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Ethereum’s Goerli Validators Gone: Migration Critical

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Ethereum’s first multi-client testnet, Goerli, will be phased out on April 13, 2024, following the success of the Dencun upgrade on the mainnet. Users & developers are required to migrate to Sepolia or Holesky as soon as possible, lead developer Tim Beiko warned. Since the Goerli testnet was permissionless, validators from the clients and testing teams played an important role in its operation and maintenance.

Now that the testnet will be discontinued, the validators’ abrupt exodus ahead of the deadline might affect the stability of the network. The team plans to utilize this opportunity to test certain network parameters and features. These include testing delayed finality [the time it takes for transactions to be considered final], inactivity leaks [penalties for inactive validators], and mass slashings [penalties for validators behaving maliciously or incorrectly].

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Ethereum's Goerli Validators Gone: Migration Critical 2

While the Dencun upgrade went without a hitch, the ETH community is grappling with developments surrounding the regulatory front. Following the SEC’s approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, crypto proponents pinned their hopes on similar ETF approval for altcoins, especially Ethereum. But the latest insights from online punters revealed that chances of green-lighting Ethereum ETFs looked slim as the SEC continues to maintain a radio silence on the issuers.

With the recent concerns raised by the Democratic senators, it could further bolster the SEC’s stance towards spot crypto ETFs. The US top market watchdog has spent a great deal on preventing BTC ETFs and has publicly attributed the approval to the court order [won by Grayscale].

SEC’s Stance on Ethereum ETF

One of the factors contributing to the SEC’s reluctance towards Ethereum ETFs was the correlation between the ETH spot and the future market, a key indicator for evaluating the suitability of ETFs. Coinbase legal expert Paul Grewal argued that there is evidence of digital asset commodities, apart from bitcoin, demonstrating market quality metrics that exceed even the largest traded equities.

For example, ETH’s spot market is deep and liquid; only two S&P 500 stocks have higher notional dollar trading volume. Only one S&P 500 stock has lower adjusted bid-ask spreads. And when compared to bitcoin, ETH’s future and spot market demonstrate EXACTLY the same type of high and consistent correlation that would enable market surveillance.

Ethereum January 2024 Hard Fork Unveiled

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In the latest community meeting, Tim Beiko, Ethereum’s lead developer, provided insights into the upcoming developments for the network. Beiko highlighted the anticipated Dencun hard fork of the Goerli testnet, revealing plans for its execution in January 2024, contingent on the smooth progression of preparations. Most teams involved are reportedly ready for the testnet fork trial, and there are plans to conduct a Goerli shadow network fork in the ensuing weeks.

Dencun, encompassing EIP-4844, marks the imminent network upgrade for Ethereum and is slated to be the final fork deployed on Goerli. Although there is no definitive mainnet deployment date, the core developers are currently eyeing January for the transition from the Goerli testnet to Dencun. Some community members speculate that the mainnet shift might occur in March or April.

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Ethereum January 2024 Hard Fork Unveiled 4

About Devnet 12, recently launched, it was reported that nearly all clients are operational on the new platform. Multiple errors at various clients, including Reth and Lighthouse, were identified and subsequently rectified. Notably, the Prysm Ethereum Client team is still absent from Devnet 12, focusing on ongoing work related to Blob caching and verification. They aim to join Devnet 12 within the next one or two weeks.

The development team is well-prepared for the upcoming testnet fork, with plans for a substantial Goerli shadow fork in the coming weeks. There is unanimous agreement among developers that, should these processes unfold smoothly, the Goerli fork date will be finalized early in 2024, with aspirations to activate Dencun on the network in January. The last ACDE meeting of 2023 is scheduled for December 21 at 22:00 Beijing time.

Ethereum: Shadow Fork On The Horizon

Looking ahead, discussions during the meeting centered on the teams’ readiness to progress toward forking testnets. A significant Goerli shadow fork is on the horizon, and pending any unforeseen issues, forking Goerli itself is deemed to provide the most valuable testing insights.

Prior statements from Ethereum client developers confirmed that the highly anticipated Dencun upgrade would not undergo deployment through a network hard fork before the close of 2023. Meanwhile, Ethereum has experienced notable price momentum, reaching $2,370, its highest point since June 2022. This surge is attributed to growing institutional interest in the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, propelling Ether’s price by 25.7% over the past 30 days. The sustained trading above $2,300 suggests an increasing focus on Ether, with a year-to-date price increase of 96.5%.

Ethereum’s Evolution: Holesky Testnet Signals a New Dawn for Developers

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In a pivotal move, Ethereum’s Holesky has become the largest Ethereum testnet by validator count, shortly after its tumultuous launch. With a whopping 1.4 million validators, the newest test network is aimed at addressing the scalability challenges faced by the mainnet. Holesky marks a vital step in the evolution of ETH’s testing infrastructure and joins the ranks of existing testnets Goerli and Sepolia, which serve as replicas of the main blockchain, specifically designed for testing new applications and smart contracts.

However, the eagerly anticipated testnet release met a technical snag caused by a configuration error that prevented the network from going live on the one-year anniversary of Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake consensus [PoS]. Despite a minor bug reported during the launch, ETH’s core developers remain undeterred. Validator participation has been steadily increasing, with expectations of reaching 90% by 29 Sept.

The primary goal of Holesky is to enhance testing capabilities for Ethereum’s ecosystem by offering a more expansive and realistic environment, which currently boasts around 700,000 validators. By significantly increasing the size of the testnet, ETH developers aim to replicate real-world conditions more accurately.

