According to a compilation (1) that Ethereum did, the Ethereum Foundation & research team have been working on tackling emerging problems and making progress in the maximal extractable value (MEV) sector.
The year's most significant event was the switch from proof-of-work (PoW) on the Ethereum mainnet to proof-of-stake (PoS). However, there is still a great deal more than the team is looking forward to doing in the following year.
As the year of the Merge ends, we wanted to share updates from many of the Ethereum gardeners and EF-supported teams that achieved long sought accomplishments, both big and small, alongside the rest of the ecosystem in 2022.
— Joseph Schweitzer | 🕯 (@JBSchweitzer) December 29, 2022
Read more, and enjoy(!): https://t.co/HcoH6gluvE
In September, Ethereum completed the shift to PoS, resulting in a nearly 99% decrease in its required energy.
Next Ether Update Expected by March 2023
Vitalik Buterin's multi-dimensional EIP-1559 proposal is slated (2) for implementation in 2023. The plan targets gas reforms as a follow-up to the London Hardfork to combat the excessive transaction fees incurred.
In addition, a staking withdrawal capability could be made available to stakers if the Capella upgrade to the consensus layer is implemented. The upgrade will allow withdrawal from execution layer accounts to the Beacon Chain. Ethereum has admitted that testing for the capability is now being carried out.
According to data provided by Beaconcha, there are currently 15.7 million ETH staked, which is around 13% of the total supply.
As a natural continuation of the Capella Upgrade, Ethereum also announced that it would be working on EIP-4844, better known as Proto-Danksharding (3), to grow the network within the next year.
To accomplish this, the network will continue to solicit financial support from the general public through January 31, 2023. After receiving the last contribution, the update to the network is anticipated to take place three weeks later.
As a result, the sizeable upgrade to Shanghai, expected to take place in March 2023, is considered part of a sizeable upgrade package consisting of five EIPs.
The Ethereum Foundation states the following:
"Withdrawals will finally complete The Merge, allowing staked ether and accumulated rewards to be collected, while the EOF work will enable a cleaner internal organization of smart contracts, simplifying compiler work and also enabling a few more advanced features to be implemented. Withdrawals will finally complete The Merge, allowing for the collection of staked ether and accumulated rewards."
The last @ethereum #AllCoreDevs update of 2022 is out 📬!
— timbeiko.eth (@TimBeiko) December 13, 2022
It covers Shanghai/Capella, EOF, EIP-4844, the KZG Ceremony, EL/CL specs, the Network Upgrade Process, and, of course, @ProtocolGuild ⛓️🛡️
Full update here: https://t.co/UKU4EMdwx6
TL;DR below ⤵️
"With the successful launch of the Merge, the staked ETH withdrawal capability is clearly becoming the top of the core developer's focus and priority for the upcoming Shanghai Upgrade," argues Henrique Centieiro, Senior Research Manager at HashKey Capital.
The network intends to improve its security and the Solidity programming language while working toward achieving a critical scaling milestone. In 2022, Ethereum issued six Solidity upgrades, and the platform is currently conducting a survey of its developers in preparation for January 2023.
Ethereum Price Continues to Stagnate
The price of Ethereum is not precisely reflecting the enthusiasm, even though multiple enhancement packages keep Ethereum's calendar busy. Since the beginning of 2022, the price of ETH has decreased by 69 percent, and it is currently trading at $1,191 at the time of this writing.
In addition, this takes place at the same time that Ethereum has successfully finished one-quarter of its much-anticipated Merge. It is expected ETH prices may remain low in the immediate future.
According to estimates provided by Coinglass, there was a total of $7.69 million worth of crypto currencies traded across all exchanges today.
Additionally, technical signals point to the possibility that the current levels of support may be lost. On the other hand, if the market for altcoins explodes in the new year, some analysts anticipate that Ethereum will continue to outperform Bitcoin even after the market mayhem has settled down.
Ethereum, on the other hand, keeps its dominant position in the decentralized finance sector. ETH has the highest total value locked (TVL) of any chain at $22.88 billion thanks to its more than 620 protocols for decentralized financial transactions.
