Ahead of the much-anticipated Merge event in crypto history, Ethereum rolls out a new big network upgrade titled “Gray Glacier”.
The Gray Glacier upgrade happened yesterday at block 15,050,000 to push back the difficulty bomb.
This upgrade pushes the difficulty bomb back by around 700,000 blocks or 100 days until September when Ethereum developers think the much-anticipated “Merge” upgrade will take place.
The difficulty bomb is critical for the merge because once triggered, it intends to incentivize the move to proof-of-stake mining on Ethereum by making proof-of-work mining practically impossible.
As Ethereum engineers prepare for the Merge event, the difficulty bomb has already been postponed multiple times.
Also Read: Ethereum to Shut Down Rinkeby, Ropsten & Kiln Testnet
This bomb can be troublesome for Ethereum if it is detonated too fast, as it will significantly slow block time on the network.
The difficulty bomb delay gives Ethereum developers more time to run tests and guarantee that the merge works well.
Actually, in May, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the Merge will be completed by August. But he also gave more room for any hiccups, by telling that the Merge could be in September or October.
