Just one year ago, on December 1, 2020, Ethereum’s beacon chain (ETH) had been launched, to start building version 2.0 of the network. Now, it is the transition between the first and second version of Ethereum – called “The Merge” – that will be tested by the community.
Call for volunteers to prepare The Merge of Ethereum
Currently operating in consensus by proof of work (PoW), the Ethereum network will be brought in the coming months to use the proof of stake (PoS), presented as much less energy-consuming, since it does not require powerful computing machines to validate the blocks of transactions.
In reality, an embryo in development of this V2 already exists since December 1st 2020: the beacon chain. This will become the new Ethereum network, after a merger with the historical blockchain that we still use today (Ethereum 1.0).
This November 29, Ethereum developer Marius Van der Wijden announced on Twitter a new volunteer program addressed to the cryptosphere, to start testing this merger before it actually takes place:
“Testing is the best way to contribute to Ethereum. We’re launching a new program to involve the community in testing The Merge. If you want to participate in getting proof-of-stake on Ethereum up and running as soon as possible and save the environment, send me a private message!”
All good wills can help testing The Merge
Contrary to what one might think at first glance, this experimentation of the merger of Ethereum 1.0 to its V2 is not reserved only for experts of the network created by Vitalik Buterin.
Indeed, as a Cointelegraph publication states, testers can have various levels of knowledge: from simple non-technical users to experienced Ethereum developers, including computer developers not necessarily specialized in blockchains. All are welcome!
The Merge (the real one) should normally take place between the first and second quarters of 2022, barring any imponderable delays. Once the merge is done, we will still have to implement the big part of the sharding technology, which consists (in a nutshell) in allowing the creation of blockchain sub-networks (shards) in order to increase the scalability of Ethereum.
In the meantime, the principle of staking, which rewards the stake of ETH in the PoS consensus, is already a proven success on the beacon chain. Indeed, the ethers that are locked there have been counted in millions for several months now.
