- Ethereum should use 99.9% less energy.
- Fewer than 40% of the energy used in mining was renewable.
- Good momentum will be for those projects that are built on top of Ethereum.
It was no easy task to switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, two different ways to operate the Ethereum blockchain.
Before the Merge, Justin Drake, a researcher at the nonprofit Ethereum Foundation, gave a speech. “The metaphor that I use is this concept of taking out an engine from a functioning automobile,” Drake said.
The potential reward is enormous. Now, Ethereum should use 99.9% less energy. According to one estimation, it appears as though Finland’s electricity grid has abruptly been turned off.
The network, which supports a $60 billion ecosystem of cryptocurrency exchanges, lending organizations, non-fungible token (NFT) markets, and other apps, will become more secure and scalable, according to Ethereum’s creators.
In their third Global Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study, Cambridge University found that fewer than 40% of the energy used in mining was renewable. 74% of bitcoin mining in 2019 comes from renewable sources, according to a Coinshares report.
According to data from the Bitcoin Mining Council, in Q2 2022, almost 60% of the energy consumed for bitcoin mining came from renewable sources. Older research has provided a variety of statistics, but generally speaking, they fall between 35% and 70%.
According to Armando Aguilar, an independent cryptocurrency expert and former digital asset strategist at Fundstrat Global Advisors, related cryptocurrencies may experience a price increase as a result of this update.
According to him, “the good momentum will be for those projects that are built on top of Ethereum,” among them are Polygon and Arbitrum. The Ethereum ecosystem, which will enable the network to expand, reduce transaction costs, and encourage further use of blockchain technology, may put extra pressure on rival protocols like Solana and Polkadot.
