Mainstream outlets are touting the importance of next week’s Ethereum merger as a “major update” that could accelerate crypto adoption or, if it fails, send a devastating shockwave through the market.
The integration has been in the works since the original Ethereum white paper, and involves moving from an electricity-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to an efficient proof-of-work (PoS) without any disruption on the blockchain.
American business publication Forbes recently reported the update from “[changing] A spaceship engine in mid-flight” and Swan Bitcoin CEO Corey Clipston echoed the same sentiment to the Wall Street Journal, saying the upgrade is “like trying to fix an airplane mid-flight”.
Some outlets have emphasized that the update could be fraught with risk, sharing fears that a wrong move could “harm” the future of networked and decentralized applications (DApps) on the Ethereum blockchain.
Britain’s Evening Standard newspaper said crypto traders are “holding their breath” ahead of the upcoming merger, as a failed reform could put the entire crypto ecosystem “at risk.”
The Ethereum network accounts for most of the $150 billion stablecoin market and around $33 billion is locked in Ethereum decentralized applications (DApps), according to Defillama.
Dr. Anna Baker, CEO and Founder of Endotech told The Standard that if something goes wrong, it will be very difficult for the industry to survive, which will lead to the suspension.
“Ethereum is the infrastructure for many companies to manage the blockchain, so if something goes wrong, we have to stop the industry. […] It will be very difficult for the industry to survive in this period.
As the Washington Post notes that the problem-proofing method is “less battle-tested” than functional verification, as security checks have been proven for more than a decade, “new vulnerabilities can be discovered.”
Journalist John Quiggin from Australia’s national broadcaster ABC added in his report that while the new model has only been tested on “experimental blockchains”, there is a chance that Ethereum’s experiment “could fail” – perhaps if large ETH stakeholders get their way. To control the system.
One point that has seen consensus among distributions is that Ethereum’s improvements make the blockchain more environmentally friendly than before — reducing energy consumption by more than 99%, according to the Ethereum Foundation.
Some argue that this could put pressure on other forms of proof like Bitcoin.
“At a time when the world is desperately trying to reduce energy consumption, Bitcoin uses more energy every year than a mid-sized country like Argentina,” Quigin said.
“If the Ethereum switch succeeds, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be under a lot of pressure to deal with this.”
Last year, Quiggin announced that electric car maker Tesla would not accept bitcoin as payment until at least half of its cryptocurrency was powered by renewable energy. – Established power.
Related: Hive Blockchain Investigates New Mining Coins Ahead of Ethereum Integration
“One thing is clear: As the need to reduce global emissions grows, cryptocurrencies will end up being an excuse for high energy use,” he said.
Ether (ETH) is currently the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, sitting at $187.5 billion, compared to Bitcoin’s (BTC) market cap of $360 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
