The Ethereum blockchain officially migrated to the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism as the anticipated “Merge” finally occurred around block height 15537391 on September 15. The protocol’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin has described The Merge as “a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem.”
Predicted: ETH Merges with ETH on September 15.
After months of waiting and tension, The Merge — the Ethereum blockchain’s much-anticipated migration to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism — has happened. As some players in the space, including one of the protocol’s co-founders Vitalik Buterin had hoped, The Merge occurred on September 15 around block height 15537391 at around 2:42:42 a.m. ET.
Buterin’s reaction to The Merge tweeted:
We are done! All of you, happy merging. It’s a significant moment in the history of Ethereum. Everyone who contributed to the merging should feel proud.
In terms of the network’s hashrate, data shows that it dropped from over 807 TH/s (terahash per second) 24 hours earlier to just under 750 TH/s minutes after the event. The hash rate seemed to be lower than it was the week prior. plummeted by as much as 50%As predicted.
Even though Ethereum became a proof of work (PoW) cryptocurrency immediately following The Merge, many miners did not agree with the decision. Bitcoin.com News reported that miners who oppose The Merge will continue to mine other assets, such as ETHW and PoW alternatives.
Coinmarketcap data shows that the USD value of the ETHW-IOU surged briefly to $60 at the time of merger, according to Coinmarketcap. The price of the ETHW IOU had fallen to $43 at the time this article was written.
What are your thoughts on the Ethereum blockchain’s migration to a PoS consensus mechanism? We’d love to hear your opinions in the comment section.
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