Ethereum Merge date announced for ‘biggest event in crypto history’

ETH sees price surge ahead of switch to proof-of-stake, which will reduce electricity consumption by a factor of 1,000

The Ethereum ‘Merge’ will cut the cryptocurrency’s electricity consumption by a factor of 1,000 (Getty Images/ iStock)

The developers of the Ethereum cryptocurrency have announced the dates for the highly anticipated ‘Merge’ event, which will vastly reduce its electricity consumption.

The Ethereum Foundation revealed on Wednesday that the upgrade to its underlying technology will take place in two stages, with the first set to occur on 6 September, 2022. The second and final step will then be completed at some point between 10-20 September.

The event will see Ethereum switch from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake protocol, meaning that it will no longer require vast amounts of computing power to mint new units of the cryptocurrency and verify transactions. Instead stakeholders of the cryptocurrency will do the job of validating the network, slashing energy useage by a factor of 1,000.

“Following years of hard work, Ethereum’s proof-of-stake upgrade is finally here,” the developers wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.

“The successful upgrade of all public testnets is now complete, and The Merge has been scheduled for the Ethereum mainnet.”

The Merge has been decribed as the “most anticipated event in crypto history”, though has proved controversial among Ethereum miners who will be put out of work by the move to proof-of-stake.

A recent price surge suggests that such concerns are not a major issue for crypto investors, with Ethereum outstripping the gains made by bitcoin four-fold since June.

“Investors are currently piling into Ethereum-based products as a show of trust in the future that that smart-contract protocol is heralding with the forthcoming Merge,” said Fuad Fatullaev, CEO of Web3 platform WeWay.

“While the coin is currently changing hands at around $1,680, the weeks leading to the merge event might see Ethereum breach the $2000 resistance point.”

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The Ethereum Foundation has set up a bug bounty in the hope of identifying any critical vulnerabilities ahead of the upgrade, offering a reward of up to $250,000 for any that are discovered.