The Ethereum network has officially switched over to proof-of-stake as a result of the Ethereum Merge (PoS).
When compared to the proof-of-work system, the Ethereum merge proof-of-stake consensus mechanism will drastically reduce energy consumption by 99.95%.
The Beacon Chain’s consensus layer and the Ethereum Mainnet execution layer were merged on September 15 at 06:42:42 UTC at block 15537393, resulting in the long-awaited Merge. As a result, the network will no longer rely on a proof-of-work consensus method.
According to the Ethereum Foundation, it will increase the energy efficiency of the Ethereum network by 99.95% and pave the way for sharding and other potential scaling solutions in the future.
Eli Ben-Sasson, the president and co-founder of StarkWare, that “the immediate importance of the Merge is the dramatic effect on energy consumption.”
Ben-Sasson claimed it also represents “the first step in a process that will lead to exceedingly widespread adoption of Ethereum,” stating:
“It starts a chain reaction of changes. The end result will be the very broad use of Ethereum’s computing power, and the general population using blockchain-based apps in many different areas of life.”
The Ethereum Foundation has worked diligently for many years in order to bring about The Merger.
The “Surge,” “Verge,” “Purge,” and “Splurge” are the last steps on the Ethereum technical roadmap once the “Merge” is finished.
The Purge will get rid of old data and technical debt, the Surge will increase scalability for rollups through sharding, the Verge will accomplish statelessness with Verkle trees, and the Splurge will involve a variety of modest random improvements.
Renowned artist Beeple created a futuristic artwork to commemorate the Merge:
On September 15 at 06:42:42 UTC, the Merge became effective, switching the network from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
