The Final ETH Shadow Fork Is Now Live On Ethereum Mainnet

• The thirteenth Ethereum shadow fork upgrade has been finally deployed on the mainnet 
• A shadow fork is simply a test fork run by the devs to check whether the network is equipped to handle the network alterations that the final upgrade will essentially be deploying on the network

Nethermind, Ethereum-based research, and development company has announced that the final Ethereum shadow fork, which ultimately prepares the ETH mainnet to welcome the upcoming merge, has finally been deployed on the mainnet. 

Final Shadow Fork Goes Live On Ethereum Mainnet. 

The final Ethereum shadow fork popularly addressed as the thirteenth fork has been successfully deployed on an Ethereum magnet. The following fork update is a duplicated form of the upcoming merge upgrade which essentially carries all the essential data changes and information that Ethereum will be equipped with, once the real merge goes live on the blockchain. 

Transition in Mainnet-Shadowfork-13 (the last shadowfork before The Merge) was successful for all Nethermind nodes!🐼💪#TheMerge #Ethereum #Nethermind #MSF13 pic.twitter.com/sddPPwSR1u

A shadow fork simply tests the interaction of the upgrades with the blockchain and whether the network is responding positively to the tested version or not. 

In simpler terms, a shadow fork is kind of a test run of all the technical changes that the merge will essentially deploy on Ethereum when it goes live on September 13. In crypto terminology, a shadow fork refers to an “intentional forking of a blockchain mainnet/devnet to test synchronization assumptions in preparing for a network upgrade.” 

With the thirteenth hard fork being successfully deployed and merged with the network’s beacon chain, Ethereum has now stepped one step closer to the scheduled merge event due to be held on September 13. 

With the deployment of the shadow fork, the devs have also addressed the missing block issue that the network had earlier encountered while deploying Ethereum’s Bellatrix upgrade on September 6. 

It was earlier reported that the deployment of the Bellatrix update had met with some initial hiccups. The issue was later identified and was caused due to several ETH node operators failing to upgrade their clients which resulted in the spiking of the Ethereum missed block rate. However, that issue has also been resolved. 

Big spike in the missed block rate after Bellatrix update.

Hopefully this can get debugged before the merge, we really don’t want to be seeing unexpected issues at this late stage. https://t.co/yOBSzQtFUe

A successful shadow fork deployment is a key milestone for Ethereum as it demonstrates the fact that the network is well equipped to meet the intense alterations that the blockchain will undergo once the final merge goes live on the network. 

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap is due to receive one of its biggest network upgrades on September 13. Dubbed “the merge,” the update will essentially help Ethereum shift its consensus from its earlier proof of work mechanism to proof of stake. The said transformation will assist the blockchain in becoming more sustainable and energy efficient while slashing its energy consumption by nearly 60-80%.

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