Cody McGrath 
The OpenEthereum team announced that they look forward to the next phase of clean, green, and massively scalable blockchain infrastructure as the support ends with the Merge fast approaching.
OpenEthereum, one of the most popular Ethereum (ETH) clients, has discontinued support for its software in preparation for the upcoming Ethereum Merge.
OpenEthereum develops “clients,” or software that interacts with the Ethereum network, allowing anyone to set up an Ethereum node and mine the cryptocurrency, which is currently based on a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism.
The OpenEthereum team explained in a Twitter thread that with the Merge approaching and the legacy codebase becoming “increasingly difficult to manage” due to its age, it was the right time to end support.
The project was previously owned by blockchain infrastructure firm Parity Technologies before being transferred to the OpenEthereum decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in December 2019.
Parity stated at the time that they wanted to ensure the codebase is “maintained and lives on for as long as the community finds it useful.” According to OpenEthereum:
“The usefulness has run its course, and we look forward to the next phase of clean, green, and massively scalable blockchain infrastructure.”
The OpenEthereum team stated that “well documented” clients were required to “navigate the upcoming Merge and successful transition to proof-of-stake (PoS),” directing users to switch to other providers such as Nethermind or Erigon.
The Merge is the name given to the planned Ethereum blockchain upgrade that will combine the existing proof-of-stake Beacon Chain, which was launched in December 2020, with the current proof-of-work main net, which validates transactions on the network.
Since it was first proposed in 2016, the planned upgrade has experienced constant delays, with an initial deployment date of 2019. The Merge was supposed to take place in mid-2022, but delays occurred in April.
Because of the impending Repsten testnet merge, Ethereum developer Preston Van Loon stated last week that the upgrade would take place in August 2022 “if everything goes according to plan.”