Major outlets are beginning to recognize the significance of the Ethereum Merge next week, calling it a “big fix” that will either accelerate cryptocurrency adoption or send catastrophic shock waves through the market if it fails.
The merger has been in the pipeline since the original Ethereum white paper and involves moving from a power-intensive Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to efficient Proof of Stake (PoS) without any major disruptions to the blockchain.
US business magazine Forbes described the non-stop upgrade as akin to “[changing] a spaceship’s engine mid-flight,” and Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten made a similar comment to The Wall Street Journal, saying the upgrade is like “trying to fix a plane mid-flight.” .”
Some outlets stressed that the upgrade could be risky, and shared concerns that one wrong move could be “disastrous” for the future of network and decentralized applications (DApps) on the Ethereum blockchain.
Source: Evening Standard
Britain’s Evening Standard newspaper has suggested that cryptocurrency traders are “holding their breath” ahead of the upcoming merger, as a failed upgrade could “jeopardize” the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The Ethereum network is responsible for the majority of the stablecoin’s $150 billion market cap and about $33 billion of the total value locked in by Ethereum-based DApps, according to DefiLlama.
Anna Baker, CEO and co-founder of EndoTech, told The Standard that it would be “too troublesome for the industry to survive” if something went wrong that brought the blockchain to a halt:
“Ethereum is the infrastructure for many companies to run their blockchains, so if something goes wrong, we shut down the industry […] It will be very difficult for the industry to survive this period.”
The Washington Post suggested that because the POS mechanism is “less battle-tested” than Proof of Work, which has been proven secure for more than a decade, “new vulnerabilities can be found.”
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian national broadcaster ABC journalist John Quiggin added in his report that since the new model has only been tested on “experimental blockchains”, there is a possibility that the Ethereum trial will “fail”, – likely if larger Ether (ETH) companies find a way to manipulate it. by order.
One point where there was consensus among the outlets is that the Ethereum upgrade will make the blockchain more environmentally friendly than before — reducing power consumption by more than 99%, according to the Ethereum Foundation.
Some argue that this could pressure other Proof of Work cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) to eventually follow suit.
“At a time when the world is desperately trying to reduce energy consumption, Bitcoin uses more energy each year than mid-sized countries like Argentina,” said Koeijn, adding:
“If the Ethereum switch is successful, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be under tremendous pressure to deal with this issue.”
Quiggin noted that last year electric car maker Tesla announced that it would not accept Bitcoin for payments until at least half of the cryptocurrency was mined using renewable energy, while the New York legislature passed a bill earlier this year to examine Bitcoin miners using carbon. strength based.
Related: Hive Blockchain Explores New Minable Coins Ahead of Ethereum Integration
“One thing is clear: As the need to cut global emissions becomes more urgent than ever, cryptocurrencies will run out of excuses for their egregious energy use,” he concluded.
Ether is currently the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, at $187.5 billion, compared to Bitcoin’s market cap of $360 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
