Ethereum’s third and final test environment network merge before the Ethereum blockchain moves from its Proof-of-Work consensus into Proof-of-Stake, has been successfully completed.

The total value locked (TVL) on Optimism’s decentralized finance (DeFi) space has surged 284% ahead of the Ethereum Merge upgrade, with the vast majority of said total value locked coming from users lending and borrowing assets on Aave.

San Francisco-based blockchain firm Ripple Labs, which is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is reportedly weighing acquiring bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Ethereum’s Third and Final Testnet Merge Goes Live
• Total Value Locked on Optimism Surges Nearly 300% MoM
• Ripple Labs Weighs Acquiring Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius

Ethereum’s Third and Final Testnet Merge Goes Live

Ethereum’s third and final test environment network merge before the Ethereum blockchain moves from its Proof-of-Work consensus into Proof-of-Stake, has been successfully completed.

The Goerli testnet merge was the last of three public testnets to run through tests ahead of the mainnet Merge, which is expected to occur at the end of September. The two previous testnet merges, Ropsten and Sepolia, were largely successful as well.

The Ethereum Merge describes the network’s current mainnet merging with the Beacon Chain’s PoS system, setting the stage for future scaling upgrades, including sharding. The move is expected to reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption by 99.95%.

The move away from PoW is said to make the network cheaper, faster, and more environmentally friendly, however, it will also mark the end of an income stream for Ethereum miners who were being rewarded for securing the network.

In theory, to keep their activities intact and avoid the obsolescence of millions of dollars worth of mining hardware, miners are looking to back an Ethereum fork called EthereumPOW.

Total Value Locked on Optimism Surges Nearly 300% MoM

The total value locked (TVL) on Optimism’s decentralized finance (DeFi) space has surged 284% ahead of the Ethereum Merge upgrade, with the vast majority of said total value locked coming from users lending and borrowing assets on Aave.

Optimism (OP) is a layer-two smart contract network that aims to enable low-cost, near-instantaneous Ethereum transactions. Optimism speeds up Ethereum transactions and cuts their costs by settling them on another blockchain.

Optimism is currently home to 35 DeFi protocols including derivatives exchange Synthetix, decentralized exchange Uniswap, and automated market maker Velodrome.

The network uses a technique called optimism rollups, whereby multiple transactions are batched into one and settled on the Optimism layer, with data fed back to the main Ethereum network. Its rollups “optimistically” assume all transactions in them are valid.

Ripple Labs Weighs Acquiring Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius

San Francisco-based blockchain firm Ripple Labs, which is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is reportedly weighing acquiring bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network.

A spokesperson was quoted saying:

"We are interested in learning about Celsius and its assets, and whether any could be relevant to our business.”

Ripple, the spokesperson said, has kept on growing throughout the cryptocurrency market downturn and is “actively looking for M&A opportunities to strategically scale the company.” Celsius assets, according to filings, include digital assets held in custody accounts, loans, a bitcoin mining operation, the company’s CEL token, cash, and cryptocurrencies the firm has on hand.

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