My friends, only a few more days until the much hyped Ethereum 'Merge'.
"In the frenzied build-up to Ethereum’s much-anticipated merge, the network’s developers have deployed test after test to make sure everything goes smoothly when the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization transitions to proof of stake sometime next week" [Lutz, S. Ethereum Successfully Deploys Final Network Test Before Merge. (Accessed September 10, 2022)].
On September 9, the 13th shadow fork of the Ethereum mainnet seemingly went off without a hitch. Shadow forks are concentrated tests of certain portions of the merging that look for faults and simulate the process of changing the Ethereum mainnet’s underlying mechanism from the present proof-of-work mining model to proof of stake, which will put an end to mining on the network.
[Coincu. https://news.coincu.com/123682-shadow-fork-succeeded-the-merge-coming/. (Accessed September 10, 2022)].
"The testnet allowed Ethereum developers to practice running nodes, deploying contracts and testing the infrastructure, among other functionalities. As a result, shadow forks allow developers to gauge the implications of network upgrades before they happen" [Sarkar, A. Ethereum ready for The Merge as last shadow fork completes successfully. (Accessed September 10, 2022)].
Last week, during Bellatrix, a key pre-merge upgrade, the Ethereum network encountered some hiccups when its 'missed block rate' spiked by some 1,700%. The missed-block-rate metric measures how frequently the Ethereum network fails to verify a block of transactions slated for validation. Typically, about 0.5% of blocks encounter this issue; in the hours following the Bellatrix upgrade, that figure surged to 9%. At the time of the Bellatrix upgrade, 26.5% of Ethereum’s nodes still had yet to upgrade their software. As of writing, that figure has lowered to 16,3%, per Ethernodes.
[Coincu, supra].
"Terence Tsao, an Ethereum core developer, told Decrypt that today’s shadow fork tested this missed block rate issue, and found it to be functioning 'basically perfectly.” [Lutz, supra)].
The network’s developers have been running dress rehearsals of the merge almost weekly for the last few months, attempting to game out any scenarios that could potentially derail or delay its execution. With tens of billions of dollars worth of digital assets, apps, and decentralized finance instruments built atop the Ethereum network, there is essentially no margin for error. Ethereum’s developers have continually signaled assuredness that the merge will go exactly as planned. Nonetheless, the test runs have continued—perhaps, more than anything else, to offer developers some peace of mind.
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"The CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, Alexander Höptner, highlighted the need for paying close attention during the Ethereum upgrade to avoid service downtime. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Höptner explained: '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.” [Sarkar, supra].
"The tests conducted on the Merge, including the last one, have not raised any issues, showing a high chance of the Merge going on as planned [...] [T]he developers are keen to ensure that there will be no margin of error. The Ethereum developers have also assured the community that the Merge will go as planned. However, test runs have been done on the network to make the community optimistic that the Merge will be successful" [Raza, A. Ethereum Developers Say the Last Shadow Fork has been Completed Successfully. (Accessed September 10, 2022)].