The Ethereum merge is a success: Crypto enthusiasts rejoice

On September 15 the Ethereum blockchain transitioned to a proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

The long-awaited merge took place without a hitch. The Ethereum blockchain successfully left behind its previous proof of work (PoW) consensus and became a network backed by Ethereum validators instead of miners.

Investors, traders and Ethereum fans celebrated the merge by hosting watch parties and creating memes.

Ethereum merge celebrations

If you googled ‘Ethereum merge’ or ‘when is the Ethereum merge’ you’d be greeted with a useful countdown clock created by Google. The clock now reads, 'Happened on September 15th.'

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin ushered in Ethereum’s post-PoW future:

• Read more: What the merge means for Ethereum Classic

Ethereum Classic, a fork of the Ethereum network before Ethereum's DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation) was exploited in 2016, experienced some price appreciation and a steep hashrate. Hours before the merge was completed, Ethereum Classic's hashrate rose above 70 Th/s.

A blockchain's hashrate refers to how much power the network is using to process transactions.

Once traders, investors and onlookers realised the merge was completed, memes, celebratory posts and predictions were sent to Twitter.

Crypto trading platform Binance announced that deposits and withdrawals for the Ethereum mainnet had been resumed after temporarily suspending them one hour before the merge.

Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht club NFTs congratulated the Ethereum team for their efforts along with Optimism, a layer 2 blockchain built on top of Ethereum and Shibetoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Dogecoin.

The future of Ethereum

Now that Ethereum is a PoS blockchain, the network will require less electrical power to operate. Instead of miners validating transaction blocks using expensive computers, Ethereum validators will stake ETH tokens to process transactions.

Thanks to Ethereum’s burn mechanics and its PoS abilities, the supply of Ethereum has become slightly more deflationary. You can follow Ethereum’s supply changes, burns and token issuance on Ultrasound money.

Get more of the latest Ethereum news and Bitcoin news here on Planet Crypto.