Developers at Ethereum are now employing a new testing model to gauge the platform’s mechanics and users’ readiness before the big merge. 

Ethereum is edging closer to the “merge” and shift from the current proof of work (POW) protocol to the proof of stake (POS) consensus system. The network’s developers are now busy testing the Ethereum mechanics and readiness mechanics. 

First, it was the “shadow fork,” which was done in April and then repeated two times to ensure that the new shift would be smooth. These tests allow developers to identify bugs in code that might have been missed during the development. For example, the Shadow Fork on 11th April helped developers uncover a bug on gas limits from miners. 

Other mergers took place on 23rd April and 5th May, and it is only a matter of time before Ethereum plugs into the POS consensus protocol. The shadow fork on 23rd April was very promising, with each client combination surviving transition and staying in sync. The assessment on 5th May revealed small but fixable points of improvement.  

Preparing for the Merge

• Hive Tests

Hive testing is an assessment of the present Ethereum platform’s Execution Layer (EL). It is also used to evaluate new engine APIs. Note that Hive tests are evolving progressively, and the recent test was used to mock the new proof of stake (POS) Ethereum Consensus Layer (CL) behavior. 

• Kurtosis 

The primary role of Kurtosis is that it assists in spinning up staging networks so that specific environments can be tested. This is very important for developers at Ethereum because they are able to review the health metrics during stress under simulated harsh conditions.