Ethereum has a unique code called the ‘difficulty bomb’ that allows it to increase the computing difficulty required for proof of working mining. As a result, the Difficulty bomb makes it impossible for crypto miners to carry on.
Recently, developers of the second-highest blockchain in the market decided to delay the initiation of the difficulty bomb by two months, forcing miners to cease any plans they had.
On Friday, core Ethereum developers met and discussed the platform’s Ropsten public testnet, the platform’s dress rehearsal before the merge between Ethereum Mainnet and the beacon chain proof-of-stake or PoS system. Unfortunately, the testnet found some bugs that led to the meeting.
During the discussion, the developers voted to support the proposal EIP-5133, delaying the difficulty bomb and pushing it further to August 2022.
However, Ethereum developers have not entirely committed to a date for The Merge.
“In short, we agreed to the bomb delay,” said Tim Beiko, lead developer. “We were already over time and want to be sure that we sanity check all the numbers before selecting an exact delay and deployment time, but we are aiming for a two-month delay and for the upgrade to go live late June.”
Beiko also said that the delay would benefit developers, allowing them to “keep a strong focus on the Merge,” during which the current Ethereum Mainnet and the beacon chain proof-of-stake system will merge.
Ben Edgington, another core developer, expressed hopes that The Merge would not be affected by the difficulty bomb delay.
“We say it won’t delay The Merge,” he said. “I sincerely hope not.”
Earlier in April, developers were able to complete Ethereum’s first mainnet shadow fork, but Beiko revealed The Merge would not be completed in June.
“It won’t be in June, but likely in [a] few months after,” said the developer in April. “No firm date yet, but we’re definitely in the final chapter of Ethereum.”
Currently, Ethereum is selling at $1,232.42, declining over 29.83% in the last seven days, with a market cap of $148.54 billion.
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