The Ethereum Ropsten network made a significant move to PoS (proof-of-stake) with no issues whatsoever. To successfully activate the beacon chain, Ethereum’s Ropsten testnet was merged. The primary indication of the merge was to show that Ethereum’s version of the Proof of Stake codebase is the same as what validators on testnet now run.
Furthermore, the merge to Ropsten went live on the 30th of May and was completed on the 8th of June, right on schedule. In December 2020, for Ethereum’s main net, the beacon chain was shipped. The beacon chain, when run, was parallel to the PoS consensus layer.
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Additionally, according to Lodestar, an Ethereum client developer, the company has scheduled the main net merge for August. He said, “All signs are great so far; we are keeping an eye on the rocket to ensure it gets safely out of the atmosphere. AKA, we are keeping an eye on validator participation, if the clients are in consensus, and seeing when the chain finalizes. Here is the panda for reference for liftoff”.
Ethereum Developers Overjoyed
Panda Fusion memes have somehow gained traction after the network upgrade. This is to show that the Web3 ecosystem’s creativity is healthy. The Panda Fusion meme came about when individuals in the community suggested that merging execution layers and consensus would produce a Dragonball Z-style fusion of personas.
In the spirit of celebration, validators were quick to share within the codebase of their client several ASIIC artworks. Below are some images of the fantastic artwork.
In his report, Lodestar informed the public of the performance of the new PoS. He further stated,
We need 66% within two epochs to finalize the chain. So missed blocks are not good, but we have enough to complete at this rate.
The merge was successful because about 86.3% of validators participated in the chain. Although some blocks were reported to have been missed, they didn’t cause any significant effect on the testnet. Also, according to one of Ropsten Beacon chain’s block explorers, every block was successfully produced with almost a hundred thousand validators participating in the chain.
A Few Minor Concerns
Anthony Sassano, Co-founder of Ethhub, expressed his joy concerning the major milestone. He said, “What a historic and thrilling day for the Ethereum community.” However, Ethereum’s creator Vitalik Buterin didn’t express as much enthusiasm as hoped. Instead, he retweeted an announcement about the merge and about Al. However, there are claims that Vitalik is not that fascinated about the project, causing many to fear.
Also, Martin Koppelmann, Co-Founder of Gnosis, pointed out that although the merge experienced some insignificant issues, there is no cause for alarm. He said,
“While the Ropsten merge overall went well you can still pretty clearly spot the point of the merge with a sudden drop of attestation participation rate. A hint that ~14% of the validators, likely specific client combinations, had some issues”.
Before the Ethereum main net is launched later in the year, only two testnets remain to be switched to PoS. Merge of the Ropsten testnet is getting this much buzz because it’s viewed as
The testnet closest to the main net.”
Also, according to Tim Beiko, Ethereum Developer, not all testnets will be maintained post-merge.
