After years of delay, ethereum merge pressing on us.Event Previously Ethereum 2.0, Proof of Work Ethereum Mainnet Merges with Proof of Stake beacon chaincould occur on Tuesday.
(If you want a tech-free analogy of normal friends, you’ll like this charming geek stuff Ethereum Foundation Imagine Ethereum as a spaceship not ready for interstellar travel. With Beacon Chain, the community has built new engines and enhanced hulls. After some significant testing, it’s time to hot-swap a new engine. For old people in flight. ”)
Everyone in the crypto industry has their eyes on this event.
This integration makes the Ethereum blockchain almost instantly faster, more scalable, and 99% more energy efficient. In theory, it should be great for Ethereum (both network and assets). No one knows if the price of ETH will actually rise after the merger or if it is already “burned in” and will not move. Decryption.
But the most interesting part for me is how it will affect all other cryptocurrencies and blockchains.
First, there is the issue of energy.
As proof-of-work mining on Ethereum ends, we can soon see the hash rate of the Ethereum network drop to zero. That may put even more public pressure on Bitcoin’s big energy use. Bitcoiners Like Dan Held ApproveIt also leaves Bitcoin alone (without Ethereum as fellow criminals) in the sight of regulators. targeting An energy-intensive proof-of-work blockchain.
Just last week, the White House new report He appeared to praise Ethereum for its use of cryptography and energy, and sound the alarm about Bitcoin: “Bitcoin is estimated to account for 60% to 77% of the total electricity usage of cryptocurrencies in the world. , and Ethereum is estimated to account for 20% to 39%..There is a growing call for PoW blockchains to adopt less energy-intensive consensus mechanisms.The most notable response is PoS consensus. It is the launch of Ethereum’s promised “Ethereum 2.0” using the mechanism.
Bitcoiners, on the other hand, say Proof of Stake comes at the expense of network security.And quite a few Ethereum miners dissatisfied with merger, kills mining and leaves expensive and unusable machines. Will they flock to Bitcoin instead?
Second, coins other than the two top dogs, especially the so-called “ethereum killer“Solana, Cardano, Avalanche, Polkadot, etc.
A successful Ethereum merger might be expected to benefit these proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, and indeed many of them. Got a healthy boost in the past week, probably thanks to the topic of merging. But the opposite is also possible. Many of these Ethereum challengers marketed themselves as greener alternatives to Ethereum. Once Ethereum runs Proof of Stake, it loses that part of its value proposition.
Of course these are all problems image and perceptionEthereum moving to Proof of Stake should do it Shut up the critics who scream about how NFTs are destroying the rainforest.this should do it Separating Ethereum from Bitcoin in a conversation about cryptomining. But maybe not. Because the mainstream narrative about cryptocurrencies is always wildly misunderstood and misleading. there are people (louder and prouder than ever) Who never come to crypto,Whatever happens.
And although Ethereum developers claim that nothing really matters, it may not work The merge “could lead to a surge in instances of fraudsters manipulating uninformed users due to the chaos surrounding the event.” DecryptionSundar Lutz of
Finally, as my loyal column readers know well (there are dozens, if you quote Dean Winters from the latest Allstate “Mayhem” ad), for all cryptocurrencies, the largest post-merger I believe the wild card in is a regulation. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler continues to declare Bitcoin not a security Never mind the CFTC is watching itWhat about Ethereum?he do not share his opinionIt is widely believed that Gensler and the current SEC regime consider ETH a security despite being a former SEC official. Bill Hinman said in 2018.
Even a wildly successful Ethereum merger won’t help much in the long run if the SEC has to be considered. attack With ETH and all other Ethereum-based tokens.
In the meantime, watch the news carefully. merge weekPlease stick with us Decryption, Our reporting team is watching from all angles.
