Ethereum (ETH-USD) is outpacing bitcoin (BTC-USD) so far Thursday as it merged on the Kiln testnet, prompting a transition to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism from proof-of-work, the Ethereum Foundation wrote in a blog post. In this case the term "merge" refers to deploying Ether's (ETH-USD) execution layer to the consensus layer of the PoS blockchain. Kiln is anticipated to be the last merge testnet created before existing public testnets are upgraded, the post read. Popular virtual currencies developed on the Ether network include: Tether (USDT-USD), USD Coin (USDC-USD), Chainlink (LINK-USD) and binance coin (BNB-USD). Meanwhile, ether (ETH-USD +3.4%) is rising to $2.8K and bitcoin (BTC-USD +0.9%) drifts up to $40.8K. The move came after Ethereum in Dec. 2021, expanded access to Kintsugi testnet.