Zug, September 15, 2022 – The Ethereum network successfully underwent the Merge, the transition from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). The Merge represents the final step in a series of upgrades of the network that makes it more energy efficient and enables scalability upgrades down the road. Post-Merge, the price of Ether (ETH) trades at a practically unchanged level.

During the last few weeks, Ethereum has captured considerable attention from the crypto community and beyond. After the last testnet “Goerli” successfully transitioned to PoS on August 10, 2022, a series of network upgrades lead up to the Merge on September 15, 2022, at 08:42 CET. This represents the culmination of many years of preparation and development by the Ethereum community and a remarkable feat for decentralized blockchain technology.

Ethereum is by far the largest smart contract platform in the crypto space and the hub for a multi-layered ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApps) built on top of the network. Bitcoin Suisse has been one of the earliest supporters of the Ethereum network since its crowdsale in 2014 and its subsequent launch on July 30, 2015. In November 2020, together with our clients, Bitcoin Suisse committed 17% of all ETH needed for the launch of the Ethereum Beacon Chain, a necessary step towards the Merge.  

Dr. Dirk Klee, CEO of Bitcoin Suisse, said: “It is incredible to see the Ethereum Merge take place after many years of hard work and anticipation. Ethereum forms the basis for the biggest ecosystem of dApps and innovations such as DeFi or NFTs, which we see as the emergence of Web3. It plays a central role within the whole crypto space. The Merge is a historic change, which could have implications for investors across the sector, and we salute the entire Ethereum community!”

Dr. Marcus Dapp, Head of Research at Bitcoin Suisse, stated: “The Merge marks the most significant upgrade for Ethereum to date. It means that the Ethereum network is now secured by validators, reducing its energy consumption by 99 percent. Over the last years, the number of PoS chains has been steadily increasing, and we expect the upgrade to inject new dynamics into the competitive PoS landscape. Ethereum’s successful transition to PoS is likely to attract new awareness and interest by investors, especially from the institutional side.”

The transition to PoS is expected to bring significant implications to Ethereum’s monetary policy. It will also make the network less energy intensive and is expected to unlock major scaling potential. Thus, the migration to PoS represents a major step in terms of reputation, adoption, and innovation – not only for the network itself, but also for a multitude of dApps, from decentralized exchanges and blockchain-based gaming to NFT marketplaces.