Ethereum merged on the Kiln testnet earlier this week ahead of the blockchain’s eventual move to a proof-of-stake network, with network validators now producing post-merge blocks containing transactions.
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Ethereum’s multi-stage shift to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism would validate transactions using nodes run by “stakers.” This is in favor of the current proof-of-work design, which relies on centralized entities called “miners” for validating transactions on the network.
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“Merge” refers to deploying Ethereum’s execution layer – the term for the current Ethereum network – to the “consensus layer” of the Beacon chain, the term for Ethereum’s upcoming proof-of-stake blockchain.
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Kiln is expected to be the last merge testnet created before existing public testnets are upgraded, Ethereum Foundation developers said in a post. Application and tooling developers, node operators, infrastructure providers and stakers are currently encouraged to test on Kiln.
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While the Merge was largely successful, developer Tim Beiko pointed out a single client was not producing blocks and that the issue was being looked into.
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Stakers have locked up over 10 million ether (ETH), which was valued at over $25 billion at the time, on the Eth 2.0 deposit contract, as reported. Locked ether effectively takes out freely-traded ether from the open market while reducing circulating supply.
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Ether issuance per block would drop by two ether once the merge is live on the public Ethereum network. This would add to further pressure on supply and act as a catalyst for ether prices in the long term, some analysts say.
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Ether gained 6.2% over the past 24 hours as the merge was deployed on Kiln. Tokens exchange hands at just over $2,640 at the time of writing, following a temporary spike to just over $2,700 in early Asian hours on Wednesday.
