Since his return from Amphora melting workshopCustomer teams have been working hard to implement the latest versions of the fusion specs and test them on devnets.
After four short-lived devnets, Kintsugi 🍵, a Longer duration public testnetis now online!
While client development and UX continue to be refined, we encourage the community to start using Kintsugi to get familiar with Ethereum in a post-merger context. For application developers, as explained previouslylittle will change. Tools that interact only with the consensus or execution layer are also not affected. The infrastructure that depends on both layers will likely need to adapt to support The Merge.
We recommend that most projects begin testing and prototyping on Kintsugi to quickly detect any potential issues. This way, changes can be more easily incorporated into future client and specification releases.
Using Kintsugi
Discover the Kintsugi Homepage for more information on interacting with the Kintsugi network. You’ll find network settings, a faucet, a block explorer, and a JSON-RPC endpoint, as well as updated documentation to reflect the supported consensus <> execution layer client combinations.
As a reminder, post-merge, a complete Ethereum client is composed of both a Beacon/Consensus node and an execution engine (managed by an existing “Eth1” client). Both layers maintain independent API endpoints and peer connections to manage their respective roles. For a complete overview of Ethereum’s post-merger architecture, see this message.
Support and feedback
The EthStaker community is available to provide Kintsugi support. If you have any questions, encounter errors or need clarification, they will be happy to help you with the #testthemerge🐼 channel of their Server Discord.
With the launch of Kintsugi, we hope the community will get involved #TestingTheMerge. Check out this list of test scenarios for ideas on how to take your tests to the next level.
If you identify any bugs or issues with the specification, the best place to report them is in the #general-merger channel of the Ethereum R&D Discord Server. If you prefer not to use Discord, other ways to raise such issues are spec repositories (consensus, execution, Apis), And Ethereum Magicians ✨.
Next steps
The Kintsugi testnet provides the community with the opportunity to experiment with Ethereum post-merge and begin to identify any issues. Once the feedback is integrated into the client software and specifications, a final round of testnets will be launched. At the same time, testing efforts will continue to intensify.
After that, existing long-running testnets will run through The Merge. Once these are upgraded and stable, the next step will be the Ethereum mainnet transition to Proof of Stake 🎊.
For those wishing to track progress at a more granular level, a Mainnet Readiness Checklist is publicly accessible and regularly updated.
See you on Kintsugi 🍵!
