As we all know, Ethereum is facing major congestion problems. As a result, transaction fees on the blockchain to smart contracts have exploded in recent months. Faced with this problem, the entire community is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Ethereum 2.0.
Ethereum 2.0: a step-by-step upgrade
Imagined for several years, the Ethereum 2.0 update is actually a series of updates. These updates aim at improving the network on specific points.
Three distinct phases make up this update:
- Phase 0: The Beacon Chain;
- Phase 1 : The Shards Chains ;
- Phase 2: The Docker.
The launch of the beacon chain in December 2021 launched phase 0. As a reminder, the beacon chain is the chain that acts as the backbone of the Ethereum 2.0 network. It manages a foundation of the network, namely the consensus in Proof of Stake.
Following disagreements between miners and developers during the year 2021, the Ethereum teams have decided to revise the launch program of Ethereum 2.0.
Thus, phase 2, aiming to connect Ethereum with Ethereum 2.0 has been prioritized over phase 1. The mechanism that aims to interconnect Ethereum 1.0 and Ethereum 2.0 is commonly called “The Merge”.
The merge: we have the date!
In December 2021, the various teams working on The Merge deployed Kintsugi, the first testnet allowing the community to test Ethereum 2.0 after the deployment of The Merge.
Given the success of the latter, the developers were finally able to announce a date for its deployment on the mainnet.
Thus, on January 10, @Superphiz, the community health consultant of Ethereum’s Beacon channel, announced the deployment of The Merge for June 22, 2022.
In other words, Ethereum is expected to move from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake around that date.
“The Ethereum Merge will happen around June 22, but it will not impact the transaction fees you pay. After the merger, the focus will likely be on fees, but you can be proactive now by using tools like Polygon, Gnosis Chain, Arbiturm, Optimism and zksync.”
However, the move to Proof of Stake will not put an end to the fee problems encountered by the network.
We will have to wait for the deployment of Shards Chains to see transaction fees return to correct levels on Ethereum. In the meantime, Superphiz encourages users to turn to second layer solutions. These are indeed for the moment the only viable solutions to transaction fees in the short and medium term.
In the meantime, developers continue to look for other, more short-term solutions to the fee problem. Thus, Vitalik Buterin has recently published a proposal to change the fee system on Ethereum once again.
