Today, Ethereum completed one of its most critical tests ahead of The Merge—a pivotal transformation for the crypto world.
On July 27, Ethereum announced the Bellatrix upgrade for Goerli’s beacon chain (Prater) to prepare for the testnet merge. By August 4, the Bellatrix beacon chain activated, finalizing pre-merge preparations. At UTC 1:45 today, the Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) surpassed 10,790,000, marking the successful merge of the Goerli testnet with the beacon chain and its official transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). This was the final testnet merge before Ethereum’s mainnet upgrade.
With this milestone achieved, the Ethereum community now awaits the mainnet merge. Shortly after the test, Vitalik Buterin (V神) stated that post-PoS merge, gas fees could drop to $0.002–$0.05 with Rollups.
The market responded enthusiastically: ETH surged past $1,900, reflecting strong optimism around the upgrade.
Was the Upgrade Successful?
Since its inception, Ethereum has relied on Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus, with miners playing a key role in its ecosystem. However, PoW’s energy consumption has drawn persistent criticism. While PoS significantly reduces energy use, debates around security and centralization persist.
Ethereum researcher Ansgar Dietrichs deemed the test successful, noting on Twitter that the primary metric was timely completion. A Galaxy Digital partner observed slight participation dips post-merge—potentially due to client issues—but affirmed overall success.
Yet, discussions arose when Shenyu (神鱼) highlighted "Missed" blocks at Epoch 113787. Ethereum developer Marius Van Der Wijden acknowledged network confusion from diverging terminal blocks and outdated nodes but remained optimistic: "We’re investigating, but things look good so far."
Despite the official success announcement, minor issues lingered on Goerli, leaving questions about when normal operations would resume.
ETH’s Market Surge
The Goerli merge fueled ETH’s price rally.
After U.S. inflation data came in lower than expected, crypto markets rebounded. ETH soared 11% in 24 hours, peaking at $1,900. Notably:
- ETH/BTC ratios rose, with ETH leading the recovery.
- BTC inflows to exchanges spiked (~60K BTC on August 6 alone).
- ETH open interest hit 4.2M ETH—the second-highest level ever, per Arcane Research.
DeFi also rebounded:
- Ethereum’s TVL recovered to $400B+ (DeFiLlama).
- Total DeFi lockup exceeded $700B.
With bullish economic data and the impending mainnet merge, ETH’s momentum continues.
FAQs
Q: What was the purpose of the Goerli testnet merge?
A: To simulate Ethereum’s transition from PoW to PoS before the mainnet upgrade.
Q: Did the merge encounter any issues?
A: Minor delays and "Missed" blocks occurred, but developers deemed it successful overall.
Q: How might PoS affect ETH gas fees?
A: Vitalik Buterin estimates fees could drop to $0.002–$0.05 with Rollups post-merge.
Q: Why did ETH prices surge after the test?
A: Market optimism around the merge’s success and favorable U.S. inflation data drove demand.
👉 Explore Ethereum’s roadmap for deeper insights into PoS adoption.