Ethereum, the most popular cryptocurrency platform has completed its much-anticipated switch to a more energy-efficient infrastructure.
The upgrade is expected to reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption and set the stage for future improvements that will make the platform easier and cheaper to use.
The upgrade called the Merge, will cut Ethereum’s energy consumption by an estimated 99%.
It was completed in the early hours of Thursday.
Ethereum coin is however losing over 7% trading at $1,488.29 at the time of this report.
The completion of Merge is a rare good news for crypto that saw a devastating market crash drain nearly $1 trillion from the industry, forcing some prominent crypto companies into bankruptcy.
“This is going as well as it could so far,” said Danny Ryan, an Ethereum researcher who has worked on the Merge, as he celebrated with a group of colleagues.
A flaw in the Merge could imperil the broader crypto industry, upending start-ups and sending the market into a tailspin. The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced in August that it would pause certain Ethereum deposits and withdrawals during the Merge as a precautionary measure.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
