Why "the Merge" could change the future of cryptocurrency

The cryptocurrency community is abuzz about what could prove to be a landmark event in the burgeoning digital currency world: a major upgrade dubbed "the Merge" of the ethereum blockchain. Crypto enthusiasts say the Merge will greatly reduce the environmental impact ofcryptocurrency miningand more broadly enhance its utility as a way to conduct financial transactions. among other uses.

But what exactly is the Merge, and how it could change the future of crypto?

Ethereum, which was launched by Canadian computer programmer Vitalik Buterinin 2015, is a blockchain (or a digital ledger) used when cryptocurrency investors buy ether. It's one of the world's most used blockchains, second only to the bitcoin network. There are more than 71 million crypto wallets on the ethereum blockchain today, according to the Ethereum Foundation, a group of developers who now oversee the blockchain.

Think of the Merge as the next generation, or 2.0 version, ofethereum. After nearly two years thinking about and testing a new way of conducting transactions, ethereum developers say it's finally ready for prime time. Put simply, the Merge aims to reduce the number of people and computers it takes to add another data block to the ethereum network.

The change is called the Merge because, as of now, there are several ways to create a new data block. Developers plan to combine those existing methods into a single process they say is both more secure and eco-friendly.

The exact timing for the Merge is unclear, but developers said they're giving themselves a September 19 deadline to apply the finishing touches. In August, they said they would start rolling out the Merge on September 6 and finish everything between September 10 and September 20, Coindesk reported.

The Merge is happening now because ethereum is mature enough to handle financial payments, store non-fungible tokens, trade crypto and host smart contracts, said blockchain expert Merav Ozair. But streamlining the process to add data to the blockchain could make those and other transactions much faster, according to developers.

Ethereum can carry out 15 transactions per second in its current form, said Ozair, founder of startup company Blockchain Intelligence. But if the Merge is successful, the blockchain could eventually handle up to 100,000 transactions per second "way above and beyond what Visa and Mastercard can do," she said.

In a blockchain network, transactions aren't verified by a bank, credit card company or other third party. Rather, it relies on a network of computerscompeting to solve complex problems in exchange for tokens. It takes thousands of computers to verify transactions on the ethereum blockchain, a process known as "proof of work."

All of those powerful server computers chugging away together require vast amounts of power. The ethereum blockchain uses about 112 terawatt-hours of electricity a year roughly the same amount of energy used to power the Netherlands. That level of energy consumption releases about 53 metric tons of harmful carbon emissions into the environment annually, the same amount Singapore produces in a year.

The Merge replaces the proof-of-work system with an alternative approach called "proof of stake." In that system, cryptocurrency owners known as "validators" verify transactions and record them on a new block. Because proof of stake involves fewer people using their computers to verify transactions, fewer terawatt-hours are burned.

Using proof-of-stake, the Merge is projected to reduce ethereum blockchain's energy consumption by 99.9%, developers said.

Quite possibly. Since December 2020, ethereum developers have been running essentially two different versions of the blockchain at the same time. The Beacon version was used so they could test the proof-of-stake system, while the Mainnet version carried on with business as usual using proof of work. But having both versions running gave hackers twice as many entry points to potentially attack ethereum.

After the Merge, the Mainnet version will disappear and financial transactions will only live on Beacon. Deleting one version of the chain, combined with having a small pool of validators, will reduce the odds of a hacker harming the blockchain, developers said.

It's important to note that these changes have not yet proven to make accounts safer because they haven't been tested on a wide enough scale. Ethereum developers have posted a warning on the foundation's website, explaining the way hackers may try to scam users for the digital currency.

Moving to a proof-of-stake system will likely create haves and have-nots among the validators and everyone else who uses ethereum, said Bryan Daugherty, the global public policy director for BSV Blockchain Association.

That's because, to become a validator on ethereum, someone must invest at least 32 ether roughly $52,000 and agree to keep those tokens stashed away in a separate account. Under those rules, anyone who doesn't have that much cryptocurrency can't serve to validate ethereum transactions, Daugherty said.

"The way I look at this is the plan now is to eliminate mining overall and award these coins to those with the biggest positions," he said.

Agreeing to stash away ether in exchange could come back to haunt the validators, too, especially if the price of ether falls dramatically and someone wants to sell, Daugherty said.

"You're forcing people to lock up your coins," he said. "That seems major red-flaggy to me."