The long-awaited Merge update was launched on the Ropsten testnet earlier this week by Ethereum developers. However, on a Friday session, the developers chose to postpone the difficulty bomb, which is raising concerns within the Ethereum community.
A ‘difficulty bomb’ is a specific code that raises the computational complexity of mining ETH on the Ethereum blockchain network. It is intended to force miners out of the Ethereum blockchain as the network prepares to switch to Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
However, postponing the difficulty bomb would enable miners extra time to remain on the Ethereum network. This indicates that the execution of the ‘The Merge’ update on the Ethereum mainnet could be further delayed.
Though many consider the Ropsten Merge event a success, Ethereum developers have all been working to overcome the issues. There is currently no fixed date for The Merge to be implemented on the Ethereum mainnet. Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, stated that “if no big obstacles arise, it might happen as quickly as August 2022”.
The move to postpone the difficulty bomb has generated fears that it would cause more delays in the PoS switch. During the call on Friday, a speaker named Thomas Jay Rush stated, “Postponing buys us time. It harms the community, but there is little one can do about it.”
Ethereum Merge By Year-End?
Vitalik Buterin stated last month that if developers want additional time, they might extend The Merge update to September/October. According to Ethereum core engineer, Tim Beiko, there is a 1-10% possibility that The Merge will not take place in 2022.
Beiko justified the current postponement of the difficulty bomb by expressing concern about developer exhaustion to complete the Merge.
He continued, “perhaps we’re still not at mainnet code.”
This decision has dulled the hype around Ethereum’s Merge upgrading.
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Source: https://coinpedia.org/ethereum/%EF%BF%BCdelays-in-difficulty-bombing-ethereum-merge-to-be-postponed-beyond-2022/