The successful completion of the last shadow fork signaled that Ethereum is ready for The Merge

Ethereum (ETH) developers have confirmed that they have successfully completed Shadow Forks – the prerequisites for the long-awaited blockchain update The Merge.

Shadow forks help developers stress test synchronization assumptions to ensure network safety during permanent upgrades. In light of The Merge, Ethereum developers implemented the first Shadow Fork on April 11, 2022. 

In almost six months, Ethereum research and engineering firm Nethermind has confirmed that the Mainnet-Shadowfork-13 transition – the last shadow fork – has been successful, indicating that the network is ready to migrate to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

Testnet allows Ethereum developers to launch nodes, deploying contracts and testing the infrastructure. As a result, Shadow Fork allows developers to measure the effects of network updates before they happen.

As part of the update, the community needs to update its Ethereum clients to enable a combination of the execution layer and consensus layer.

The CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, Alexander Höptner, emphasized the need to be careful to avoid disruptions during the Ethereum upgrade.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Höptner explained:

“You have to be just, let’s say, awake and see what happens. There’s a chance for high volatility. And so you have to make sure that your services are up and running. […] We don’t expect any major disruptions outside of volatility.”

The CEO further is hopeful that the success of The Merge would be dependent on the support of the community.