Binance Confirms Support for Post-Merge Ethereum Fork

Binance also plans to use the “ETH” ticker for the planned Proof-of-Stake version of Ethereum. 

Binance Provides Merge Update 

Binance is preparing for a possible Ethereum fork. 

The leading crypto exchange announced Thursday that it plans to credit users’ accounts with tokens from any forked versions of Ethereum created during the network’s merge event scheduled for September 15. 

In a notice, the exchange outlined a possible scenario where Ethereum splits into two competing chains, creating a new token. In such a case, Binance would continue using the “ETH” ticker to represent the planned Proof-of-Stake Ethereum that most crypto companies and DeFi protocols have stated they will support. 

However, the exchange also plans to credit users’ accounts with tokens from a forked Ethereum chain, should it be created. “We will… credit to users’ Binance accounts the forked token from the minority chain at a ratio of 1:1, based on the snapshot of ETH balances before the Paris execution layer upgrade,” the notice read. 

Binance has also stated that it will support withdrawals for any potential Ethereum forks. However, the forked token will go through the same strict listing review process as the exchange does for any other coin or token.

In the same announcement, Binance has also confirmed that it will suspend deposits and withdrawals for ETH and ERC-20 tokens on September 6 in preparation for the network’s Bellatrix consensus layer upgrade and again on September 15, when the main Merge event is set to take place. Other exchanges, such as Coinbase, have stated they will take similar precautionary measures to prevent users from losing funds as the network upgrades. 

The Merge is arguably the most significant update to the Ethereum network to date and is the culmination of years of work from its developers. Although most Ethereum stakeholders welcome the move from the energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to the greener Proof-of-Stake (PoS), a dedicated group of holdouts is against the update. In recent weeks, those against Ethereum’s switch to PoS have talked about forking the network, creating a competing version of the blockchain that still uses the old PoW consensus. Whether there will be enough support to fork Ethereum when the Merge takes place next month remains to be seen. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.