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Ethereum's Merge pushed back

Ethereum has completed one of the final tests for the consensus switch.

By Mike Hesp
• 5 min read
Ethereum's Merge pushed back

Ethereum has completed one of the final tests for the consensus switch. But the merge still requires patience.

Ethereum has carried out its ninth shadow fork, taking one of the last hurdles on the road to the consensus shift to Proof of Stake. Shadow forks happen on small testnets, where only a scaled-down mainnet version is simulated and small changes are made. The latest fork focused on testing Ethereum's so-called MEV Boost feature.

MEV stands for "maximal extractable value". That means the rewards from block production realized by miners can now be manipulated by validators by changing the sequences in how transactions are processed. Ultimately, the system should prevent prioritizing profitable transactions. The function that was originally used for miners now has to be adapted for validators. They will be responsible for block production in the future. The MEV Boost function is meant to boost competition among validators, increase profits, and expand network decentralization.

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