The move to Ethereum 2.0 is one of the most anticipated upgrades in the crypto space currently. Scheduled for 2022, the upgrade will see the network move from proof of work to proof of stake, greatly reducing the energy consumption of the technology while simultaneously making it a more scalable blockchain, allowing for faster and a larger volume of transactions.
Ahead of the Merge that will bring the full functionality of ETH 2.0 to bear, Tim Beiko, coordinator of the ethereum core developers team, has announced the release of a testnet that is basically a test run of what the blockchain will look like after the merge.
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Looking At The Future with Kintsugi
The Kintsugi testnet is basically a series of testnets that will show what the ethereum network would be post-merge. All of these testnets are temporary and are only meant to provide a peek into what is in store for the blockchain. The long-awaited move to proof of stake draws closer each month and with the passing of time has come increased curiosity of what the integration will mean going forward,
Ethereum users are encouraged to interact with the testnets in order to get a view of the network post-merge. Beiko, who posted the announcement on the official blog of the Ethereum Foundation’s website, called for projects to begin testing and prototyping using the testnets to help uncover any issues that might arise with the network.
“We recommend most projects begin testing and prototyping on Kintsugi to surface any potential issues soon,” the post read. “This way, changes can more easily be incorporated in future client and specification versions.”
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Importance Of Ethereum 2.0
The energy consumption of mining activities has always been a pain point for the cryptocurrency community. Top coins bitcoin and ethereum continue to use proof of work mechanism, which requires an enormous amount of energy for transactions to be verified. The move to ETH 2.0 will provide a fix for this as it will greatly reduce energy consumption by up to 95%.
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Additionally, ethereum’s growth in the last five years has been higher than anyone had anticipated. As such, the network has been operating at full capacity, leading to slower transaction times and higher fees. With Ethereum 2.0, this will be a thing of the past as the blockchain would be able to scale significantly better to allow for more transactions per second as well as lower transactions.
The transition from proof of work to proof of stake will usher the network into a new era, with the shard chains allowing for more features to be built into place over time. The network will be a more secure network overall and provide a more sustainable version of what is currently in operation.
The Kintsugi testnet is a peek into this future as the network races towards The Merge to ETH 2.0.
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