The Ethereum Foundation recently revealed the launch date of Ethereum 2.0 as September 6, 2022.
The announcement specified that there will be two stages for Ethereum merge to be public in the crypto market- the first stage, Bellatrix, happening on September 6 and the final stage, Paris, happening between September 10th and September 16th.
With just a few days until the long-awaited ETH merge, the global crypto market is anticipating a new token – ETHW, to be generated after the hard fork once the ETH 2.0 is upgraded.
This merge is expected to improve the Ethereum network, via increased speed, and reduced gas fees among other benefits not leaving out the massive hike in price.
For a long time, ETH has been operating on proof of work which has seen so many problems in this network such as high gas fees, and slow transaction fees among others.
The ETH Merge is poised to solve these problems and also bring a significant shift in the Ethereum ecosystem. And this has caused a lot of excitement in space.
What is the ETH Merge?
The Merge represents the joining of the existing execution layer of Ethereum (the Mainnet we use today) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain.
It eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining and secures the network using staked ETH. A truly exciting step in realizing the Ethereum vision – more scalability, security, and sustainability.
This Merge is a network upgrade that will change Ethereum’s current consensus mechanism from “proof of work” to “proof of stake.” The Ethereum Merge is anticipated to happen. On September 15, 2022.
What is PoW(Proof of Work)?
Proof of work (PoW) is a form of adding new blocks of transactions to a cryptocurrency’s blockchain. The work, in this case, is generating a hash (a long string of characters) that matches the target hash for the current block.
The crypto miner who does this wins the right to add that block to the blockchain and receive rewards.
This is time-consuming and also energy-consuming thus making it slow, packed, and a bit centralized as this favors people who have more equipment.
What is PoS(Proof of Stake)?
Proof-of-stake is a cryptocurrency consensus mechanism for processing transactions and creating new blocks in a blockchain. PoS uses an election process where one node is chosen to make the next block.
PoS as against PoW uses Validators instead of Miners. Validators are people who validate transactions in a blockchain.
Validators don’t add blocks they forge or mint new blocks. To become a validator, you need to deposit a number of coins to become a node in the blockchain. The size of the deposit gives you more chances of getting chosen. This is faster and more secure as validators who accept fraudulent transactions would bear the consequences.
As the Ethereum network is Moving to a PoS system, This will set the stage for future scaling upgrades including sharding and will reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption by ~99.95%, expanding Ethereum’s capabilities, and making it easier to compete with newer blockchains. Such as Cardano, Solana etc. Also, this would give more power to the users which is what true decentralization is all about.
What do I need to do to get ready?
Although everyone would ultimately feel the impact of The Merge in the long run, some people may need to take action in the short term to be fully prepared. The Merge is one of the most significant and anticipated updates in the history of Ethereum.
Users and holders
➔ It’s important you understand that users and holders do not need to do anything to protect your funds entering The Merge.
➔ It is important to reiterate that there is nothing you need to do with your money or wallet prior to The Merge if you are a user or holder of ETH, any other digital asset on Ethereum, or a stalker who is not running a node.
➔ The whole history of Ethereum since its creation is still preserved and unmodified after the switch to proof-of-stake, despite proof-of-work being replaced. Any money you had in your wallet before The Merge will remain usable after The Merge. To upgrade, you don’t need to do anything.
“As we approach The Merge of Ethereum Mainnet, you should be on high alert for scams trying to take advantage of users during this transition. Do not send your ETH anywhere in an attempt to “upgrade to ETH2.” There is no “ETH2” token, and there is nothing more you need to do for your funds to remain safe.’” – culled from ethereum.org
Industry Comments And Opportunities around the MERGE
A significant number of exchanges that are considering their options as regards listing and what they propose to their users following the merge includes
1. Binance: In its recent blog post has shown its concession about this merge and any token which would emerge as a result of this would be critically examined and listed.
2. Coinbase: In a recent blog post said “At Coinbase, we view this event as a major step towards scaling the adoption of the crypto economy and will support it in a variety of ways that align with our mission to increase economic freedom in the world”.
3. Bitget: A Leading global crypto derivatives exchange and the world’s largest crypto copy trading platform is making a bold step to give out free ETHW to its users during The Merge. Bitget recently announced a 10x airdrop campaign with a 5000 ETHW reward pool.
The leading exchange will airdrop tokens on the new chain by a specific ratio according to the agreed airdrop rules.
These airdropped tokens will be distributed to users’ accounts between September 1st -September 14th. For detailed rules and more information to take advantage of this opportunity, visit the website.
Commenting on the Ethereum Merge, Managing Director of Bitget, Gracy Chen said; “This is the most critical event in the crypto industry, and the impact of it is sustainable. We welcome all kinds of liquidity pledged projects to list on Bitget” via her twitter handle.
Experts foresee The Merge being a milestone in the history of cryptocurrencies with both material and philosophical implications.
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