Endless complications have so far effectively hindered the merge of the Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) consensuses of the Ethereum network. However, it seems that the problems have now been resolved, causing the developers to propose a date for The Merge.
One of the most important events of the year
On Thursday, July 14, Ethereum developers, during a virtual conference call, proposed the long-awaited market date for The Merge. Tim Beiko, who chaired the meeting, suggested that it should be September 19. The date was not met with any opposition from the event’s participants.
A little later and for the sake of clarification, via Twitter, another developer, known by the nickname superphiz.eth, indicated not to consider this date as a hard deadline, but rather, as a roadmap for the event.
His words read:
“This merger timeline is not definitive, but it is extremely exciting to see how it comes together. Think of it as a planning schedule and look out for the official announcements!”.
However, this did not change the fact that it was very positive news for the market.
A long and bumpy road
The operation of Ethereum’s transition from consensus PoW to PoS is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, undertaking in recent years. The origins of the process date back to December 1, 2020. They were initiated together with the launch of the Beacon Chain, as Phase 0. Phase 1, in turn, was to take off in mid-2021. Difficulties in completing the work and complications related to code audits led to its postponement until the first quarter of 2022. As experts predict, it could take up to several years to completely change the consensus of the world’s second largest cryptocurrency.
Developers are relentless in their efforts and are constantly testing new solutions. In June of this year, they launched the Sepolia Beacon Chain. This was a test plot for the upcoming merger. It was intended to test the technical aspects before it was initiated and to check any gaps. The final trial for The Merge, on the other hand, is scheduled to take place in the second week of August on the Goerli network. The success of the operation will mean that the developers are likely to meet the deadline and bring about the long-awaited merger as early as September.
ETH reacts to the news
On the day The Merge deadline was announced, Ether clearly gained in value. The initial rally of 7% continued the next day and, at the time of this writing, is driving the ETH price to resistance located around $1280. Its eventual breakthrough is entitled to result in an attempt to attack the 2018 peak of $1420.
