Key takeaways:
- Ethereum developers have tested the network’s ability to handle smart contracts and transactions in preparation for The Merge
- The Merge is the highly-anticipated Ethereum’s mainnet transition from PoW to PoS consensus mechanism
- The devs used “shadow forking” to identify potential bugs and other problems in the code
Developers implement “shadow forks” to test PoS consensus in a secure environment
The transition from an energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus protocol to a much more efficient Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm, dubbed ETH 2.0, has been one of the biggest storylines surrounding Ethereum in recent years.
On Monday, the Ethereum developers made a huge leap towards the mainnet launch of the PoS consensus as they implemented the first-ever “shadow fork”. The active testing of PoS on Ethereum was confirmed by Ethereum Foundation developer Marius van der Wijden ahead of the “first mainnet shadow fork ever.”
According to Ethereum Foundation developer Parithosh Jayanthi, the shadow fork provides a secure environment for teams and developers to stress test the network by “running their nodes, deploying contracts, testing infrastructure, etc.” in hopes of “helping the community get a sense of the post merge world!”
Speaking on the Bankless podcast earlier this year, Ethereum founder and lead developer Vitalik Buterin explained The Merge as the transition from PoW to PoS consensus mechanism that will significantly reduce the power consumption and provide greater transaction throughput and scalability. At the time, Buterin said The Merge could take place as early as Q2 2022, although no official mainnet release date has been announced.
Once The Merge is complete, the Beacon Chain that launched in December 2020 will merge with the Ethereum mainnet, change the way transactions are validated, and usher in the era of a faster, more secure, and less expensive Ethereum network.
According to data from Staking Rewards, nearly $33 billion worth of ETH, about 9% of the total circulating supply, is currently staked on the Beacon Chain, and will become withdrawable sometime after The Merge takes place.
