollout of The Merge upgrade will happen soon.
Ethereum is more nearby The Merge than ever before.
Hard forking Ethereum’s mainnet is progressing well. In particular, The Merge’s distribution on the Sepolia testnet has been accomplished using the smart contract blockchain. This is the second of three test nets designed to evaluate network performance prior to Ethereum’s (ETH) complete switchover to PoS. Therefore, the completion of this phase signals the impending removal of Proof-of-Work (PoW).
Validators had to scale consensus-layer and execution-layer clients simultaneously prior to the Sepolia update. Recall that the Beacon Chain in the first enables the implementation of PoS. Regarding the second, it supports DApps, smart contracts, and transactions.
Interestingly, the Sepolia merge took place when the PoW channel’s overall difficulty reached 17,000,000,000,000. It occurred on Wednesday at at 5:00 PM GMT. Note that no significant issue has yet been reported as a result of the testnet update.
What will happen next?
The Ethereum network’s convergence of Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake is referred to as “The Merge.” As a result, after the mainnet has been upgraded, miners will no longer be interested in it. It will instead depend on validating nodes to stake their ethers in order to approve transactions.
Despite numerous setbacks, the project’s installation on the Segolia testnet has been successful, which is fairly encouraging. A hard fork on the Ethereum mainnet is scheduled for this year. At the time, it is unclear exactly when this will take place.
In addition, the Goerli test network, which will be introduced soon, will come after Segolia. The Merge was last month’s guest on the Ropsten testnet. a task that was successfully completed.
This switch from PoW to PoS represents a significant development for the whole crypto ecosystem. This is a chance for Vitalik Buterin’s kid to significantly lower its energy load and boost transaction flow. It should also permit scaling through Layer 2 rollups.