Tim Beiko confirmed that the Kintsugi testnet is now live. Kintsugi is a Japanese word that is used for when gold is utilized for repairing broken objects without trying to hide the damage thus evoking the transparency of something’s history.
The Ethereum network is not broken per se, but it has fallen as a result of its own success. Due to its intense use, transaction fees and long waiting times are pushing new users away.
Ethereum 2.0 aims to resolve the problem by moving from the PoW consensus mechanism to a PoS one.
Phase 0 of the upgrade went live a year ago when the Beacon Chain was released – it has the role of connecting the current running network to the new one.
Beiko stated:
“Although client development and UX continue to be refined, we encourage the community to start using Kintsugi to familiarize themselves with Ethereum in a post-merge context. Once these have upgraded and are stable, next up is Ethereum mainnet’s transition to proof of stake.”