Ethereum Releases Kintsugi Testnet
The Kintsugi testnet has officially launched, marking an important step towards Ethereum's The Merge.
Earlier on December 20, overriding creator Tim Beiko announced the launch of the Kintsugi testnet as part of the draft plan for the transition from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) ( PoS).
The testnet, as its name suggests, is used to experiment with novel features and mechanisms, ensuring that everything is in place and working properly prior to throwing out the primary network.
"Over the past few months, consumer ensembles have been working tirelessly to carry out a new set of merger milestones. Now they stay live on an entirely new testnet: Kintsugi."
Kintsugi Test Network
Collaboration testing and sharding are key points of Ethereum 2.0, with the merger set to take place in Q1 / Q2 2022, as planned. Kintsugi testnet will test the transition from PoW to PoS mechanism, which is a fundamental step forward for ETH 2.0.
Since it is a testing stage, the data is not officially held on the blockchain, so it is quite adaptable if there are stability failures, failed transactions, etc.
On December 8, Ethereum activated "Difficulty Bomb", a procedure to control the speed of mining on the network. This shift is for the time expansion prior to the agreement change and will not have any impact on any holder.
The Kintsugi testnet will have no effect on users and developers on the network. However, the development team, society and projects are encouraged to modify this testnet.
Despite concerns about the long-term development of the launched networks, Beiko is confident in the long-term growth of Kintsugi. By the way, the testnet was operational for a few days before it was made public.
The transition to PoS
Following the launch of Beacon Chain earlier this month, The Merge is the next phase of the Ethereum 2.0 update. Throughout this stage, Ethereum 1.0 and Bacon Chain will be merged into a single Ethereum network, and PoW is to be replaced by PoS.
Thanks to Ethereum 1.0, capable contracts will be integrated into the PoS system. Ethereum 1.0 will further leave adherence to the full history and present state of Ethereum, ensuring a smooth transition for all users and holders on the Ethereum 1.0 network.
The merger will see the outcome of mining (with PoW) and the use of the node bet: stakers, or validators, will be assigned to validate the transactions in the mainet.
According to statistics, the most relevant problem with PoW is the consumption of resources, because the mechanism requires a huge proportion of hardware and program.
The Proof of Collaboration agreement is identified by minimizing the initial investment capital, maintenance prices, time and resource consumption, as well as the prices incurred throughout the use.
Simultaneously, thanks to the elimination of calculating and solving complicated hashing functionalities, the PoS system consumes less time and energy than PoW.
Another virtue of PoS is to erase centralization when using PoW, which is caused by the fact that the Pow application requires stringent hardware and pricing requirements, which causes the tool to focus on huge companies.
PoS, however, will allow more people to be eligible and willing to participate as it is not dependent on mathematical solving devices and has a huge source of maintenance power.
PoS values transparency and works time and time again to improve transactional transparency. Thanks to the deposit requirements of each participant, the interests of the pieces remain insured and are more secure.
If censors intentionally assert illegal transactions, they keep most of their assets and constantly own stability copies.
According to the original project, The Merge would have a place after Sharding as the solution to the scalability problem.
After the merger, Ethereum 2.0 will move to sentence 2. At this point, fragmentation will kick in and address network scalability while optimizing fees and transaction times.
Ethereum 2.0 will be key for Ethereum's accessibility. At the moment, gas fees are just too high and other networks like Solana are thriving because of this reason. I'm interested in seeing what will occur in 2022 with The Merge taking place!