The successful conclusion of the last shadow split indicated that the Ethereum network was ready to transition to a proof-of-stake consensus method. Developers of Ethereum have said that the shadow splits are necessary for the eagerly awaited blockchain upgrade. The Merge was completed successfully.
Shadow forks assist programmers in stress-testing synchronization hypotheses. In order to guarantee network security during ongoing upgrades. On April 11, 2022, Ethereum engineers implemented the first shadow fork in response to The Merge.
Nearly six months after the last shadow fork. Mainnet-Shadowfork-13, the Ethereum research and engineering firm Nethermind, declared that the transition was successful. Indicating that the network was prepared to switch to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus method.
Among other features, the testnet gave Ethereum developers the chance to practise running nodes. Deploying contracts and testing the infrastructure. Shadow forks, therefore, enable developers to assess the effects of network upgrades in advance.
The community must update their Ethereum clients and execute the combination of an execution layer and consensus layer as part of the upgrade.
Ethereum’s Merge: Top 4 misconceptions
1. Following The Merge, Ethereum gas fees will decrease
One of the biggest myths among investors is that Ethereum’s upcoming update will lower its infamous gas prices (transaction fees).
While lower gas costs are the number one desire of all investors. The Merge is a consensus mechanism modification that will switch the Ethereum blockchain from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (PoS).
Instead, Ethereum will need to work on increasing the network’s throughput and capacity. To reduce transaction costs, the developer community is presently developing a rollup-centric roadmap.
2. Transactions on Ethereum will be faster following The Merge.
We can presume that Ethereum transactions won’t be significantly quicker. There is some truth to this claim.
Though, as Beacon Chain permits validators to publish a block every 12 seconds, or around 13.3 seconds on the mainnet.
Although Ethereum experts predict that switching to PoS will enable a 10% increase in block generation. Users won’t notice the tiny difference.
3. The Merge will cause the Ethereum blockchain to go down.
Contrary to common belief, which predicts favorable effects for Ethereum from The Merge. A rumor has claimed that the scheduled upgrade will briefly bring down the Ethereum network.
4. Following The Merge, investors will be able to withdraw their Ethereum
Currently locked on the Beacon Chain is Staked ETH (stETH), a cryptocurrency backed 1:1 by Ether (ETH).
Users would prefer to be able to withdraw their stETH holdings. However, the developer community has stated that this modification is not made possible by the upgrade.
Also read: FlibFlib Predicts BTC Price To Come Down To $10,000
