ETH client Teku has officially launched the required upgrade v22.8.1 for all mainnet users in order to formally get ready for Consolidation. The Bellatrix upgrade and Merge migration configuration are also included in the update that was made public.
The Updates Are Gearing Towards the Merge
To transition to proof-of-stake, all Mainnet nodes must be updated to the required Teku version (PoS) 22.8.1 prior to the Bellatrix activation date on September 6. The upgrade contains crucial configurations for the Merge preparation. It entails connecting to the engine API of a local execution client and specifying a default charge recipient via validators.
New features and improvements in the upgrade include configuring several beacon nodes for a single validator client, setting the Bellatrix fork epoch and TTD for the Merge, and simplifying the use of the shared REST API.
It also calculates the payload, fixes bugs in the terminal PoW block, and frequently throws timeout errors.
Teku will experience a “Merge migration configuration problem” if execution clients are not upgraded. The relay on the mainnet node will also be rendered invalid if the terminal block hash values do not match the local terminal total difficulty (TTD) and remote execution client values.
Merge Updates
The latest Ethereum Core Developers meeting, which took place on August 18, verified a final mainnet TTD of 58750000000000000000000. It shows that programmers have high hopes for the Merge’s September 15 launch.
Vitalik Buterin also reiterated before that the Merge is reliant on the hash rate. On September 15, the TTD of 58750000000000000000000 can be reached with a hash rate of 872.2 TH/s. According to information from OKLink’s “Ethereum The Merge Countdown,” the hash rate is at 872 TH/s.
“The Merge will need both an executing client (Geth) and a consensus client,” the statement added.
Staking Interest is Increasing
The contract address balance is currently at 13,344,424 (more than $20 billion), according to data on Etherscan, which has led to an increase in interest in staking over the previous few weeks.
According to OKLink data, staking now makes up about 11.17% of Ethereum’s total supply. It went on to say that since August, 153,000 ETH had been staked, with about 36,000 ETH added each week as Eth draws closer to the highly anticipated merge.
Particularly, the increase in depositors and Ethereum balances shows that investors are upbeat about Ethereum and have great expectations for the project. According to Ethereum network developer Terrence Tsao, The Merge might occur before September 19, 2022.
Ethereum Price Drops
In the past week, Ethereum’s price has dropped more than 18% as the community continues to debate how the merger would change how censorship-resistant the commodity is.
Ethereum’s price dropped below $1600 to as low as $1556 on August 20, according to statistics from CryptoSlate.
After the cryptocurrency mixer was sanctioned, Ethermine, the largest Ethereum miner, ceased processing transactions pertaining to Tornado Cash. Aave, Uniswap, Balancer, and other DeFi platforms blocked addresses connected to the authorized platform as well.
Source: https://crypto.news/ethereum-merge-still-underway-as-teku-publishes-bellatrix-update/