Although it isn’t yet set in stone, Ethereum Upgrade will likely host its much-anticipated Upgrade Merge event this August. This Merge event sees the network change its consensus algorithm from its current proof of work design to proof-of stake. This was recently revealed by Ethereum developers.
Ethereum Upgrade Big Switch To Proof Of Stake In August “If All Goes to Plan”
Preston Van Loon, an Ethereum developer, spoke at the Permission less conference and stated that the network was on track to move from POW to PoS in August if there are no obstacles.
“As far we know, if all goes according to plan, August is a good idea. Let’s move the difficulty bomb if we don’t need to .”
According to ETH Hub, the difficulty bomb is a “mechanism which, at a predetermined block number, increases difficulty level of puzzles within the proof-of work mining algorithm resulting (and therefore less ETH rewards for miners) in longer block times than normal.
The difficulty bomb’s date helps to predict when The Merge will occur. It’s intended to discourage miners from producing blocks on Ethereum’s PoW network.
Justin Drake, an Ethereum Foundation member, was also present at the conference and stated that the main goal is to ensure the mainnet “merges with the Beacon Chain”, adding that there’s a strong desire to see this happen before August difficulty bomb.
Although Ethereum’s first Shadow Fork went live earlier in the month, Tim Beiko, the network’s developer later confirmed that The Merge would NOT occur as previously expected.
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However, Ethereum’s public testnet Ropsten will undergo a Merge in June 8. This milestone will serve as a test run for the Merge that will take place a few months later.
The Merge, which was delayed multiple times, will finally be completed in August. If it is successful, transactions on Ethereum blockchain will now be validated by stakers rather than miners. This will hopefully greatly reduce the network’s energy consumption.
It will also reduce Ether’s issuance by 50%. This, pundits believe, could increase deflationary pressure on the asset if demand remains high. Based on CoinGecko data, ETH trades at $2,000.243. This is a 3.2 percent increase on the previous day. Bullish observers believe that The Merge will act as rocket fuel for cryptocurrency and trigger a bullish rally beyond the all-time highs at $4,900 set in late 2021.
The long-awaited switch will also open the door to the next major strategy for Ethereum, which will include more scalability upgrades like sharding.
Many Ethereum enthusiasts believe that the second-largest cryptocurrency will Flippen Bitcoin in the near future, after these key updates. However, this is a theory that remains to be confirmed.
