The date of ‘The Merge’ upgrade on Ethereum network was announced.
The Ethereum blockchain network doesn’t need any introduction at all. Biggest smart contract network with most decentralized applications and decentralized finance projects. Native cryptocurrency Ether (ETH) holds the second biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization across the crypto space. And now the reason for which Ethereum network is a hot topic—The Merge upgrade.
The conventional Ethereum network started facing congestion, high transaction fees, slow transaction speed and energy consumption of proof-of-work (PoW) was itself an issue. Developer team behind the network came up with the solution, transition of Ethereum from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stakes (PoS).
The Merge becomes crucial for Ethereum network as it will bring the features to the network that currently it lacks. Proof-of-stakes consensus mechanism considered relatively more efficient in terms of energy as well as working. In a nutshell, till the upgrade, miners had the authority over the transactions but now stakers will take the lead.
Ethereum is known to bring many first in the segment features within the crypto industry—such as the notion itself that blockchain could be used for tasks other than just transactions, smart contracts, defi, dapps, etc. The Merge upgrade on Ethereum network will also be the one of its kind instance where no one ever has shifted its consensus mechanism.
The upgrade will make it possible for the current transactions execution layer of Ethereum, known as Ethereum mainnet with a new consensus layer dubbed as Beacon Chain. Hence, it is called The Merge. Since the proof-of-stakes mechanism needs nodes—participating in the transactions—to stake Ether (ETH), the Beacon Chain will keep the staking allocated Ether coins.
The similar Beacon Chain will also execute the data processing all over the network. It will also play a crucial role in block production, as validators will have the tasks of checking the transactions validity proposing the blocks. Meanwhile, the older history of overall transactions on the Ethereum network will also be there.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/07/25/why-ethereum-shifting-to-proof-of-stakes-the-merge-is-a-big-deal/