One of the most important upgrades in the history of Ethereum is expected to take place in Q3 2022. The Merge stands for the official switch to the Beacon Chain as the engine of block production, and it is likely to positively impact the network and the whole blockchain space by eliminating the need for energy-intensive mining and securing the network using staked ETH, thus making Ethereum more scalable, secure, and sustainable. Here is a brief overview of the Ethereum Merge Roadmap.

The Merge will join the existing execution layer of the Ethereum Mainnet – the current version of Ethereum – with a recently developed Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus layer, the Beacon Chain.

The Beacon Chain is a coordination mechanism for the future Ethereum ecosystem, responsible for creating new blocks, ensuring these new blocks are valid, and rewarding validators with ETH for keeping the network secure.

Once the Ethereum Mainnet and Beacon Chain are merged, Proof-of-Work (PoW) will be permanently replaced by PoS. This will result in Ethereum becoming much more scalable, secure, and sustainable by eliminating the need for energy-intensive mining and securing the network using staked ETH.

• Read more about the Merge

Ever since Ethereum was created, developers have been working hard preparing for a future transition away from PoW to PoS.

• Also read A Brief Introduction to Ethereum

On December 1, 2020, the Beacon Chain mechanism was created, which has since been running in parallel, existing as a separate blockchain to the Mainnet.

When the Merge is finally complete, valid blocks will no longer be produced by means of mining. In other words, this role transfers to PoS validators who will be responsible for processing the validity of all transactions and proposing blocks.

According to the Ethereum Merge Roadmap, the Merge date is scheduled for September 15th or 16th, 2022, with Ether (ETH) prices jumping already ahead of the notable upgrade.

But what will happen to Ethereum Mainnet after the Merge? If you are worried about your funds, don’t be. As Ethereum gets merged with the Beacon Chain, it will also merge the entire transactional history of the Mainnet.

• Related: How to Withdraw Ethereum to Cash?

 As the long-awaited Merge is coming, we encourage you to join Coinmetro’s Discord and Telegram communities to stay better informed about the latest crypto developments.

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