TL;DR The ETH merge may be a powerful narrative in crypto, but no narrative, no matter how strong, can be stronger than the current macro environment. As some economics claim – #ETH moves crypto, equities move ETH.
Still, it’s an exciting time to be in the crypto and NFT space. With any luck, the merge will go off without a hitch, and the Web3 community will have all the more reason to celebrate and promote a positive environmental message within and without its ranks.
First off, what is the #Merge and why should you care?
In contrast to proof-of-work, which requires miners to compete for rewards based on the amount of computational power they can acquire, the proof-of-stake mechanism randomly selects validators relative to the total amount and time their ether (ETH) currency has been staked.
While proof-of-work is reliable and secure, the comparative benefits of proof-of-stake include:
– No requirement for advanced and expensive hardware like mining rigs
– Much more efficient use of energy, according to the Ethereum Foundation
– A lower risk of network centralization, which is a barrier to network security
So, when is the merge?
If all goes smoothly, Ethereum developers expect the merge to take place during the week of September 15, 2022. That’s not a guarantee, however, and given how long it has taken for the merge to come this far, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if the Ethereum team delayed it even more.