Ethereum Foundation developers completed The Merge

Yesterday, September 15, developers completed a large-scale transition of the blockchain to the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm in the Ethereum network. Vitalik Buterin confirmed the success of the merger and congratulated all those involved. He noted that this is an excellent event for the project, and everyone who helped the transition should feel special pride today.

The transition took place on block #15537394. “Tips” to the miners amounted to 44.5 ethers. According to Nansen, the validator participation rate was above the 96% mark, with 66% allowed.

Members of the Ethereum Foundation stated that about 4% of the validators “fell off the network” after switching to PoS. However, they stressed that this is not enough to harm the system somehow. To return to the network, validators need to “fix some configuration issues.”

And experts from Bybit admitted that the volatility of ETH and crypto-related assets might increase in the short term. In the long term, the transition to PoS will be a key element for other system upgrades and “building the base layer for the new Internet.”

“The merger is a significant milestone in developing Ethereum and decentralized financial applications, NFTs, and other on-chain projects. Since ETH, the network’s native asset, accounts for 20% of the total market capitalization, the project’s success will have a major impact on the ecosystem,” the experts said.

Earlier, one of the creators of Ethereum, Joseph Lubin, said that The Merge would be “extremely effective.” According to the founder of ConsenSys, the transition to PoS will be the biggest event in the digital asset market after the creation of Bitcoin and the emergence of ETH.

Community members are also optimistic about the future of Ethereum. There are opinions that the market supply will gradually decrease, positively affecting the token’s price.

According to Ethereum Foundation developer Tim Beiko, who played a key role in coordinating the upgrade, The Merge can “really engage people who were interested in Ethereum but were skeptical about [the project’s] environmental impact.”

According to Coinmarketcap, the Ethereum exchange rate has not changed much. The price of the coin does not exceed $ 1'600.