Ethereum Merge or, simply put, its transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus is coming soon. Some say it would kill the platform while others believe PoS is essential to make it better.
Everybody is talking about the Ethereum PoS transition at least since 2017.
But today the platform seems to be at its closest point to the so-called ‘Merge’. The Merge is the latest name for Ethereum 2.0 or the new generation of crypto.
The transition should eliminate concerns about Ethereum’s environmental impact, improve its transaction speed, and reduce transaction prices.
The Ethereum Merge event is planned for August 2022. Bit crowds of Ethereum miners aren’t hurrying up to sell their equipment.
Would the Ethereum 2.0 launch trigger a new price rally? Would it really make the platform better? Or would it happen finally after all these years?
We gathered some of the most prominent crypto experts’ thoughts to answer that questions.
Daniel Roberts, Decrypt
As all the crypto markets badly need some win right now, the most important Ethereum upgrade in history can provide that, Roberts thinks.
“It would demonstrate that the Ethereum community—which has a reputation for being friendly but frivolous—is capable of serious business. It could also trigger a major ETH price rally,” Decrypt Editor-in-Chief wrote.
On the contrary, the Merge has a variety of issues. Numerous delays that have marked the merge process and fragile blockchain fork with “block reorganization” are among these issues.
According to Roberts, Ether could prove its power if the transition event would go smoothly. But in the case of failure, the market risks losing a lot.
“The bottom line is that the stakes couldn’t be higher for the merge, not just for Ethereum but for the broader crypto industry. Success will bring renewed faith in the future of Web3, while further delays or a botched execution will trigger a price collapse and a new and nasty Crypto Winter,” he concludes.
Francisco Pires, Tom’s Hardware
Don’t forget that Ethereum mining is one of the main reasons for the huge rise in prices for GPU. You can mine Ether without specialized equipment such as Intel’s Blockscale ASICs. So users are hunting for any accessible powerful GPUs.
As Tom’s Hardware author Pires found, the news about the Ethereum Merge comes at a time when the classic high-performance GPU players, AMD and Nvidia, are gearing up for their upcoming next-gen graphics cards. In particular, RX 7000 and RTX 40-series cards.
“With current expectations on actual hardware launch dates, The Merge occurring in August would hopefully prevent a repeat of escalating GPU prices which hit the best current-gen offerings from AMD and Nvidia, which have only recently achieved a semblance of normalcy,” Pires notes.
The expert believes Ethereum’s transition to PoS should significantly reduce the usage of GPUs in blockchain workloads, thus eliminating most of the additional, forked market demand for new GPUs.
This means that such manufacturers as AMD and Nvidia could lose their crypto-specific GPU income, decreasing the equipment prices and increasing its availability.
Sam Kessler and Sage D. Young, CoinDesk
Despite all the delays, now the experts think that the Ethereum Merge is very likely to happen by the end of 2022.
But the consequences of it are still unknown.
“Ether’s price might not reflect this same level of enthusiasm come to the Merge, but these past few weeks have added to a consistent string of reminders that prices are among the least interesting parts of this space,” CoinDesk reporters write.
In their news analysis they raise a good question. Is the current bear market an appropriate time for such thing as the biggest watershed in ETH history?
The PoS Merge has been envisioned as a way to improve Ethereum security and decrease energy consumption. But with the recent market downturn comes an important question – will a bear-market Merge blunt the upgrade’s impact?
But the world authority and economic situation give some hope to the crypto community. For instance, during the last World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos chairman and CEO at Circle Pay Jeremy Allaire said that crypto has reached a new level of prominence at the WEF and that hopes for next year are already high.
Will see how the new Ether 2.0 would meet that year.
Megan DeMatteo, The Next Advisor
If you are thinking about a new investment strategy – there’s no reason you should do anything while things develop, analytics think. Wait until Ethereum Merge actually happens.
“It will take a while until everything is in place, and other factors such as increased regulation could affect Ethereum and other cryptos during this time,” the Next Advisor editor Megan DeMatteo claims.
She also cites a financial advisor and president of Bone Fide Wealth Doug Boneparth. He thinks that if you’re investing in Ethereum or any kind of blockchain technology right now – you’re investing in something that’s in its early days.
“Should you still have room for some risk given these factors, Ethereum could be a decent bet. Along with Bitcoin, experts consider Ethereum among the safest crypto investments even before the Merge might drive a return to prices closer to the all-time high it set in late 2021,” DeMatteo writes.
That’s true because even during the latest crypto collapse BTC and ETH appeared to be the most stable coin on the market with less loss.
And that gives some hope to the investors even if the Merge would potentially goes wrong.
Sources: Decrypt, Tom’s Hardware, CoinDesk, NextAdvisor
