ETH developers have been hard at work preparing for the final testnet merge, scheduled for early August. Developers recently announced the final details for the final testing phase of the Merge before the long-awaited official merge.
The Final Dress Rehearsal
Ethereum is finally just one step away from the Merge, with the final testnet just a few days away. The deployment of the Georli/Prater testnet is set to take place as soon as next week, the Ethereum Foundation announced. The Georli/Prater testnet deployment is the final test before Ethereum’s highly anticipated move to Proof-of-Stake. Prior to this, we will see the Bellatrix upgrade, which is scheduled for August 4th. The upgrade will prepare Prater, the Georli version of the Beacon Chain, for the Merge with Georli.
Lead Ethereum developer Tim Beiko announced the news on Twitter, stating,
“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.”
Testnets such as Georli are rehearsals for the final Merge, which move the entire Ethereum mainnet to a test network environment. Georli is the final test run. Earlier, the Sepolia testnet and the Ropsten testnet both transitioned to Proof-of-Stake.
Merge Deployment As Soon As September?
The Merge will see Ethereum move from its current Proof-of-Work blockchain to the Beacon Chain. If the final Georli testnet goes on without a hitch, we could see the Merge deployed as soon as September. Currently, Ethereum relies on Proof-of-Work mining to create ETH in which miners compete with one another, utilizing significant amounts of energy and computing power to solve complex mathematical problems, and hope to receive ETH as a reward.
The Merge will see the end of Proof-of-Work mining on Ethereum, marking a shift to Proof-of-Stake in which users can stake their ETH to create more. The Ethereum Foundation states that the blockchain’s switch to Proof-of-Stake will make it significantly more environmentally friendly.
A Deflationary Effect
The switch to Proof-of-Stake will also see the introduction of staking and a significant chunk of ETH in circulation locked up. As a result, many believe that the introduction of the Merge will have a significant deflationary effect on ETH, keeping the supply of the cryptocurrency limited while the demand continuously increases. At the time of writing, around 13.1 million ETH has been staked on the Beacon chain, which represents 10.7% of the total supply. Those users who have staked ETH are currently benefiting from a 4.6% APY in ETH. However, they will not be able to withdraw their staked ETH until a few months after the Merge.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.