Ethereum has activated The Merge and transactions are now being processed under proof of stake. The next step is to watch for attestations and wait until the first proof-of-stake slot gets finalized. This will happen over the next 12 minutes. The Merge upgrade was activated at the agreed upon Total Terminal Difficulty (TTD) on Ethereum’s proof-of-work chain at 6:44 AM UTC today. TTD is a combined measure of how difficult it is to produce a block for transactions and how this has fared over time. The Merge has been in development since 2020 and is the second and final step in the transition to proof of stake. It ... (full story)