[MEGATHREAD] The Ethereum Merge

September 12, 2022 2 min read

TLDR

Ethereum Mainnet will merge with the Beacon Chain proof-of-stake system, ending of proof-of-work (mining) for Ethereum.

The Merge!

The Merge represents the joining of the existing execution layer of Ethereum (the Mainnet we use today) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain. (Formerly called Eth2)

It eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining and instead secures the network using staked ETH. A truly exciting step in realizing the Ethereum vision – more scalability, security, and sustainability. This will reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption by ~99.95%.

The Merge is scheduled to happen on block 58,750,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that’s a lot of zeros), so the actual date/time is a little bit of a moving target, but there are a few websites to help predict when that will be:

https://bordel.wtf/ https://wenmerge.com/

Do I have to do anything?

If you own any Ethereum, ERC-20s (tokens), or ERC-721s (NFTs):

Nope, enjoy 🙂

If you are a validator:

Make sure your Beacon Chain Client is updated (lighthouse/lodestar/nimbus/prysm/teku) Make sure you have a suggested-fee-recipient is configured Make sure your jwt secret is set properly from your execution engine client (geth/nethermind/etc…) in your beacon chain client config If you want to sanity check your setup, Somer Esat has great guides: https://someresat.medium.com/

If you are a miner:

After the merge, blocks won’t be produced by mining anymore, thus no block rewards.