Ethereum’s Merge was a long-awaited process from its “Proof-of-Work” consensus mechanism to the “Proof-of-Stake” system. With the Merge, Ethereum got a lot greener and opened new ways for the future. The Merge is also called a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem. Here are the details about Ethereum’s Merge.
What’s The Ethereum’s Merge?
Ethereum (ETH) is the second-largest cryptocurrency, and it used a proof-of-work consensus mechanism until that time. However, Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder, announced that the Merge has finally finished. The cryptocurrency runs on the proof-of-stake system anymore with the latest update. There are not many changes for users, but it’s not the same for miners because the Merge reduced Ethereum’s energy consumption by 99.95%.
Indeed, the Merge is an upgrade that stops traditional mining and switches to a system where owners of the currency can stake it to power the network. The new system is called proof-of-stake; the previous system was proof-of-work. Now, the ecosystem is greener, decreasing the computers’ energy consumption to power ETH.
Vitalik Buterin shared his happiness on Twitter, “And we finalised! Happy merge, all. This is a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem. Everyone who helped make the merge happen should feel very proud today.” There are also not many changes in the ecosystem in terms of transactions. It is still roughly the same as before.
Additionally, there are five stages for Ethereum, the Merge, the Surge, the Verge, the Purge, and the Splurge. These five stages have each different upgrades. For example, in the Merge, the system switched from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. In the Surge, “Shards” will be included in the protocol.
ETH ecosystem switched to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) to increase the blockchain’s security, make it less energy-consumption, and bring the currency one step closer to achieving full scale and sustainability. It now has a more sustainable, eco-friendly system, and the Merge starts a new era of cryptocurrency.
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