‘Eth2’ or now called ‘consensus layer’ had a speculative date for the launch. However, one Reddit member (u/superphiz) of the r/ethstaker community predicted that it would happen in June of this year.
It’s important to note that the Kiln testnet was the final public testing phase before the long-awaited Ethereum ‘Merge.’
Edging closer
Now, more than ever, ‘Merge’ on the Ethereum network is closer to full deployment after the final public testnet Kiln launched to put it through its paces. In a 14 March tweet, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko confirmed that Kiln has gone live. And, it would be ready to merge with the Beacon Chain very soon.
Kiln, the next iteration of Ethereum merge testnets, is now live 🔥🧱
Highly recommended that node operators, application developers, stakers, tooling/infra providers test their setups on the network. Blog post has all the info to get started 😁https://t.co/TCHBZxcFlt
— Tim Beiko | timbeiko.eth 🔥🧱 (@TimBeiko) March 14, 2022
Application and tooling developers, node operators, infrastructure providers and stakers were encouraged to test on Kiln to ensure a smooth transition on existing public testnets.
Kiln, at press time, operated in a proof-of-work testing environment for Ethereum developers, node operators, and stakers. It is the final public testnet before the whole network transitions to proof-of-stake from PoW sometime this year.
Got the Kiln Testnet working perfectly, bring on the merge @superphiz @remy_roy thanks for the great tutorials. pic.twitter.com/jtOCaX2m8W
— Ethereum CLWP 🔑 EIP-4736 (@EthCLWP) March 14, 2022
Kiln would fully test the merge likely post 17 March. Likewise, Kintsugi, the previous merge testnet, would deprecate in the coming weeks.
Ethereum’s mainnet transition from PoW to PoS is a major milestone in the network’s evolution. This next phase of Ethereum allowed the blockchain’s security to rely on staked tokens rather than costly and power-driven mining hardware.
Buzzing already
Over 10.1 million ether (ETH) was locked on Ethereum’s Eth 2.0 staking contract ahead of a planned upgrade. It was worth around $27 billion at press time. In addition, Ethereum’s fee structure witnessed an 8-month low, another bullish development.
ETH last had fees below $4.10 in mid-July as per the aforementioned graph. Interestingly, at the time of writing, Ethereum traded shy of the key $2,600 and $2,620 resistance levels with a fresh 2.6% correction in 24 hours.