BREAKING: Ethereum Completes Goerli Testnet Merge

Ethereum’s Final Testnet Has Transitioned To Proof-Of-Stake

The final installment of the testnet Merge trilogy is complete. 

On Aug. 10 at 945pm ET, Ethereum’s Goerli testnet transitioned to proof-of-stake consensus. 

This means the consensus layer, which has so far been running a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism parallel to Goerli, has merged into Goerli’s execution layer, unifying the two systems.

The Ethereum community celebrated the milestone on a community call co-hosted by Bankless and EthStaker. 

Mainnet In September

Goerli’s successful Merge leaves only the mainnet upgrade, which Ethereum developers estimate will happen between Sep. 15 and 20. The timing of the Merge on mainnet can’t be predicted exactly because it depends on the level of difficulty of mining a block, which varies depending on how much mining power is dedicated to the network.

Hashrate, a measure of mining power, is determined by how much computing power is dedicated to mining Ethereum blocks on the soon-to-be deprecated proof-of-work layer.

Once the mainnet Merge is completed, however, the concept of hashrate will become irrelevant to Ethereum because the blockchain will move to proof-of-stake consensus, which is dependent on assets staked rather than computing power.

This switch is estimated to reduce energy consumption by 99.95% according to ethereum.org. Digiconomist, which bills itself as a platform “dedicated to exposing the unintended consequences of digital trends,” estimates that Ethereum consumes a comparable amount of electrical power as Finland at present.

The Merge is also set to reduce the issuance of ETH by roughly 90%, according to ethereum.org. The reduction should theoretically reduce selling pressure on ETH, but Wall Street’s positioning with futures and options, suggests the Merge may be a sell-the-news event. 

Regardless, with the final testnet Merge now complete, Ethereum enthusiasts will turn their eyes towards the mainnet Merge, the most significant upgrade in the blockchain’s history. 

Ether briefly traded above $1,900 for the first time since June 6.