There is reportedly a date for the launch of Ethereum’s Merge: Tim Beko, head of the project, has in fact announced that the launch of Merge will take place on 19 September.
Previously, the Merge was scheduled for late June, but its launch had been delayed due to some problems encountered by the developers.
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!https://t.co/ttutBceZ21 pic.twitter.com/MY8VFOv0SI
— superphiz.eth ??? (@superphiz) July 14, 2022
On 19 September, the Ethereum network is expected to merge from its current state as a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain to an energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) network.
“This merge timeline isn’t final, but it’s extremely exciting to see it coming together”,
tweeted superphiz.eth, the community manager of Beacon Chain.
The roadmap for the move to Proof of Stake
Ethereum’s Merge project, which is expected to bring a real revolution to the network, moving from the wasteful proof of work to the more sustainable proof of stake, began on 1 December 2020, with the launch of the Beacon Chain and the so-called Phase 0.
Phase 1 of the program was originally scheduled for mid-2021, but was postponed to the first quarter of 2022 due to some complexities found when the code was audited.
On 7 July, the update had been successfully tested on the Sepolia testnet, which is expected to precede a final test for mid-August before the final launch.
Perhaps this is also why in the last week the price of Ethereum seems to be recovering slightly after really difficult weeks.
Security and centralization?
The debate persists over those who argue that the new update will definitely be an improvement from the standpoint of blockchain sustainability and scalability and those who argue that this will make the network more centralized and less secure.
A recent report by HOPR, a blockchain company specializing in security and privacy, highlighted in a recent report some vulnerabilities that could prove critical after the Merge:
“We should stress that this isn’t an emergency: It doesn’t affect any funds today. But this WILL be a major problem post Merge and validators are incentivized to disrupt each other to poach a share of millions of $$$ in MEV”.
The @Teku_ConsenSys audit by @Quantstamp even labels the issue as “Mitigated” which in our eyes is incorrect and makes us double down on our efforts to raise awareness for this privacy and resulting security issue
? 5/15— HOPR ? (@hoprnet) July 12, 2022
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2022/07/18/ethereum-merge-date-confirmed/