Previously, the official Ethereum Merge took place on September 15, 2022 at around 6 a.m. UTC, with an energy efficiency-focused transition expected to have a major impact on crypto investment and adoption, experts said.
Ahead of The Merge, president and co-founder of crypto firm StarkWare, Eli Ben-Sasson noted The Merge Ethereum will be the first step in a process that will lead to very broad Ethereum adoption.
“The immediate importance of The Merge is the dramatic effect on energy consumption,” said Ben-Sasson, quoted from Cointelegraph, Friday (16/9/2022).
The Merge is expected to see a 99.95 percent reduction in ethereum energy compared to the current proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which requires large amounts of energy to be used in competitions to solve math puzzles to generate new coins.
“We see that we can cut the environmental impact of electricity production. We’re not saying the problem is solved, but rather that we produce electricity with less pollution, it’s time to redouble our efforts to use power more efficiently,” explains Ben-Sasson.
Ben-Sasson believes the end result will be when the general population uses blockchain-based applications in various areas of life, and naturally like people use smartphone applications today.
Changing the Narrative Around Crypto
CEO of crypto exchange Coinjar, Asher Tan said The Merge is set to change the narrative around crypto more broadly, pointing out that it is very rare for the tech sector to make such drastic reductions in their energy intensity.
“We believe people underestimate the importance of a 99.95 percent reduction in energy use after The Merge,” said Tan.
The reduced energy makes the Ethereum network much more popular with the public and opens the door for investors and companies that remain crypto-agnostic because of their impact on the environment.
