Ethereum Successfully Deploys Bellatrix Hard Fork
In the evening of September 6, Ethereum successfully deployed the Bellatrix hard fork. This upgrade marks a critical milestone on the path to The Merge, which is expected to occur in about 10 days.
The Ethereum community on Twitter is abuzz with congratulatory messages celebrating this significant network milestone.
Bellatrix activated! 🎉
— terence (@terencechain) September 6, 2022
Next stop: the merge
See you on the other side💫 pic.twitter.com/01FCSDyqs5
However, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin also took the opportunity to share some key reminders about the Bellatrix deployment:
The merge is still expected to happen around Sep 13-15. What's happening today is the Bellatrix hard fork, which *prepares* the chain for the merge. Still important though - make sure to update your clients!
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) September 6, 2022
“The Merge is scheduled for around September 13-15. What happened today is just the Bellatrix hard fork, which sets the stage for The Merge. This is still a very important milestone — make sure to upgrade your client version!”
Previously, Ethereum’s Ropsten testnet encountered issues during the transition from the pre-Merge hard fork to the official merge of PoW with PoS.
Read More: The Truth About The Merge Roadmap Being “Disrupted” on the Ropsten Testnet
Given the nature of this setup, the exact timing of The Merge will depend on the Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD), which measures the chain's activity following the Bellatrix hard fork. Therefore, a precise date remains uncertain, and we can only tentatively expect the Merge to happen between September 13-15.
