The Ropsten public testnet, a testing environment that is the closest replication of the Ethereum mainnet, is set to undergo its long awaited merge on June 8.
The merge will mimic Ethereum’s upcoming transition from using a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake one. This allows developers to test and finalise adjustments for Ethereum’s mainnet merge later this year.
Ethereum DevOps engineer Parathi Jayanathi submitted a pull request for the Ropsten testnet Merge configuration code on May 16, suggesting the code is ready to be implemented.
Whilst there have been multiple tests to see how the merge would function, the Ropsten testnet is seen as one of the final and most important checks due to its similarity to the mainnet.
The Ropsten merge will occur in two stages. First, a genesis version of the consensus layer will be created on May 30 and then, on June 8, the merge itself will be implemented.
Importantly, the testnet timeline aligns with Ethereum developer Tim Beiko’s comments that the mainnet merge can be expected “a few months after June”.
He added: “No firm date yet, but we’re definitely in the final chapter of proof-of-work on Ethereum.”
What’s more, the Ethereum Foundation announced also on May 16 that its bug bounty programmes for its proof-of-work mainnet and proof-of-stake consensus layer have merged into one – a positive sign that development is moving in the right direction.
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