Ethereum Merge Takes Place on Kiln Testnet

Ethereum merged on the Kiln testnet earlier this week ahead of the blockchain's eventual move to a proof-of-stake network, with network validators now producing post-merge blocks containing transactions.

Ethereum’s multi-stage shift to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism would validate transactions using nodes run by “stakers.” This is in favor of the current proof-of-work design, which relies on centralized entities called “miners” for validating transactions on the network.
“Merge” refers to deploying Ethereum’s execution layer – the term for the current Ethereum network – to the “consensus layer” of the Beacon chain, the term for Ethereum’s upcoming proof-of-stake blockchain.
Kiln is expected to be the last merge testnet created before existing public testnets are upgraded, Ethereum Foundation developers said in a post. Application and tooling developers, node operators, infrastructure providers and stakers are currently encouraged to test on Kiln.
While the Merge was largely successful, developer Tim Beiko pointed out a single client was not producing blocks and that the issue was being looked into.

Stakers have locked up over 10 million ether (ETH), which was valued at over $25 billion at the time, on the Eth 2.0 deposit contract, as reported. Locked ether effectively takes out freely-traded ether from the open market while reducing circulating supply.
Ether issuance per block would drop by two ether once the merge is live on the public Ethereum network. This would add to further pressure on supply and act as a catalyst for ether prices in the long term, some analysts say.
Ether gained 6.2% over the past 24 hours as the merge was deployed on Kiln. Tokens exchange hands at just over $2,640 at the time of writing, following a temporary spike to just over $2,700 in early Asian hours on Wednesday.

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Shaurya Malwa

Shaurya is the Deputy Managing Editor for the Data & Tokens team, focusing on decentralized finance, markets, on-chain data, and governance across all major and minor blockchains.

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