Ethereum just completed its first long-awaited makeover since the digital currency was launched nearly a decade ago.
The process of mining to generate new coins such as ethereum and bitcoin are often criticized. Currently both platforms use a so-called proof-of-work mining model, involving complex math equations that huge numbers of machines race to solve.
The latest test run on Wednesday was very smooth according to the developers, an important marker as the second-largest blockchain prepares for its landmark move.
The exercise on Wednesday showed that the proof-of-stake validation process substantially reduces the energy needed for verifying a block of transactions, and also proved that the merger process is working.
“There was no crazy bug that happened,” said Auston Bunsen, co-founder of QuikNode, which provides blockchain infrastructure to developers and companies. “Everything went as smooth as it could be.”
Tim Beiko, the coordinator for ethereum’s protocol developers, agreed that the network is now stable. However, Beiko said that the test hit “some minor known issues,” and developers “will be spending the next few days triaging them before discussing next steps on this Friday’s AllCoreDevs call.”
The price of ether, the token native to the ethereum blockchain, is trading at just over $1,800 and has lost about half its value this year.
“We knew that there would be a lot of technical work to address things like the increased centralization that we see in other proof-of-stake systems,” Beiko told CNBC. “We’ve achieved that with the beacon chain.”
In order to use the system, Beiko tells CNBC the original proposal required validators to have 1,500 ether, a stake now worth around $2.7 million. To lower the barrier for entry, the new proof-of-stake proposal would only require interested users to have only 32 ether, or about $57,600.
Developers have been simulating the merge with testnets to pressure test the workflow and the code. On Wednesday, ethereum’s longest-running testnet, known as Ropsten (which closely mirrors the mainnet) successfully merged the proof-of-stake beacon chain with its proof-of-work execution layer.
Beiko said that testing the merge allowed developers to ensure stability in the software running the ethereum protocol and “that everything built on top of the network was ready for the transition.”
He called Wednesday’s trial “an instantaneous smooth rollout” and said, “I can see it happening in the same way for mainnet.”
“Users should be aware that ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake requires no action on their part unless they are a validator on the network,” he said. “The transition also won’t create any ‘new’ ethereum tokens.”
Beiko advised users to watch out for scams and to refer to ethereum’s blog for future announcements.
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