Ethereum Ready for The Merge as Latest Shadow Fork Completes Successfully

Ethereum is ready for The Merge, which is scheduled for the middle of next week. The successful completion of the last shadow fork signaled the readiness of the Ethereum network to switch to the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism.

Ethereum (ETH) developers confirmed the successful completion of the prerequisites—shadow forks—required for the highly anticipated blockchain upgrade, The Merge, according to Cointelegraph. Shadow forks help developers stress test synchronization assumptions to ensure network safety during permanent upgrades. In light of The Merge, Ethereum developers implemented the first shadow fork on April 11, 2022.

Nearly six months later, Ethereum research and engineering company Nethermind confirmed that the transition to Mainnet-Shadowfork-13–the latest shadow fork—was successful, signaling the network is ready to transition to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

Transition in Mainnet-Shadowfork-13 (the last shadowfork before The Merge) was successful for all Nethermind nodes!🐼💪#TheMerge #Ethereum #Nethermind #MSF13 pic.twitter.com/sddPPwSR1u

— Nethermind (@nethermindeth) September 9, 2022

The testnet allowed Ethereum developers to practice running nodes, deploying contracts, and testing infrastructure, among other things. As a result, shadow forks allow developers to assess the impact of network upgrades before they happen. As part of the upgrade, the community needs to update their Ethereum clients and run the combination of an execution layer and consensus layer.

The CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, Alexander Höptner, highlighted the need for paying close attention during the Ethereum upgrade to avoid service downtime. He also said that the success of The Merge will depend on the support of the community.

“You have to be just, let's say, awake and see what happens. There's a chance for high volatility. And so you have to make sure that your services are up and running. [...] We don't expect any major disruptions outside of volatility.”

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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