{"id":31148,"date":"2022-05-31T22:14:09","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T22:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ethereums-ropsten-test-network-ready-for-merge-dress-rehearsal\/"},"modified":"2022-05-31T22:14:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T22:14:09","slug":"ethereums-ropsten-test-network-ready-for-merge-dress-rehearsal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ethereums-ropsten-test-network-ready-for-merge-dress-rehearsal\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethereum’s Ropsten Test Network Ready for Merge ‘Dress Rehearsal’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ropsten will be Ethereum<\/span>‘s first public test network to transition from proof-of-work<\/span> (PoW) to a proof-of-stake<\/span> (PoS) consensus mechanism as part of the blockchain’s \u201cMerge\u201d event, expected <\/span>August<\/span> this year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko shared the news on <\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a> last night: \u201cEthereum’s longest-lived PoW testnet is moving to Proof of Stake! A new beacon chain has been launched today, and The Merge is expected around June 8th on the network. ” <\/span><\/p>\n

Beiko called the news a \u201cfirst dress rehearsal\u201d for miners. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udce3 Ropsten Merge Announcement \ud83d\udce3<\/p>\n

Ethereum’s longest lived PoW testnet is moving to Proof of Stake! A new beacon chain has been launched today, and The Merge is expected around June 8th on the network. <\/p>\n

Node Operators: this is the first dress rehearsal\ud83d\udc83https: \/\/t.co\/0fDHObLOmn<\/p>\n

– Tim Beiko | timbeiko.eth \ud83d\udc3c (@TimBeiko) May 30, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Beiko then fired off a nine-tweet thread covering the technical details of the Merge for miners. He informed developers that “<\/span>basically nothing should change<\/span><\/a>“Post-Merge. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ropsten’s newly-launched beacon chain will undergo a \u201cBellatrix\u201d upgrade to be Merge-compatible around <\/span>June 2<\/span>. A few days after this, a value known as the Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) will be chosen by miners to trigger the transition. Miners will then need to configure their nodes with this value. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to a <\/span>blog post<\/span> by Ethereum: “After the Ropsten transition, two more testnets (Goerli and Sepolia) will be transitioned to proof-of-stake before focus shifts to mainnet.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ethereum Foundation also <\/span>upped its bug bounty payouts<\/span> recently to help facilitate a problem-free transition. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ethereum, Testnets, and the Merge<\/span><\/h2>\n

Launched in 2016, Ropsten is Ethereum’s longest-running PoW test network (testnet). Testnets are identical in every key aspect to the \u201cmainnet,\u201d and are used by developers to test smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). <\/span><\/p>\n

Ropsten uses a valueless form of Ethereum <\/span>to execute transactions and test the coding environment. Changes made to the testnet do not affect Ethereum’s mainnet. This consequence-free environment gives developers key insights into any potential problems that might arise from their coding. <\/span><\/p>\n

Formerly known as <\/span>2.0<\/span>Ethereum’s long-anticipated mega upgrade will transition the network from a consumptive PoW consensus algorithm \u00e0 la Bitcoin – where transactions are validated by miners with a lot of computing power – to PoS, in which miners who put up the most collateral validate the most transactions .<\/span><\/p>\n

Ethereum claims this will cut the blockchain’s energy consumption by up to <\/span>99.5%<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

“The merge<\/span>“ refers to the point when Ethereum’s mainnet will converge with the PoS-based <\/span>Beacon Chain<\/span>. After that, Ethereum 2.0 (which was recently <\/span>rebranded<\/span> to the \u201cConsensus Layer\u201d) will be up and running. <\/span><\/p>\n

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