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Image Credit: foobar

Decentralized applications tested on Holesky are expected to encounter fewer unexpected challenges when deployed on the Ethereum mainnet. With 1.6 billion ETH in supply and over 10x the size of mainnet’s 120 million supply, Holesky has proactively tackled access issues that plagued its predecessor, Goerli, due to limited testnet ether [gETH] supply, causing prices to temporarily spike above $1.60.

Ethereum’s Roadmap

Looking ahead, Holesky is poised to replace the Goerli testnet, which is set to retire in early 2024. This transition is crucial for Ethereum’s ongoing development, ensuring that the platform’s testing capabilities remain robust and adaptable.

While Goerli is still earmarked for the Dencun upgrade featuring EIP-4844, Ethereum’s journey to the mainnet has encountered some delays. The network has been navigating a series of developer networks, including the imminent launch of Devnet-9, slightly postponed from the initial plan, which is now projected to debut “29 Sept. or early next week.”

The ETH community’s next agenda on the list is to launch the first testnet before the Devconnect conference in Istanbul, set to take place in mid-November. If all progresses smoothly, the mainnet upgrade could become a reality as early as January 2024, marking an epoch-making moment in Ethereum’s evolving landscape.

Final Test Run For Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade Completes

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Ethereum’s last test run for the Shanghai upgrade- the Shapella hard fork has been executed on the Goerli testnet, paving the way for staked ETH withdrawals.

This was announced by the ETH core developer Tim Beiko apprising the fork while also pointing out issues that came with it.

Beiko observed that several testnet validators did not update their client software prior to the Goerli fork, which caused a delay in the deposit process.

This again has its own challenge as there is “less incentive to run a validator/monitor it”, given that the Goerli ETH “is worthless”.

However, he still expects validators to make the necessary adjustments ahead of the fork on the mainnet.

Another developer of the Ethereum foundation Parithosh Jayanthi noted that once the issues with the validators running older versions of clients were fixed, the attestation rate increased and is at the moment finalizing.

“Mainnet comes next”, he exclaimed.

Also, for Shapella to be forked onto the Goerli testnet , it required 15 epochs, “terence.eth” stated since network participation was below the two-thirds threshold:

The final mainnet of the Shapella fork is expected to take place in early April following a few delays in preparing the Sepolia and Goerli testnets for the fork.

The Shanghai upgrade will ultimately allow validators to withdraw their staked ether as well as any incentives received from adding or approving blocks to the blockchain, transforming Ethereum’s entire shift to a proof-of-stake [PoS] network.

Ethereum’s Goerli Was The Last Of The Three Testnets

It needs to be told that Goerli was the most anticipated because it was the last of three testnets to run through such a simulation.

Also, Goerli was the final chance for staking providers to verify that staked ETH withdrawals would be handled correctly prior to the update going live.

In addition, this test has the most validators and closely mimics the activity on the Ethereum blockchain.

Before any changes are made to the mainnet, developers can repair any bugs on testnets, which imitate the main blockchain.

As reported by TronWeekly, on the client side of the consensus layer, the upgrade is referred to as Capella, while the fork is referred to as Shanghai on the client side of the execution layer.

The name “Shapella” have been derived from the combination of Shanghai, the location of Devcon 2, and Capella, the brightest star in the northern constellation of Auriga.

The ability for validators to return their staked Ether [stETH] from the Beacon Chain to the execution layer is one of the significant changes.

Ethereum’s Merge Inching Closer After Executing Final “Trial Run”

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Ethereum’s highly awaited merge is in its last leg following the completion of the third and final public testnets Goerli. The network transitioned to proof-of-stake [PoS] when the Terminal Total Difficulty [TTD] surpassed 10,790,000, which took place at 1:45 UTC.

It was the last and most significant dry run before the Ethereum blockchain moves to proof-of-stake from proof-of-work on the so-called mainnet ready to be used by everyone.

On July 27, Ethereum announced the Bellatrix upgrade to Goerli’s beacon chain, Prater, in preparation for the testnet merge. After the Bellatrix beacon chain went live on August 4, all that remained was for it to merge with Goerli, so the testnet could continue to run on the PoS chain.

The last testnet merge is one step closer to Ethereum’s mainnet upgrade later this year. The previous two testnet merges, Ropsten and Sepolia, were overall successful as well, boosting the Ethereum community’s confidence that the actual Merge should go as per the given time frame.

But now, with the successful completion of the Goerli testnet merge, Ethereum developers are in a much better position to estimate the probability of success for the mainnet upgrade. 

What’s Next For Ethereum?

The mainnet merge is slated to happen in September, depending on what developers find post-Goerli testnet merge, the dates might change. Developers may also discuss the Goerli testnet merge and fix a date for the mainnet merge later this week. 

For those new, ETH developers run merge rehearsal on multiple testnets prior to Goerli. These testnets such as Goerli are crucial for blockchains, as they act as an important tool for developers to test upgrades before being deployed on the mainnet.

The testnets working mechanisms are similar to their mainnet variants and allow developers to check for bugs or security loopholes, fixing those defects from affecting the main blockchain once enabled. 

On the price front, the value of Ether appreciated in response to the Goerli testnet merge on 10 August. Shortly after the merge activation, the world’s second-largest asset hit a 24-hour high of $1,912, according to Coin Gecko. The coin is currently trading at around $1,884, up by13% over the last day.