What is the Ethereum Merge? Investors Should Be Aware of the Proof-of-Stake Transition

The Long wait is over and The Ethereum Merge is finally here!

The Ethereum merge is brought into existence officially representing the network migration from proof-of-work( PoW) to proof-of-stake( PoS). This merge refers to the original Ethereum mainnet merging with a separate proof-of-stake blockchain called the Beacon chain. The Interesting fact about the merge is it reduced the energy consumption by ~99.5%.

The Massive merge took place on Sept. 15 which highlighted the network will no longer rely on a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism. This was a good initiative in knowing Ethereum’s vision- high security, scalability, and sustainability.

What was the Merge?

The Merge was combining the original execution layer of Ethereum with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain. The merge vastly eliminated the need for energy-intensive mining and instead enabled the network to be secured using staked ETH. With the Beacon Chain, the community built a new engine and a hardened hull. There was a need for merging the old one. This merged the new, more efficient engine into the existing ship.

Why is Ethereum Merge Important?

The Merge was predicted to be a milestone in the history of cryptocurrency due to the potential material and philosophical implications. Ethereum's Merge strongly implies that a decentralized and permissionless network can operate in an energy-efficient manner.

After The Merge, the Beacon Chain became the consensus engine for all network data, including execution layer transactions and account balances.Mining is no longer the means of producing valid blocks. Instead, the proof-of-stake validators have adopted this role and are now responsible for processing the validity of all transactions and proposing blocks.

Impacts after the merge:

After the merge, the Beacon Chain has the power to take over the process of validating new transactions through Proof-of-Stake.

Already there are validators who have already staked over 13 million ETH on the Beacon Chain. The full transaction history of Ethereum, including every transaction, and smart contract is entitled to.

Can you imagine the price of Ethereum after the merge?

Ether’s (ETH) price has got an inherent rise following the Merge in hourly metrics, currently trading at around $1,635, according to data from TradingView. 

Upgrades on the way after the merge:

Many upgrades are still expected after the merge process. The upgrades that are witnessed in the future are surge, verge, purge, and splurge. The verge will let users become network validators without needing to store a lot of data, which is a massive step towards more decentralization. The purge will aim to remove old network history, and the splurge refers to the fine-tuning of its preceding steps.