Preparations are on the high side as the date for Ethereum Merge draws closer. The Ethereum ecosystem has been putting in an excellent effort for the final launch of its long-awaited upgrade. This upgrade would take the Ethereum mainnet from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
The transition plan for the second-largest cryptocurrency has been lagging considerably. However, the move has become necessary due to the high criticisms of energy consumption from PoW blockchains during mining.
Also, most miners use fuels that lead to increased emissions of carbon in the atmosphere, thereby creating high environmental threats in many jurisdictions.
But the Ethereum blockchain has gathered its games as it looks forward to finally scrapping mining activities on the network. It had already rolled out Beacon Chain, the main engine that supports Ethereum 2.0 network. Finally, it is working towards the “Merge” of the Beacon Chain and the Ethereum mainnet in mid-September this year.
Teku Released v22.8.1
As one of its significant moves for the transition to PoS, the Ethereum 2.0 client Teku has recently released a new version called v22.8.1.
According to the announcement from the network, the version is a vital stage that maintains the Bellatrix upgrade running for the activities on September 6. Hence, it would support the processes for the Merge and keep everything working in line for the final launch as a PoS network.
With this newest rollout, all the mainnet nodes are expected to align with the process by upgrading to the Teku version. The version requires a connection to the local execution client’s engine API and will facilitate a seamless transition to PoS. Also, validators of the nodes are expected to set a default fee recipient for the upgrade.
Without the update of the execution client, Teku will be giving the Merge transition configuration error in its report. So, following the execution client update, there would be no reports warning about the client’s unavailability.
Wait Period Between Bellatrix Upgrade And Ethereum Merge
To get the desired activation of the Merge, there’s a need for proper timing. The process demands 14 days as the waiting period between the Bellatrix upgrade and the Merge. This necessary time gap would cause the network to hit its unique total terminal difficulty. (TTD).
According to the speculations from Tim Beiko, an Ethereum core developer, and Terence Tsao, the co-founder of Prysmatic Labs, a TTD of about 58750000000000000000000 could trigger the Merge. They believe getting this TTD value could happen very soon, around September 15.
Recall that the Merge has been set to occur on September 19 after several delays. But some reactions suggest the possibility of getting the transition even before the set date.
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