The Ethereum blockchain is set for Proof-of-Stake (PoS) following the final shadow fork testing for the transition.
A shadow fork is when a portion of the blockchain is tested to make sure it will hold up to some of the permanent changes that are coming to Eth 2.0. The final test was completed on September 9 2022. It was the 13th since the first shadow fork in April 2022.
Besides the shadow forks, Ethereum has also been transitioning several testnets to Proof-of-Stake as they prepared for the Merge. The last testnet to transition was the Goerli testnet which merged on August 11 2022.
Goerli is one of 3 dedicated testnets, clones of the Ethereum blockchain, and typically offer a free environment for users to try out $ETH transactions and services. In a shadow fork however, tests are carried out on a version of the mainnet.
The shadow fork merges data from the execution layer and consensus layer to create another testnet.
Below is a further explanation by Ethereum Core Developer, Tim Beiko:
“Shadow forks give us a more realistic environment to test in than launching new testnets because existing testnets already have transactions happening organically on them, and a large state size and block history which put nodes under more stress than new testnets.”
The shadow-fork test took place without issue as was confirmed in a tweet by infrastructure company, Nethermind:
Transition in Mainnet-Shadowfork-13 (the last shadowfork before The Merge) was successful for all Nethermind nodes!🐼💪#TheMerge #Ethereum #Nethermind #MSF13 pic.twitter.com/sddPPwSR1u
— Nethermind (@nethermindeth) September 9, 2022
Nethermind is one of the makers of client software that validators require to run Ethereum nodes, versions of the Ethereum network on their computers. Other client software includes:
- Nethermind
- Besu
- Geth
- Erigon
One objective of the shadow fork is to make sure that the client software can run the nodes without any issues following upgraded code.
The reasons for the fork include the following:
- Practice running nodes
- Deploying contracts
- Testing the infrastructure
The forks help developers to see how upgrades will affect the blockchain ahead of the real merge that is expected around September 14-15, 2022.
You can read a full explainer on the Merge here.
Watch the video below as Vitalki Buterin, Founder of Ethereum, as he discusses viable ideas and solutions that can be built on Ethereum 2.0.
___________________
Follow us on Twitter for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
___________________
