Ethereum: is interest in the Merge fading?

In recent days, we seem to hear a little less often about the Ethereum Merge. Is interest in this momentous transition fading? 

In reality, the answer may oddly enough be both yes and no. 

Interest from the community regarding the Ethereum Merge is changing

The peak in interest, according to Google Trends data on online search volume, occurred shortly after mid-July. It was a real boom, as in one week, from 12 to 18 July, the volume of searches increased tenfold. 

However, it subsequently declined, but without returning to the levels before the boom. In fact, current search volumes are still five times higher than they were on 12 July. 

So after the peak on 18 July, interest in the Ethereum Merge has dropped, practically halving, but compared to a month ago it is still markedly higher. 

Extending the search to previous months as well, the previous peak occurred on 8 June, with a daily search volume very similar to the current one. Therefore, it would be quite wrong to say that interest in the Ethereum Merge is declining. It is, instead, correct to say that the peak of interest that occurred in mid-July has now been exhausted. 

If one then extends the search to the last year, one can clearly see that current interest levels are enormously higher than in December 2021, for example, which is when the term Merge was first used to refer to the transition from PoW to PoS. 

The current search volume is five times higher than the peak in December 2021, and higher even than in late March 2022, when it was announced that the Merge was likely to take place later in the year. 

Therefore, interest in the Ethereum Merge is still definitely high, although no longer at the highs of mid-July. However, considering how that was in fact the fourth highest peak recorded in the past twelve months, it is unlikely that it will be the last. 

When will the final Merge take place

The Merge is scheduled for September, and the last major test is expected to take place in August. It is possible that the next spike in interest will occur just after this last test, with the next one possibly occurring when the official Merge date is announced. 

It is worth noting that in both late March and mid-July, coinciding with two of the four interest spikes that have occurred so far, the price of ETH rose significantly. In contrast, in June the rise in the price of ETH was not there. 

Surely it is not enough for there to be increased interest to cause the price of ETH to rise, because in the event that it is not positive and optimistic interest, it is very difficult to imagine that it would produce an increase in market purchases. 

However, in mid-July this seems to have happened, namely a 53% increase in the value of ETH on the same days that the volume of Google searches regarding the Ethereum Merge increased tenfold. 

It remains to be seen what will happen to the price of ETH when the Merge is completed.