As many investors know, Ethereum is undergoing a major development at the end of the year called ‘The Merge.’ This is intended to move the Ethereum network to proof of stake, which has a number of advantages over proof of work.
Sepolia
Ethereum enthusiasts can already smell The Merge. Indeed, on Wednesday, the developers ensured a merge with the Sepolia test network. This execution has been successfully completed, and with it, Ethereum developers are one step closer to the real Merge.
Sepolia’s proof of work chain has thus merged with a proof of stake chain. For this, node operators from both the proof of work and proof of stake sides of the test network had to update their client software. The purpose of this was to check whether the ‘validation nodes’ of the two Sepolia chains can work together.
The real Merge is coming
As it happened at Sepolia, this test was already performed earlier on the Ropsten network (Ethereum’s oldest network). Performing this kind of merge on a public test network is intended as an exercise for the main network.
Although an exact date has not yet been set, Ethereum’s main blockchain will soon be up and running (estimated at the end of 2022). Before this happens, one more testnet needs to be ‘merged.’ This is the Goerli test network, the merging of which is planned in the coming weeks.
After this, the entire Ethereum community can look forward to Ethereum’s long-awaited, definitive proof of stake network.
Why proof of stake?
One of the main reasons why the Ethereum community is looking forward to the merge is because the network will need less energy after this. In addition, it will be easier to participate in the management of the network. All you have to do is deposit ETH — that’s it!
Currently, you still have to buy ETH miners to manage the network, and then you have to maintain them as well. After the switch, Ethereum’s energy consumption is estimated to decrease by 99%.
