A significant milestone that will culminate in the so-called “merge” of Ethereum ETH/USD, known as the Bellatrix upgrade, has been activated as the blockchain moves from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus.
Often known as ETH 2.0, the merge focuses on introducing new token standards that are considered more secure and less energy-intensive.
It will also alter how the blockchain functions.
The update of the Ethereum Virtual Machine that hosts the decentralized apps is called Bellatrix. According to Ethereum Foundation, the upgrade will increase the network’s scalability, speed, and security and chart the path for the implementation of the Ethereum 2.0 Network.
The entire ecosystem will therefore be more ready for widespread adoption.
Path Cleared For Paris Upgrade
Mining on Ethereum will completely stop once the terminal total difficulty (TTD) is reached, and “the Merge” — also known as the Paris upgrade — will happen.
Once a TTD of 58750000000000000000000 is attained and the first PoS block is produced on the Ethereum blockchain – the process will approximately take around 13 minutes, providing that there are no obstacles or mistakes.
The Paris Upgrade will come into effect after that.
The Bellatrix hard fork will be key in establishing the tone on how The Merge will proceed.
If all goes smoothly, based on the current Ethereum network hashrate, The Merge is expected to occur shortly after 9:00 pm EST on September 14.
Ethereum Use Cases
Over the past several years, the use of Ethereum has been gradually increasing. The network has shown to be beneficial for a wide range of businesses and used by millions of people, but the protocol has had scaling difficulties.
The ETH 2.0 upgrade is expected to resolve scalability issues, increase transaction speed and bring about a new mechanism for code upgrades.
Additionally, it will result in a more open governance structure, which will strengthen and improve the appeal of the Ethereum network.