The Ethereum merge will no longer be done in June, but a few months later
Ethereum's move to a 100% proof-of-stake model, also known as the Merge; has been delayed yet again. Without at doubt it is marginally positive news for miners with large teams, because it will allow them to buy more time for their cryptocurrency mining operations until the current transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
On Tuesday, Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko confirmed on Twitter that the long-awaited Ethereum Merge will be delayed from June to “a few months later", according to the tweet. While it is a delay, it is a much less pronounced one, and at most it could be delayed until December, given that it is expected that the move to proof of stake will happen yes or yes this year.
The Ethereum Merge is a bit delayed, but it continues for this year
Ethereum Merge is the name the company uses for the transition of its network from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS). The reason this is such a big deal for many miners is that Proof of Work involves high energy costs fueling huge cryptocurrency mining operations that run night and day. Those mining camps have hoarded much of the GPU stock in recent years, making it difficult and expensive to get your hands on one.
The two largest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, currently use proof-of-work to manage transactions on their respective blockchains. The final phase of Ethereum 2.0 will be based on proof-of-stake, which uses validators to select blocks on the Ethereum blockchain by putting units of Ether, the cryptocurrency, into play. As their ether is used, just like miners in proof-of-work, they receive a reward for participating in validation.
The big draw of Proof of Stake is that Ethereum claims to use 99% less energy than Proof of Work, and easier to scale. In theory, it would eliminate the need for massive cryptocurrency mining operations that have become quite a big business, especially in rural America where they take advantage of cheaper space and power, some using entire power plants.
The move to proof of stake of Ethereum would also shield the stability of Ethereum if it is legislated against contaminating cryptocurrencies. It is one of many assumptions that would happen with this important change. next to it we should expect better GPU stockboth new and second hand. This is because only Bitcoin would remain as the majority currency that is mined through Proof of Work, but its profitability is increasingly limited.
Source: PC Gamer