The Ethereum blockchain has been hard at work to move from the current proof of-work (PoW), consensus mechanism to a Proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Merge is the anticipated culmination of the process to move from PoW to PoS.

Many testnents upgrades were completed in 2020 to prepare for the final Merge upgrade. The Beacon Chain was launched, reviving the hope of a blockchain capable of instant transactions.

After Goerli’s final testnet went live, Ethereum developers predicted that the Merge Upgrade would occur on September 15, going by the hashrate or the targeted total difficulty.

The Merge should be at a total difficulty of 3.5

After several Ethereum developers hinted at September 15 as the date for the Ethereum Merge, Vitalik Buteirn came out to specify that the exact date would depend on the ETH hashrate since the total difficulty to be achieved had already been set at 58,75,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000.

It was with regard to the set total difficulties and the average havehrate of 872.2 THS at the time September 15 was arrived at.

The total difficulty, however, currently stands at around 57,70,49,02,01,07,48,20,74,40,547 with the preparations for the Merge being 98.21% complete.

If the current hashrate can be maintained and the Bellatrix Update scheduled for September 6, 2022 goes without a hitch then the Merge could be activated well before the date announced of September 15.