By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 16th, 2024
As per the data of block times and total terminal difficulty (TTD), the Merge upgrade will likely happen before the scheduled date of September 19.
Ethereum developers have been making swift progress with respect to the Merge upgrade on the Ethereum mainnet. During the Consensus Layer Call on Thursday, August 11, the Ethereum developers discussed the new data for the upgrade.
As per the Ethereum developers, the Merge upgrade might happen beforehand the scheduled date of September 19. Speaking on the matter, the Ethereum developers noted:
“The Ethereum main net merge is tentatively scheduled for TTD 5875000000000000000000, which means Ethereum may be merged on September 15th or 16th. The previous expected date was September 19.”
The Merge even will shift the Ethereum blockchain from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus model to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model. The Merge upgrade has been split into two parts: Bellatrix and Paris. The second part is where the upgrade shall fully occur. The Paris upgrade shall happen only when the network shall reach a certain total terminal difficulty (TTD).
Note that the newly arrived dates are just predictions and not definitive. Due to the block times and hashrate fluctuations, these dates are likely to tweak in the coming days and weeks. Later this month on August 23, the Foundation will come up with any further updates if available.
In case the Ethereum hashrate drops significantly resulting in slower block times, it would push back the Merge date further. There’s also a possibility of a manual override.
Ethereum Merge Mainnet Progress and Fresh Controversy
On Wednesday, Ethereum developers reported that they successfully conducted the Merge upgrade on the Goerli testnet. This was the final dress rehearsal before the final update next month.
Ethereum lead developer Tim Beiko said: “We want to see the network finalizing and having a high participation rate amongst validators and also make sure we don’t hit any unexpected bugs or issues”.
The success of the Goerli testnet has cleared the way for the Merge implementation on the Ethereum mainnet. With all the new excitement surrounding the Merge, a new controversy has emerged in the market.
Some Ethereum miners said that as the Ethereum blockchain undergoes the Merge upgrade, the will be having a hardfork to continue having the PoW version of ETH. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has slammed the idea. He further stated that he won’t be supporting the hardfork and the PoW network after the Merge.