The crypto event “The Merge” sets the date for September 6
The mergerthe year’s most anticipated crypto event, finally has an official date: September 6, along with an estimated time of 7:34 a.m. ET, according to an update on the official Ethereum Foundation blog.
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The announcement initiates a countdown to the long-awaited transition in the Ethereum blockchain from the greenhouse gas-spewing proof-of-work protocol, to the relatively greener proof-of-stake. At its inception, this transition required a giant, ambitious change to Ethereum’s computing infrastructure – specifically the combination of the Ethereum Mainnet with the Beacon Chain, which enables ETH transactions and Ethereum-based NFT verifications to occur via the new protocol.
Ethereum’s The Merge is the most important event in crypto this year. Here’s why.
The theoretical giant change is finally becoming a reality in, at the time of writing, approximately 12 days and 19 hours.
While there are many issues at stake here, the most important thing about The Merge is that one of the two major cryptocurrencies (the one that isn’t Bitcoin) will lose most of its well-deserved reputation for lol-nothing-matters eco-destruction, which they most NFTs. This is because the new proof-of-stake model, unlike proof-of-work, does not involve powerful GPUs endlessly performing insane mathematical calculations by gobbling up massive amounts of dirty grid energy. Just what do proof of stake involves? It’s complicated, but you can read more about it here.
The September 6 event is actually just the start of the operation, which begins with an upgrade called “Bellatrix” happening on the new blockchain, after which important Merge-related activities (an operation known as The Kiln testnet) will cease. A new update, called Paris, will happen a few days later, sometime between September 10th and September 20th.
How a carbon coin can save the planet
So, if all goes according to plan, most people using the Ethereum blockchain will automatically use the new system without having to change anything.
And the Ethereum Foundation really want everything to go according to plan. Those who can find merge-related bugs are offered four times the usual amount in “bug bounties,” according to the blog post, meaning “critical” vulnerabilities can earn eagle-eyed coders up to $1 million.
