The Bellatrix Upgrade is reported to be scheduled for today, September 6, 2022. According to a Cointelegraph report, 74% of Ethereum nodes – servers that validate and find new blocks – are ready for the merge.

“The era of a more sustainable, eco-friendly Ethereum” is how the Ethereum organization describes the upcoming great event when the Ethereum blockchain will give up the energy intensive proof of work that nodes have to perform as they all compete to be the first one to discover the new block. POW is also the mechanism used by Bitcoin.

The nodes that do not update to the Bellatrix mode will end up working on the old main net, and will not be able to carry out validation of transactions or find new blocks. (Most of such nodes are using Geth client and have not updated to the new version, Geth v1.10.23. Erigon, Besu, and Nethermind are other such clients that need an update.)

Next up is the Paris upgrade, that will complete the Merge. This is also likely to happen between September 13 – 16, 2022. The upgrade will be automatically triggered when the Terminal Total Difficulty crosses a pre-set limit.

Another upgrade, the Shanghai upgrade, will happen later, and this will allow mining stakers to withdraw their staked Ethereum.

When is the Ethereum Merge happening?

The soft launch date, as per the official page, is September 19, 2022. This is not fixed, and the Merge can happen earlier or later. Q3/Q4 of 2022 is the period when the transition should happen.

What is the present pre-Merge Ethereum scenario?

As of today, all transactions – sending and receiving ETH – happen on the Mainnet. Running like a vertebral column, this is where the current accounts, wallets, contracts and state of blockchain are residing. The Beacon chain runs in parallel using the proof of stake (POS) consensus. The Merge will unite these two chains into one, and the energy consuming proof of work which has been a big contention of investors, will be replaced with the energy saving POS.

(Pic from: The Merge)

I hold Ethereum. What is required to be done? Nothing.

The page on The Merge states:

“You do not need to do anything to protect your funds entering The Merge.”

What not to do during the Ethereum Merge

Ethereum.org is aware that scamsters can take amateur crypto holders to a ride, trying to trick them by various means.

Here is the official statement on what not to do during the Merge period:

“As we approach The Merge of Ethereum Mainnet, you should be on high alert for scams trying to take advantage of users during this transition. Do not send your ETH anywhere in an attempt to “upgrade to ETH2.” There is no “ETH2” token, and there is nothing more you need to do for your funds to remain safe.”

How are Indian exchanges preparing for the merge?

Indian exchanges are likely to suspend deposit and withdrawal of Ether and other ERC-20 tokens during the Bellatrix and Paris upgrades.

Read more about the Ethereum Merge – full documentation:

https://ethereum.org/en/upgrades/merge/#preparing-for-the-merge