Ethereum developers have studied the process needed to launch a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, noticing high transaction costs and slowness on the mainnet. The new consensus mechanism will allow many developers to return to the Ethereum networks, leading the price of ETH to rise significantly.
On April 9th, the Shadow Fork began doing tests on the Ethereum mainnet, already showing several results. It accumulated a figure of over 2 million transactions, with an average of 14-13 seconds per block.
The term shadow fork refers to a process of copying data from the Ethereum mainnet to a verification network. Then developers can evaluate the features beforehand while distributing their work on the mainnet.
Marius Van Der Wijden, a developer of Ethereum, said that the Shadow Fork would mark a before and after in Ethereum. That historical event will allow knowing the possibilities of the mainnet with a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) system.
Many bitcoiners consider that the Proof of Work (PoW) makes protocols more resistant to censorship. However, they complain that the Proof of Stake only allows a few validator nodes to keep the history of transactions.
Studying the Process, Launching a PoS Consensus Mechanism, and Evaluating the Results
Over the last few months, Ethereum developers have studied the process needed to launch a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. They noticed that the transaction costs and the slowness on the mainnet had been a problem that they must solve.
After a long time, the tests began on all the existing Ethereum networks on April 10th. That process will allow developers like Parithosh Jayanthi to evaluate their assumptions, the synchronization of users, and its possible growth.
They expect the integration of participants rather than miners will help the network continue to scale. They also predict a reduction in the energy required by the network for working, besides lower transaction costs.
The benefits of integrating the new consensus mechanism will allow many developers to return to the Ethereum networks. They had previously migrated to other blockchains looking for better alternatives. If that happens, the price of Ether (ETH), the token of the mainnet, could rise significantly.
The Ethereum Shadow Fork Is the Starting Point of a New Stage
Van Der Wijden and other Ethereum developers believe that the Shadow Fork will become a milestone for the community. They have discussed using the Kiln Fusion Testnet to experiment with nodes and the community, but the Shadow Fork goes further.
This type of test will not only allow users in the community to test or implement contracts. It can also subject the network to high saturation levels, thus evaluating more details.
Although not all the validators have yet appeared, the figures are above the minimum required for operating.
ETH is trading at around USD 3,026 and has accumulated a 3.2% loss over the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 15.32 billion, and its market capitalization is about USD 364.59 billion, according to CoinGecko.
By Alexander Salazar
