Ethereum is as most people know the biggest crypto company that owns ETH coins and ERC and it is going to change its methods of operating to operation into a greener process by eliminating proof-of-work. The new method would be the proof-of-stake that will demolish the criticism the crypto industry faces in terms of using tons of electricity and allegations of the increased price of gas.
We know! all this is gibberish to you if you are not a crypto expert so let us explain it to you in a language that you understand. The current way of method acquiring an Ethereum is to use supercomputers to solve complex problems and in return you get coins, this is called, mining or proof-of-work. But Ethereum is looking to merge two different platforms, Ethereum Mainnet and Beacon Coin, and make a system that will offer the owners of the cryptocurrencies to stake it(lock a part of it to crypto network) to get the power in the system, thus this is called proof-of-stake. This new system will be called The Merge would ditch the original mining method forever.
The Merge is expected to happen sometime soon, probably next month but the exact date is yet to be disclosed.
If Ethereum follows through with this merge, it will leave BTC as the only big crypto market that requires mining(proof-fo-work). And If this transition is successful, this would make Ethereum a lot more scaleable and cheaper but the process can turn out to be a major blunder in the history of the crypto and Ethereum will become something of the past.
The Meger is a crazy idea if we think about it and there are more than one ways it can all go wrong. The Ethereum can halt for some time or can even cease to work after the upgrade and many people can lose a lot of money. Ethereum’s security can also be compromised as the theft in the mining system required a lot of computing and investing and was unlikely for someone to try, but the new system would only require a lot of ETH if someone is to cheat in any way.
If you have Ethereum right now, you can only hope for the best to happen cause no one is going to buy before the results of The Merge are revealed. And the ones who are staking their Ethereum will not be able to withdraw it right now, you will have to wait for 6-10 months ahead of The Merge if you want to withdraw.
But the Ethereum mining will not vanish whole-in-whole as it is a decentralized network and the developer does not have all the control over the system. Minner who aren’t so happy with The Merge can keep the mining alive by making “FORKS” of Ethereum and keep mining with the staking of other owners who are also not satisfied by The Merge. Such forks are already being made such as Ethereum Classic.
