The Ethereum ecosystem is undergoing one of its most transformative upgrades—the Merge—and Cloudflare’s Ethereum Gateway is evolving right alongside it. With support now live for the Görli and Sepolia testnets, developers have powerful new tools to prepare their decentralized applications (dapps) for Ethereum’s transition to Proof of Stake (PoS). This update ensures seamless development, testing, and deployment while maintaining high availability, speed, and reliability—without the need to manage infrastructure.
Whether you're building smart contracts, upgrading dapps, or stress-testing network interactions, Cloudflare’s Web3 infrastructure provides a robust foundation. Let’s dive into what this means for developers, how the consensus shift impacts the network, and how you can get started today.
Understanding the Ethereum Merge and Consensus Evolution
At the heart of Ethereum’s evolution is the shift from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS)—a milestone known as the Merge. This upgrade doesn’t just improve efficiency; it redefines how Ethereum secures its network and scales for future growth.
From Proof of Work to Proof of Stake
Proof of Work, the original consensus mechanism used by Bitcoin and pre-Merge Ethereum, relies on computational power. Miners compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles, with the winner adding a new block and earning ETH rewards. While effective in securing the network, PoW comes at a steep environmental cost—Ethereum previously consumed over 80 terawatt-hours per year, more than some nations.
Enter Proof of Stake. Instead of energy-intensive mining, validators “stake” 32 ETH to participate in block proposal and validation. A randomized selection process chooses proposers and validator committees for each slot. Dishonest behavior results in economic penalties (“slashing”), aligning incentives with network integrity.
The impact? A 99.95% reduction in energy consumption, according to the Ethereum Foundation. Beyond sustainability, PoS enhances decentralization by lowering entry barriers and reducing reliance on specialized hardware.
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Proof of Authority: A Role in Trusted Testnets
While PoW and PoS dominate public blockchains, Proof of Authority (PoA) plays a key role in private or permissioned networks—and test environments like the now-retired Rinkeby. In PoA, trusted nodes (authorities) validate transactions. These nodes are pre-approved rather than staked, making them ideal for controlled development settings.
Cloudflare previously operated an authority node on Rinkeby but has aligned with Ethereum’s roadmap by deprecating support as of January 15, 2023. Developers are encouraged to migrate to active testnets like Görli and Sepolia, both now fully supported via Cloudflare’s Ethereum Gateway.
How Cloudflare’s Ethereum Gateway Works
Cloudflare leverages its global edge network to deliver fast, secure, and scalable access to Ethereum—without requiring users to run their own nodes.
Here’s how it works:
- A JSON-RPC request arrives at a Cloudflare Worker, serverless code running across all global data centers.
- The Worker normalizes the request using the latest known block number and forwards it to a Cloudflare Load Balancer.
- The load balancer routes the call to an appropriate Ethereum Node Proxy within a Kubernetes cluster.
- These proxies queue and distribute requests to healthy, synced Ethereum nodes—each composed of both an execution client (handling transactions) and a consensus client (managing PoS validation).
This architecture ensures:
- Low-latency responses regardless of user location
- High availability through redundant node instances
- Smooth handling of traffic spikes
- Full compatibility with post-Merge Ethereum
With consensus clients already integrated, Cloudflare’s gateway was merge-ready well before mainnet activation—proven by flawless performance during the Görli-Prater merge test.
Why Testnets Matter: Görli and Sepolia Now Live
Testing is critical in blockchain development. One misstep on mainnet can lead to irreversible losses or broken user experiences. That’s why Görli and Sepolia are essential tools for developers.
Both testnets mirror Ethereum’s mainnet protocol but use valueless ETH, allowing safe experimentation. Key differences:
- Görli: Uses Proof of Authority, widely adopted for stable dapp testing.
- Sepolia: Designed for post-Merge conditions, using Proof of Stake—making it ideal for validating PoS-compatible applications.
Using Cloudflare’s gateway with these testnets is simple:
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
--data '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "net_version", "params": [], "id": 35}' \
https://web3-trial.cloudflare-eth.com/v1/sepoliaThis returns 11155111 for Sepolia or 5 for Görli—confirming successful connectivity.
👉 Start building resilient dapps with reliable blockchain access.
By abstracting node management, Cloudflare empowers teams to focus on innovation—not infrastructure.
Preparing for the Future: Beyond the Merge
The Merge isn’t an endpoint—it’s a foundation. With PoS in place, Ethereum can now pursue further scalability upgrades like sharding, which will split the database into smaller pieces to increase throughput and reduce fees.
For developers, this means:
- Faster transaction finality
- Lower gas costs over time
- Greater capacity for complex dapps
- Improved user experience across DeFi, NFTs, and Web3 platforms
Cloudflare’s ongoing investment in Web3 infrastructure ensures that developers remain ahead of these changes—with real-time updates, minimal downtime, and enterprise-grade performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What happens if I don’t update my app before the Merge?
A: If your application relies on an outdated Ethereum node without a consensus client, it will stop syncing after the Merge. Always ensure compatibility with PoS via updated tooling.
Q: Are Görli and Sepolia interchangeable?
A: Not exactly. Use Görli for general testing and legacy workflows; use Sepolia to simulate post-Merge conditions under PoS.
Q: Why was Rinkeby deprecated?
A: The Ethereum Foundation deprecated Rinkeby due to its reliance on PoA, which doesn’t reflect mainnet’s PoS mechanism. Migrating to Sepolia or Görli ensures better alignment with production environments.
Q: Do I need to pay to use Cloudflare’s Ethereum Gateway?
A: No—access to the gateway is free during the trial period. Simply create a gateway via the developer dashboard.
Q: Can I use this for mainnet applications?
A: Absolutely. The same infrastructure powering testnet access also serves mainnet requests with high reliability and low latency.
Q: How does Cloudflare ensure data consistency across regions?
A: Workers fetch the latest block data locally, while load balancing and node redundancy prevent bottlenecks and ensure accurate state retrieval.
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Final Thoughts
The Ethereum Merge marks a turning point in blockchain history—one defined by sustainability, scalability, and long-term viability. With Cloudflare’s enhanced Ethereum Gateway support for Görli and Sepolia, developers now have a trusted, high-performance environment to build, test, and deploy confidently.
As Ethereum continues evolving toward sharding and full scalability, having a resilient Web3 gateway partner becomes increasingly vital. Cloudflare delivers that—empowering builders to innovate faster, safer, and smarter.
Core Keywords: Ethereum Merge, Proof of Stake, Görli testnet, Sepolia testnet, Ethereum Gateway, Web3 development, blockchain infrastructure, dapp testing