It is done ! This morning around 8:30 a.m., Ethereum switched from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake as part of the operation The Merge. It was Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of this blockchain, who announced its success on Twitter.
Highly anticipated by the cryptocurrency ecosystem, this step marks a turning point for the sector. And for good reason, it is no longer minors who will validate transactions, as for bitcoin, but validators who will be responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of the network. The latter will have to put 32 ethers in escrow in order to be able to participate in the validation of the blocks, which is not an easy task with an ether at more than €1,500. It will therefore be necessary to commit nearly €50,000 to enter the system, a significant sum de facto limiting access to this strategic role.
Energy consumption reduced by 99%
With its new approach, Ethereum will become a much less energy-intensive blockchain, since it will consume 99% less energy. “This figure put forward by the community is probably quite close to reality, given that miners will disappear from this protocol. Ethereum will still need a little power to operate, but validators will only need “A rudimentary computer. A Raspberry Pi with 2TB of disk space can do the job, which is like running a small home server”explained to us a few days ago Grégory Raymond, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Big Whalemedia specialized in the Web3.
In addition to its innovative model to limit the pollution generated by its activities, an argument often put forward to criticize the crypto sphere, Ethereum will be able to change dimension after The Merge. Not only did the operation go off without a major hitch, but it will also increase the possibilities offered by this blockchain. In this way, Ethereum has a great chance of positioning itself as a major keystone of the Web3announced as the next major change in the Web.
After The Mergeget ready for The Surge
If it constitutes a major turning point for the crypto ecosystem, the operation The Merge is only one step among the changes expected in the sector. A second operation, called The Surge, should take place next. This must make it possible to divide the network into several shards (“splinters” in English), which would operate autonomously.
Thus, transactions could be processed faster. Vitalik Buterin said he wants to go from 15,000 to 100,000 transactions per second. A spectacular rise in power which should allow ether, which has no maximum limit unlike bitcoin (21 million eventually), to further shake up the world’s leading cryptocurrency. Other steps should follow in the next few years, but the inventor of Ethereum still keeps his longer-term ambitions secret.