Ethereum’s Ropsten Testnet Successfully Merged to Proof-of-stake

Today, Ethereum’s oldest test network “Ropsten” transitioned to proof of stake.

“Proof-of-Stake (PoS) is an alternative consensus mechanism to Proof-of-Work where ‘stakers’ (commonly known as miners in PoW) lock up 32 ETH in order to become a validator. Every time a new block is needed by the network, an algorithm grants a specific staker the opportunity to publish the next block. The algorithm selects the staker via lottery, depending on each staker’s percentage of total staked funds. For example, if a single staker controls 30% of all funds staked on a given network, they have a 30% chance of mining the next block.”

Intensive processing power is necessary on PoW networks, excessive electricity use has been the most common criticism of the traditional consensus mechanism. The merge will definitely help curb negative sentiment on NFT’s as Ethereum will finally be a PoS network.

The ETH merge is long awaited and highly anticipated as this will mark a huge milestone in the cryptocurrency space.

We are very excited for the mainnet merge slated for August of this year. Let’s us know your thoughts below.