Ethereum’s Long-Awaited Upgrade Gets Closer As Devs Set Final Timeline

Ethereum’s highly anticipated upgrade is nearing completion as developers finalize the timeline for its implementation. According to the Ethereum Foundation, the next two stages of the upgrade, known as the Sepolia and Holesky testnets, are set to be finished by early next month. This paves the way for the upgrade to go live on the mainnet in March. The developers promise that these final steps will make Ethereum faster and more cost-effective. Ethereum, the blockchain supporting the second-largest cryptocurrency, ETH, has been plagued by a congested network, making it challenging and expensive to use for building apps or sending funds. However, with the latest upgrade, known as proto-danksharding or EIP-4844, the network will be capable of handling over 100,000 transactions per second at a lower cost. This will be achieved by making Ethereum layer-2 solutions, such as Optimism, more affordable. These layer-2 solutions operate parallel to the main network, allowing transactions to bypass the congested blockchain swiftly. Ethereum’s constant improvement includes the transition from proof of work to proof of stake in 2022, known as “the merge.”