Ever since the Ethereum network launched its Beacon chain for staking in December 2020, enthusiasts have been waiting for the day when the chain will finally be merged with the Ethereum mainnet, making way for Proof of Stake consensus to be the sole mechanism. by which new ETH is created. While unfortunately a specific date for the merger has yet to be disclosed, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has now said that “I hope we will merge very soon”.
Speaking on a recent podcast, the engineer also lamented the constant delays that this transition has faced, adding,
“If we’re going to somehow fully realize that vision, I still think there’s still a lot of work to do that we hope to complete by then or even by 2016.”
Buterin also elaborated on the aspects of transition that are yet to be finished, and most of that has to do with testing. Since most blockchain programs are used by indefinite numbers of people entrusting millions of dollars, constantly testing software to perfection is a necessary step, albeit one wants to fall victim to an exploit similar to the ones the Ethereum network is so used to.
Nevertheless, Buterin said that aside from testing, “there are already basic test stats and full implementations of everything that needs to happen for fusion,” which includes consensus clients and execution, the latter having encountered certain limitations, according to him.
What requires the most testing, however, is the initial sync process, which Buterin explained as the mechanism behind integrating new nodes to the network and its contract code. Of course, in numerous other subtleties and technical aspects that need to be taken care of, said Vitalik, adding that his team believes that the merge can take place sometime between June and August this year.
It should be noted here that the merger is just one of the first steps in Buterin’s vision for Ethereum, and the network could see steady development for the foreseeable future. While the exec previously revealed a roadmap on Twitter that outlined post-merger phases, he explained the same as:
“..the merge which was basically proof of stake, the surge which is increasing the capacity of the chain, basically doing sharding and doing a little bit more stuff before and after that. Then there is the verge, which is vertical trees which are basically, a technology that makes it easier to validate the chain… Then there’s the purge which is making the chain lighter and making the code wider and then there is like the splurge which is just everything else.”
The exec agreed that many more buzzwords and enhancements were in the works, such as ZK Snarks, EVM buildup, and bidding builder separation. If only merging with the POS and sharding are implemented, “we are still well placed”. This could be the case given that the biggest problems currently facing Ethereum are its dependence on mining and its lack of scalability, which sharding is supposed to solve.
Hence, Vitalik believes Ethereum “will definitely be big enough to” become the single transaction layer for the internet or global financial activity once the Surge phase of its transition takes place.
