Epoch 0 of the Gnosis Beacon Chain launched on December 08, 2021 at 19:55 UTC ~ exactly one year before merging with Gnosis Chain when the network reaches a Terminal Total Difficulty of,
8626000000000000000000058750000000000000000000
on Thursday December 08 at approximately 18:40 2022 UTC. This number is not chosen randomly: to pay tribute to the Ethereum Merge, Core Devs proposed to include Ethereum's TTD, 58750000000000000000000, in the Gnosis Merge TTD.
The Merge represents an important shift for Gnosis, replacing the legacy Proof-of-Authority consensus (PoA) with the open and unpermissioned Beacon Chain Consensus. This allows Gnosis to transition to a fully decentralized and permissionless Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network. Gnosis will go from being secured by 20 validators to over 100,000 making it the third most decentralized network behind Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The Merge also signals the commitment of Gnosis in building a credibly neutral network at the level of core protocol development. Without privilege or prejudice and irrespective of the content, all transactions should be treated the same on Gnosis Chain. This is only possible if the network is secured by a geographically diverse community of validators around the world. We’ve simplified the process of running a validator and lowered the barrier to entry ~ only 1 GNO is required.
In the trilemma of scalability, decentralization and security, Gnosis is committed to decentralization. Post-merge and in addition to emphasizing geographic distribution of validators, Gnosis will track a number of key metrics to measure the decentralization of the network. Unique deposit addresses, nodes in the network, and client diversity are all critical aspects of ensuring that Gnosis is the most decentralized public blockchain available.
Finally, the Merge is another step in Gnosis' journey together with Ethereum. From the early days of xDai at ETHDenver, Gnosis has always played a role in Ethereum's development. With the adoption of Ethereum's consensus mechanism, Gnosis will continue to contribute to Ethereum's growth as an experimental chain, where newcomers, experiments and ideas are welcome.
After a year of extremely hard work, immense research, development and testing from dedicated teams with deep expertise, the Gnosis Merge is finally upon us!
To mark the occasion, Gnosis will host a live broadcast of The Merge on the Gnosis Chain Discord. Please join us!