Is Ethereum ‘still in a good phase’ if not everything goes as planned

ambcrypto.com:

Ever since the Ethereum network had launched its Beacon Chain for staking in December 2020, enthusiasts have waited for the day that the chain will finally be merged with Ethereum’s mainnet, giving way for the Proof of Stake consensus to be the only mechanism through which new ETH is created. While unfortunately, a specific date for the Merge is yet to be disclosed, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has now said that “hopefully we’re gonna be merging pretty soon.”

Speaking on a recent podcast, the engineer also lamented the constant delays that this transition has faced, adding,

“If we want to kind of really fully achieve that vision I do still think that there’s quite a lot of work still left to do that we had hoped would be finished by now or even by like 2016.”

Buterin also elaborated on the aspects of transition that are yet to be finished, and most of that has to do with testing. Since most blockchain programs are used by indefinite numbers of people entrusting millions of dollars, constantly testing software to perfection is a necessary step, albeit one wants to fall victim to an exploit similar to the ones the Ethereum network is so used to.

Nevertheless, Buterin said that apart from testing, “there are already some basic test stats and full implementations of everything that needs to happen for the merge,” which includes consensus clients and execution clients, the latter of which has run into some limitations, according to him.

What requires the most testing, however, is the initial sync process, which Buterin explained as the mechanism behind integrating new nodes to the network and its contract code. Of course, in numerous other subtleties and technical aspects that need to be taken care of, said Vitalik, adding