The first is the passage of Ethereum to Proof-of-Stake

Ethereum Proof-of-Stake 

On 8 June there will be a very important test for Ethereum’s move to Proof-of-Stake. 

Merge of Beacon Chain on the testnet Ropsten. 

Beacon Chain is Ethereum’s new PoS-based blockchain, and it is still in the testing phase, though already operational, and on 8 June the first test will take place whereby it will be merged with the testnet of the old Proof-of-Work-based blockchain still in use. 

In the event that this merge on the testnet is successful, the final merge on the mainnet will come very close. 

According to Preston Van Loon, Ethereum developer at Prysmatic Labs, this test is a huge milestone in the process towards the final Merge. 

The final transition to PoS, with the integration of the current PoW-based blockchain into the new Beacon Chain, is planned for next quarter beginning in July, and much will depend on the outcome of the test Merge on Ropsten. 

Ropsten is one of several existing Ethereum testnets. It was created directly by the Ethereum Foundation in 2017, and is currently run by the Geth (Go Ethereum) client team, i.e. by far the most widely used client in the world for Ethereum nodes with more than 4,600 installations (82% of the total). 

It is the closest testnet to the mainnet, which allows developers to conduct very realistic tests. Therefore, the outcome of the test merge will be crucial to understand how fast we can move towards the final one. 

The move of Ethereum’s to Proof-of-Stake

The Merge test on Ropsten will simulate to all intents and purposes what will happen when Ethereum‘s current blockchain is merged with the new Beacon Chain, i.e. how fast Ethereum will move from PoW to PoS. 

It is worth mentioning that all other previous tests carried out so far have been successful, although not without problems. The problems have been investigated and solved, but the specific process of the Merge had not yet been tested. 

The Merge itself will be the final act in Ethereum’s transition from PoW to PoS, though not the absolute last act in the current evolution of the network. 

In the meantime, the Ethereum Foundation announced earlier this week that it had merged the bug discoverer reward programmes into one valid for both bug discoverers on the old PoW-based blockchain and the new PoS-based one. So at least in this respect, the “merge” has already taken place. 

The maximum reward has been raised to $250,000 for anyone who discovers and reports a bug on Ethereum, i.e. 10 times higher than the maximum reward that existed before and concerned the old blockchain. 

In light of all this, it seems increasingly likely that the Merge may in fact take place during the third quarter of 2022. 

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