To move the Ethereum blockchain away from the antiquated Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism, the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Beacon Chain and the Ethereum Mainnet are joined. As a result, Ethereum’s energy use will be reduced by 99.95%, enabling the Ethereum ecosystem to grow even further. As a result, Ethereum 2.0, a new version of Ethereum, will be created.
The Merge is the first of five improvements planned for the Ethereum network and lays the way for the Surge. Users might not be able to transfer Ethereum-based assets during the integration.
The impending Ethereum Merge poses several concerns because it is the largest update to a cryptocurrency blockchain network to date. Before the Merge, which is scheduled to be finished in a few hours, exchanges and lending platforms started temporarily blocking Ethereum-related services. If all goes according to plan, they will reactivate after the redesign is finished.
Ethereum is a blockchain-based software platform that enables the second-largest digital token, ether, to be used for transferring and receiving value throughout the globe.
Since its low point in mid-June, Ether has increased by nearly 80%, outpacing Bitcoin in part because to Merge excitement. Since the narrative has already been established, for the time being, investors may decide to take profits as the surge is cooling.
Due to rising interest rates that dried up market liquidity in 2022, both Bitcoin and Ether are down by more than 50%. As the time counted down to a significant software upgrade of Ethereum, the most significant blockchain in terms of business in the digital asset space, cryptocurrency prices fluctuated between narrow ranges on Thursday.
However, Stefan Rust, CEO of blockchain development company Laguna Labs, thinks that the medium- and long-term prospects for ether is more promising. He predicted that Ether will surpass $3,000 by the end of the year and would eventually achieve the so-called “flippening,” which alludes to the possibility that its market value will surpass that of Bitcoin, according to Bloomberg.
