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Ethereum ($ETH), the second most popular cryptocurrency, inches close to The Merge, i.e., a seamless migration from Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) one.
First mainnet fork ever takes place on Ethereum ($ETH): developer
Seasoned Ethereum ($ETH) researcher and developer Marius van der Wijden has taken to Twitter to share that the unusual fork takes place today on April 11, 2022.
We're very close to a historical event. We're testing PoS on #Ethereum. Today will be the first mainnet shadow fork ever. We're roughly 690 blocks (~2 h) away from TTD. Follow here: https://t.co/T20ZMgApYw or https://t.co/Uod8WBsqtw
— MariusVanDerWijden (@vdWijden) April 11, 2022
Huge props to @parithosh_j! #TestingTheMerge pic.twitter.com/M8ZcHnKqaL
For the first time ever, Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanisms are stress tested on Ethereum ($ETH) mainnet. As explained by Ethereum ($ETH) veteran Parithosh Jayanthi, previously, Ethereum Goerli testnet came through a similar procedure three times.
"Shadow fork" requires interaction with Beacon Chain infrastructure; its mechanisms will be relaunched several times. Its configurations will be of crucial importance for the next phase of Ethereum ($ETH) progress, as:
[It] would dictate optimizations needed in the run up to the merge.
Technically, "shadow fork" is authorized in parallel with the "regular" Ethereum ($ETH) mainnet and does not affect its operations in any meaningful manner.
Dress rehearsal before The Merge
Ethereum ($ETH) developers stressed that this is a revolutionary event: newbie Ethereans are not recommended to join the process.
As covered by U.Today previously, Ethereum ($ETH) network is getting through its latest pre-Merge testnet, dubbed Kiln. It is set to let EF experiment with all configurations required to move Ethereum ($ETH) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
Recently, Ethereum ($ETH) developers also released the agenda of Shanghai, the next hardfork for the first smart contracts platform. It is designed to optimize the performance and resource-efficiency of Ethereum's L2s.