Ethereum Preps for ‘The Merge’ With the Launch of Kiln Testnet

Key Insights:

• The final Ethereum public testnet called Kiln has been launched.
• Kiln is currently operating in a PoW testing environment.
• This week, Kiln will complete the testing of the merge.

The much-awaited Ethereum Merge, marking the complete transition from PoW to PoS, is edging closer to becoming a reality with the launch of the final public testnet called Kiln.

Kiln went live last week to simulate the merger of Ethereum’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) chain with the Beacon Chain, now called the consensus layer.

Killing it With Kiln

Ethereum’s biggest test, ahead of its merge into a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus layer, is underway. Kiln is currently operating in a PoW testing environment for ETH developers, node operators, and stakers.

This is the last public testnet before the entire network switches over to PoS from PoW later this year. Notably, this week, Kiln will complete the testing of the merge.

Over the weekend, Ethereum developers and node operators have tested the merge on Kiln, and it appears that things are working as expected. Kiln is the successor of the Kintsugi testnet, which was launched in December to allow for initial merge testing.

The Ethereum Foundation stated on March 14, urging stakeholders to run tests using Kiln ‘to ensure a smooth transition on existing public testnets.’ The statement read,

“We strongly recommend that developers run through a full testing and deployment cycle on Kiln and report any issues with tools or dependencies to those projects’ maintainers.”

Ethereum’s Prep for PoS

While the actual dates of the merge with PoS consensus haven’t been announced, the upgrade would come sometime this year.

However, it is expected that the merge could happen after Kiln finishes testing around April–May. This event remains in line with Ethereum’s roadmap for Q1 2022.

That said, while Ethereum 2.0’s first phase was launched in December 2020, with two phases remaining, the entire deployment is not expected until later in 2023.

Ethereum developer Time Beiko urged node operators, application developers, stakers, and tooling/infra providers to test their setups on the network.

Kiln, the next iteration of Ethereum merge testnets, is now live 🔥🧱

Highly recommended that node operators, application developers, stakers, tooling/infra providers test their setups on the network. Blog post has all the info to get started 😁https://t.co/TCHBZxcFlt

— Tim Beiko | timbeiko.eth 🔥🧱 (@TimBeiko) March 14, 2022

On Mach 13, Beacon Chain community health consultant who goes by the name of ‘Superphiz’ confirmed that ‘Kiln is operating as a short-lived PoW chain alongside a PoS chain.’

I'm detecting some confusion about what the kiln testnet is or is not doing, so I'll simplify: Right now kiln is operating as a short-lived PoW chain alongside a PoS chain similar to our current mainnet situation. This week, kiln will execute a merge to model that maneuver.

— superphiz.eth 🦇🔊🐼 (@superphiz) March 13, 2022

Notably, Ethereum staking surpassed the 10 million milestones and stood at 10,516,339 ETH at press time. Ether’s price has been trading around the $2,500 mark in a rangebound movement for over a week now.

As reported by FXEmpire, European Union lawmakers voted against a ban on PoW mining.
A prohibition on PoW mining would have resulted in banning BTC and ETH. The decision came as a relief to the European crypto community.