Ethereum developers have released several short-lived testnets to experiment with the merge. The release of this "longer-lived public testnet" should be one of the last steps before Ethereum 2.0 is functional. Ethereum developer teams have been hard at work preparing for Ethereum 2.0, the proof-of-stake platform designed to make the blockchain's transactions faster, cheaper, and less energy-intensive.  But while ETH2 isn't ready quite yet, its first major testnet is, providing the public with a look into how the network may soon function.