Institutional Interest Increases in Ethereum With The Merger Around The Corner

The Ethereum upgrade is all the hype these days and is highly anticipated due to the scalability and security it promises. After multiple tests ran successfully, people are hopeful of a smooth launch in September. 

Ethereum 2.0 is expected to be more energy-efficient and, hence, a planet-friendly network that will allow more transactions and increased security. Technically speaking, Ethereum is set to become a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain and introduce shard chains in its later phases.

With the Merger being close, institutional investment has soared. Big-shot investors are turning their focus on the ETH increasingly by the day. 

In the latest edition of Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report, Head of Research at CoinShares James Butterfill said that investors’ feelings towards ETH derivatives and products are evolving- a development that is majorly owed to the ETH merger

The “Craze” for Ethereum

As per a report, many institutional investors are making preferential investments in Ethereum products and derivatives. 

Investors are believing that the upgradation of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency would have an extremely profitable and positive impact. 

With the institutional investors becoming optimistic, a report indicated that Ethereum has seen more inflows which amount to about $16 million. This led to a continued pattern of inflows for seven weeks, accumulating up to $159 million. 

Butterfill mentioned that the change in investors’ sentiment towards ETH showcases more clarity with the Merger set to happen. 

The shift from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) seems to bring about the much-needed transition for Ethereum. In its previous model, the Ethereum blockchain had been operating with a PoW mechanism for validating the transaction and security of its network. The PoW mechanism uses more energy or electricity because it depends upon mining, which is a huge drawback. 

Not an easy Journey 

Ethereum proponents are having a joyful season with the launch soon approaching. 

However, crypto enthusiasts would recall that this merger has been delayed many times, and by several months. There have been multiple changes in roadmaps, ambiguous terminology, and also opposition towards it.

Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, kept declaring all the hard forks possible to the transition. Even with the hard forks, ETH continued to receive support. The founder of Tron Justin Sun, for instance, pledged listing of both ETHs and ETHw tokens on his Poloniex exchange. BitMEX also came forward, showing its support for any of the ETHPoW forks.

The transition, however, is a great opportunity for any PoW blockchain that may wish to change in the future. The merger will include linking the Ethereum mainnet and the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain for a complete transition to PoS. 

A major advantage of the shift is a reduction in the current carbon emissions by being produced by almost 99%. This would be a good way to cope with the negatives of Ethereum as a PoW network.

When is the ETH2 launch?

With respect to the Ethereum 2.0 release, the next phase is set to launch in September.

But, exactly how long would we have to wait for ETH2 now? 

With Ethereum advancing slowly, the next step is the Ethereum Merge date. As per the latest scheduling, the Ethereum merge will be happening on September 15, 2022, Or September 16, 2022. In this Merger, the existing mainnet will be merged with ETH 2.0’s Beacon Chain, enabling a hundred percent staking. Following the merger, Ethereum Shard chains will be launched in 2023 in order to increase the blockchain capacity.