The countdown to Ether becoming a deflationary crypto asset will begin on May 19th. Developers activated the first testnet to observe the operation of the blockchain after the merger of ETH1 and ETH2.
In recent days, Ethereum developers met to define the path to the London hard fork. This event will activate the EIP-1559 protocol, which will seek to solve problems with high transaction fees.
On Twitter, Ethereum Foundation developer Tim Beiko confirmed that the activation of the London hard fork will occur on July 14th. They will conduct preliminary tests on various networks, such as TestNet Ropsten, starting on June 16th. However, they will make the launch to customers on May 19th.
The developers discussed new improvement proposals and evaluated the scenarios regarding the implementation of EIP 3198. This protocol establishes the base rate operation code under which EIP-1559 will work. Besides, EIP-3238 will delay the ice age, also known as “difficulty bomb”, by around 10 months. This will increase mining difficulty, thus encouraging miners to switch to the Proof of Stake (PoS) chain.
In their discussion, they have not yet defined what other proposals they will include in the next update to the network. However, what the community expects the most from Ethereum is EIP 1559, which seeks to manage the costs of transaction fees. This protocol includes a base rate that will later burn instead of being the payment to the miners who validate the transaction blocks.
The community is begging for EIP-1559 to reduce high fees and make Ether a deflationary asset. However, miners frown on it as it represents the early loss of their income. This occurs long before the network completes the transition to the PoS consensus algorithm.
Activation of a Test Network to Observe the Operation of the Blockchain
Ethereum developers recently launched a testnet to observe the operation of the blockchain after the merger between ETH1 and ETH2. This experimental prototype is operating with the following clients of the ecosystem: Nethermind, Teku, Lighthouse, Prysm, Geth, Besu, and Nimbus.
The Ethereum network is moving forward in its migration process from the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus type to PoS. Currently, it works in parallel with the Beacon Chain, an independent network for the development of the PoS consensus layer.
For the full transition to PoS, all Ethereum development on the PoW network will remain. Meanwhile, the PoS consensus layer merges to replace PoW. The developers will be running the merger on testnets until May 13th.
When all the tests for the merger are complete, the removal of the consensus layer that keeps the PoW algorithm alive on Ethereum will occur. At that point, the new PoS consensus layer will validate the consensus in all future blocks on the blockchain.
“The merger [between the two blockchains] is not the launch of a new version of Ethereum. [It is] an update of the consensus layer that brings [the network] in line with the original vision established in its genesis,” according to the developers.
There is no final date for the transition yet, but the path shows several hard forks along the way. The activation of Berlin already occurred on April 15th, and that of London will follow in July, both on the Ethereum mainnet. Subsequently, the Shanghai hard fork could take place in the first quarter of 2022.
By Alexander Salazar
