The Ethereum Merge was a highly anticipated event in the crypto community. The open questions were numerous: Will the merge go without problems? Will Ether price rise after the merge? Or will Ethereum crash to zero due to faulty implementations? In this article, we’ll give you a detailed summary on how was Ethereum merge, the events surrounding the merge, and future expectations and changes in the Ethereum network.
Summary of the Ethereum Merge
What is the Ethereum Merge?
First of all, we would like to briefly summarize what the Ethereum Merge is all about. The Ethereum Merge is the merger of the Beacon Chain with the Ethereum mainnet and is the most important step in the transition to Ethereum 2.0 .
On the Beacon Chain, Ethereum first introduced the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, introduced validators and tested the new system intensively over the past few months. The merge was now the merger of the beacon chain with the mainnet, so that the entire network is now running on proof-of-stake.
Learn more about the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism in this in-depth article !
What were the expectations leading up to the Ethereum merge?
The Ethereum Merge was considered one of the biggest events not only in Ethereum but also in the crypto market in general in recent years. It was the first time a running blockchain network changed its consensus mechanism. This is still the case with the second largest and best-known blockchain after Bitcoin.
Many participants in the Ethereum network and many investors, in general, had different expectations of the Ethereum Merge. Some pessimists believed in a colossal failure that could bring massive damage to the Ethereum network. Other investors hoped for a price explosion after the merger.
Most observers were probably convinced that the Ethereum merge should run smoothly. However, they hope that the merge will result in Ethereum running even more efficiently and being able to grow even more effectively in the future.
What happened in the hours before the Merge?
Before such a big event, of course, the tension among many observers usually increases and the crypto community is curious to see whether the Ethereum merge runs without problems. Above all, Ether Token wanted to know how successful the merger is and how it should affect the price.
The night before the Ethereum merge, there were several countdowns showing the number of hours until the final merge. During this time, Twitter activity from thousands of channels was extremely high. Numerous crypto enthusiasts stayed up overnight to follow the progress until the merge.
Unfortunately, there were also some scams that promised investors a giveaway of ether tokens. A fake account by Vitalik Buterin was active on Twitter. Furthermore, there were several fake websites about the Merge. The official merge website can be found at https://consensys.net/merge.
In our Ethereum Merge live ticker you could follow the developments over the night. Here, too, we have once again warned in detail about the scams mentioned.
How was Ethereum Merge in the last moments?
Around 41,000 people followed the switch to Proof-of-Stake at the official “Ethereum Mainnet Merge Viewing Party” on YouTube. At 8:44 a.m. GMT+2 on September 15, 2022, the time had come. You can see the final moment, which could have historical dimensions, in this image:
During the merge, viewers also watched key metrics that showed the behavior of the validators. There were no significant deviations from the numbers expected from Ethereum. Thus, the Ethereum merge went smoothly and the network is now running on Proof-of-Stake without incident.
And we finalized!
Happy merge all. This is a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem. Everyone who helped make the merge happen should feel very proud today.
Did Ethereum Price increase after the Merge?
In the last 24 hours before the merge, the ether price saw a slight drop of less than one percent. During the night we again saw slight increases from below $1,600 to almost $1,650. The closer the merge got, the more the price fell again. Minutes before the merge, we saw the price drop again to $1,580.
Immediately after the final merge, the ether price rose slightly to $1,620. After a brief dip, we continued to see gains towards $1,650. But about 1 hour after the Ethereum merge, we still do not see a strong trend for the Ether course. Overall, the ether price has moved little in the hours around the merge.
What are the consequences of the Ethereum merge?
After the successful Ethereum Merge, many investors and fans of Ethereum will now breathe a sigh of relief. The most important step for the network in many years went smoothly. Now we can take a closer look at the medium and long-term consequences of the Ethereum merge.
In general, it should be noted that Ethereum will consume up to 99.9% less energy after switching to Proof-of-Stake. The lower energy consumption and higher transaction efficiency was the main argument for switching to Proof-of-Stake. As a result, Ethereum should become more efficient, scalable and sustainable.
Last but not least, we want to look at how the Ether price should develop after the merge. Immediately after the merge, we don’t see any major price movements yet. Many analysts see a short-term drop in the price after the merger. In the medium and long term, however, the network should benefit technically, which should also have a positive effect on the ether price.
