Ethereum developers provided a much-anticipated update on the Ethereum Merge, stating that the tentative date for the update has been set for September, following the completion of a series of test launches.
The transition of Ethereum from a Proof-of-Work blockchain to a Proof-of-Stake blockchain, which began with the launch of the Beacon Chain, has been plagued by significant delays.
A Probable Date For The Merger
Ethereum is finally nearing the Merge phase of its transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanisms. During a conference call on Thursday, Ethereum developers announced the news. Tim Beiko, a core Ethereum developer who facilitates core protocol meetings, proposed September 19th, 2022 as a tentative date for the merger. Other core developers present on the call did not object to the proposed timeline.
There is no set deadline
Later, Ethereum developer superphiz.eth shed some light on the developments in an attempt to clarify the timeline. The developer said that the proposed date should be viewed as a roadmap rather than a hard deadline, and stated on Twitter: While this merge timeline isn’t final, it’s very exciting to see it coming together. Please consider this a planning timeline and keep an eye out for official announcements!
Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake Transition
The transition to the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism in Ethereum began on December 1, 2020, with the launch of the Beacon Chain, which kicked off Phase 0 of the transition. The first phase of Ethereum’s upgrade was set to begin in mid-2021. However, it was pushed back to 2022 due to unfinished business and several complexities discovered while auditing the code.
The Sepolia testnet Beacon Chain went live in June, providing Ethereum developers with valuable technical insights. On the 7th of July, Sepolia merged with the network. The final trial, scheduled for the second week of August, will take place on the Georli network. Once this merger is completed, developers will prioritize the official Merge.
Proof-of-Work vs. Proof-of-Stake
Ethereum’s energy consumption is expected to drop by up to 99 percent once the transition to Proof-of-stake is complete. This, combined with the implementation of sharding, will significantly increase Ethereum’s scalability, putting it on par with centralized payment processors. The debate between supporters of Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake is far from over. Proof-of-Stake supporters claim that the consensus mechanism is more environmentally friendly than Proof-of-Work while providing the same level of security. However, supporters of Proof-of-Work, including Jack Dorsey, have labeled it as less secure and centralized.
Buterin has been outspoken in his defense of Proof-of-Stake, claiming that, contrary to popular belief, Proof-of-Stake does not include voting on protocol parameters, which is what Proof-of-Work does. He also stated that in both consensus mechanisms, nodes reject invalid blocks. Buterin recently had a Twitter spat with Jimmy Song, stating: Pro-tip: if there’s a long-standing tradition of people debating A vs. B based on deep arguments involving math, economics, and moral philosophy, and you come along stating B is dumb due to a one-line technicality involving definitions, you’re apparently wrong.
A Potential Weakness?
However, a recent report from HOPR has shed light on a potential vulnerability that could prove critical following the Merge. According to the report, validators on the network broadcast their IP addresses while broadcasting attestations and blocks linked to the public key. Because the validators are known ahead of time, upcoming validators may face targeted and selective attacks.
We should emphasize that this is not an emergency: no funds are affected today. However, this will be a major issue after the Merge, and validators are incentivized to disrupt each other in order to poach a share of millions of dollars in MEV.
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