Ethereum core developer Tim Beko has invited projects to start testing on Kintsugi so that they can implement changes soon in the future client.
On Monday, December 20, the Ethereum Foundation announced the launch of its Kintsugi testnet as the latest towards the blockchain’s “merge” with Ethereum 2.0. This is yet another development in the transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake.
Kintsugi Testnet by Ethereum
Ethereum lead developer Tim Beiko made the announcement first on Monday. He also invited several Ethereum-based projects to begin testing and prototyping on Kintsugi. Developer Beiko wants the potential issues to surface soon so that rectify and implement changes soon in the future client. In the latest blog post, Beiko writes:
“Although client development and UX continue to be refined, we encourage the community to start using Kintsugi to familiarize themselves with Ethereum in a post-merge context. For application developers, as previously explained, not much will change. Tooling which only interacts with either the consensus or execution layer is also largely unaffected. Infrastructure which depends on both layers is most likely to need to adapt to support The Merge.”
Kintsugi is a popular Japanese word for using gold to repair broken objects without any attempt to hide the damage. Although the Ethereum blockchain isn’t broken at this point, it faces several challenges in terms of network speed and network fees.
Besides, Ethereum has been home to important developments like decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, NFTs, blockchain-based games, and much more.
Ethereum 2.0 Will Overcome Major Hurdles
The transition to Proof-of-stake Ethereum 2.0 blockchain will help Ethereum developers overcome major hurdles. The transition will help to improve the Ethereum blockchain scalability by multifold times thus reducing gas costs significantly.
Developers have been putting up significant efforts in this recent transition to Ethereum 2.0. The developers implemented Phase 0 of the upgrade the last December 2020 with the launch of the Beacon Chain. Commenting on what the Kintsugi brings, Beiko wrote:
The Kintsugi testnet provides the community an opportunity to experiment with post-merge Ethereum and begin to identify any issues. Once feedback has been incorporated into the client sofware and the specifications, a final series of testnets will be launched. In parallel, testing efforts will continue ramping up. After this, existing long-lived testnets will run through The Merge.
The merge between the mainnet and the Beacon Chain will happen in Q1/Q2 2022. Following the Merge, Ethereum 2.0 will move to “Phase 2”.
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