According to a post on the Ethereum Foundation blog, the most anticipated crypto event of the year, The Merge, has an official date and time: Sept. 6 at 7:34 a.m. ET.
The announcement starts the long-awaited countdown to the Ethereum blockchain’s switch from the carbon-emitting proof-of-work protocol to the relatively greener proof-of-stake protocol. The combination of the Ethereum Mainnet and the Beacon Chain, which enables ETH transactions and Ethereum-based NFT verifications, was required for this switchover’s initial, massive, ambitious transformation in Ethereum’s digital infrastructure.
As of this writing, there will be around 12 days and 19 hours until that theoretical enormous change actually occurs.
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Despite the complexity of the situation, one of the two big cryptocurrencies—the one that isn’t Bitcoin—will mostly shed its well-earned reputation for lol-nothing-matters eco-destruction, as will the majority of NFTs, according to The Merge. This is due to the fact that the new proof-of-stake paradigm, unlike proof-of-work, does not necessitate strong GPUs continuously churning out enormous amounts of unclean grid energy to run hellish mathematical computations. What precisely does proof of stake entail? Although it’s challenging, you may learn more about it here.
The operation, which officially begins on September 6 with an upgrade termed “Bellatrix” on the new blockchain, will eventually end all significant Merge-related operations (also known as The Kiln testnet). A few days later, between September 10 and September 20, there will be a second update dubbed Paris.
The majority of Ethereum blockchain users will then immediately switch to the new system without having to make any changes, assuming everything goes as planned.
And the Ethereum Foundation sincerely hopes that everything will go as planned. According to the blog post, “bug bounties” for finding merge-related issues are being provided at four times the standard rate, meaning “serious” vulnerabilities can bring in up to $1 million for sharp-eyed engineers.
