- Ethereum’s long-awaited Merge has finally arrived.
- The Merge will take ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake verifications.
- Insider asked 15 crypto founders and CEOs how the Merge will impact the broader crypto ecosystem
According to Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s Merge is finally here.
The Merge will transition Ethereum’s blockchain from a proof-of-work (PoW) verification system for adding new blocks to a proof-of-stake (PoS) system. The most immediate consequence of this transition is that Ethereum rewards, paid out in its cryptocurrency ether, will no longer go to miners — instead, Ethereum will reward stakers who verify transactions on the blockchain.
Switching to PoS will greatly lower Ethereum’s environmental costs — supposedly by 99% — thus ridding the blockchain network of one of its biggest criticisms. But some critics say that the Merge will lower Ethereum’s network security, and that moving to proof-of-stake goes against the philosophy of many cryptocurrencies.