Ethereum’s ‘Merge’ Upgrade Gears Up for Final Testnet Check Starting August 4, Details Here

Once complete, the Merge upgrade will slash Ethereum blockchain’s power requirements by 99.95 percent.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 28 July 2022 16:26 IST

Ethereum’s ‘Merge’ Upgrade Gears Up for Final Testnet Check Starting August 4, Details Here

Photo Credit: Pixabay/ WorldSpectrum

As for now, the release of the Merge is tentatively slated for September 19

Highlights

Merge successfully completed second-last trial on Sepolia test in July
Ethereum developers to conduct thorough checks on Merge before release
Merge developers have been posting updates on official blog

After passing through rigorous devnets, shadow forks, and other kinds of tech tests, Ethereum's eco-friendly upgrade is finally close to its roll-out. Called the ‘Merge', this network will transition on the final testnet, Goerli. The testing, which begins on August 4, will go through more tech checks between August 6 and August 12. The information was shared by Merge developer, Tim Beiko, on Thursday, July 28. Once complete, the Merge upgrade will slash Ethereum blockchain's power requirements by 99.95 percent.

“The following client releases support the Merge across the Goerli and Prater testnets. Node operators must run both an execution and consensus layer client to remain on the network during and after the Merge,” Ethereum developers said in a blog post.

:loudspeaker::loudspeaker::loudspeaker: Goerli/Prater Merge Announcement :loudspeaker: :loudspeaker::loudspeaker:

Prater will run through the Bellatrix upgrade on August 4th, and merge with Goerli between August 6-12th: if you run a node or validator, this is your last chance to go through the process before mainnet :rotating_light:https://t.co/JAz5AJe12B
— Tim Beiko | timbeiko.eth :panda_face: (@TimBeiko) July 27, 2022

Ethereum developers are recoding its mining protocol to the energy efficient ‘Proof-of-Stake' (PoS) model from its current ‘Proof-of-Work' (PoW) system.

Once switched to PoS mining operations, randomly selected miners will be able to validate transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, eliminating the requirement of dedicated machines and people to add new blocks and hence reducing Ethereum's energy demands.

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The developers are running extensive tests on the Ethereum revamp because decentralised finance (DeFi) apps reportedly worth over $100 billion (roughly Rs. 7,61,110 crore) are supported on the blockchain, and cannot be risked.

As for now, the release of the Merge is tentatively slated for September 19.

Earlier this month, the Merge successfully completed a trial on the public test network called Sepolia. This marked its second-to-last trial test.

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In the backdrop of Merge inching closer to its release, ETH prices have soared on the crypto charts.

As per Gadgets 360's crypto price tracker, ETH is currently trading at $1,687 (roughly Rs. 1.35 lakh).

ETH prices are up 47 percent over the past fortnight, but still 66 percent down from its last all-time high of $4,700 (roughly Rs. 3.47 lakh) that was achieved for the first-time last November.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Ethereum, Merge

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More