Ethereum 2.0: The Merge is Scheduled to go Live on Sept 19

Against the earlier projected August timeline, developers are in agreement on the much anticipated Ethereum  (ETH) transition, the Merge to be inked on September 19. 

The date was suggested by Tim Beiko, the lead organizer of core developers at the Ethereum Foundation during a Consensus Layer call held this past Thursday. Although no objection to the date was raised, Beiko opined that it is still a tentative date and is subject to adjustment if the need arises.

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization currently utilizes the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism. The PoW has a couple of criticism including the quantity of energy harnessed by the system and its effect on the environment. The Merge is a transition of the ETH Proof-of-Work to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model. It is currently getting tested on a few public testnet before finally moving to the ETH Mainnet.

Twitter user, Superphiz.eth, one of the developers attested to the fact that Beiko’s suggestion is not concluding but only a roadmap. He took to his Twitter page to encourage observers to look out for the official announcement. 

Per his tweet;

“This merge timeline isn’t final, but it’s extremely exciting to see it coming together. Please regard this as a planning timeline and look out for official announcements!”

In the few weeks left before the Merge, large amounts of carbon will still be emitted into the atmosphere and will cause consequential damage to the environment. 

According to another developer Ben Edgington, “There are very real costs associated with not doing the merge: 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide every day, It’s nearly a million tons a week. Every week we twiddle our thumbs, that’s a megaton of carbon dioxide we´re emitting.”

What Happens After The Merge?

After the transition is finalized, the newly installed PoS consensus mechanism will reduce the number of carbon emissions up to 99% by slashing the blockchain energy consumption during mining. 

Also, the ETH scaling solution will experience an upgrade that will likely involve Sharding, a type of database partitioning into smaller and faster pieces. With the PoS, the Ethereum blockchain will hit a pass on security, sustainability, and scalability.

It is worthy of note that the upscaling to the PoS consensus will not immediately mean a reduction in the transaction gas fee. It is not an increase in network capacity but only a transition in the consensus mechanism. Also, staked withdrawal is yet to be enabled with the Merge. Therefore, withdrawals might not be possible immediately after the Merge until the Shanghai upgrade which comes after the Merge.