The joy round Ethereum’s (ETH) upcoming improve, The Merge, which entails the merger of two blockchains — Mainnet Ethereum and Beacon Chain — has unknowingly spurred rumors throughout the neighborhood.
Termed probably the most vital improve within the historical past of Ethereum, The Merge does certainly mark the top of proof-of-work (PoW) for the Ethereum blockchain. Nonetheless, listed here are 5 misconceptions that stand out among the many relaxation.
False impression 1: Ethereum gasoline charges will cut back after The Merge
Ethereum’s impending improve will cut back Ethereum’s notorious gasoline charges (transaction charges) is without doubt one of the largest misconceptions circulating amongst traders. Whereas decreased gasoline charges tops each investor’s wishlist, The Merge is a change of consensus mechanism that may transition the Ethereum blockchain from PoW to proof-of-stake (PoS).
As an alternative, decreasing gasoline charges in Ethereum would require engaged on increasing the community capability and throughput. The developer neighborhood is at present engaged on a rollup-centric roadmap to make transactions cheaper.
False impression 2: Ethereum transactions will likely be quicker after The Merge
It’s secure to imagine that Ethereum transactions won’t be noticeably quicker. Nonetheless, there’s some reality to this rumor, as Beacon Chain permits validators to publish a block each 12 seconds, which on the Mainnet is roughly 13.3 seconds.
Whereas Ethereum builders imagine that transitioning to PoS will allow a ten% enhance in block manufacturing, the slight enchancment will go unnoticed by customers.
False impression 3: The Merge will lead to downtime of the Ethereum blockchain
Contrasting the misconceptions that envision constructive outcomes for Ethereum from The Merge, a well-liked rumor means that the deliberate improve will momentarily take down the Ethereum blockchain.
The builders anticipate no downtime as blocks transition from being constructed utilizing PoW to being constructed utilizing PoS.
False impression 4: Buyers will be capable to withdraw staked ETH after The Merge
Staked ETH (stETH), a cryptocurrency backed 1:1 by ETH, at present lies locked on the Beacon Chain. Whereas customers would love to have the ability to withdraw their stETH holdings, the developer neighborhood has confirmed that the improve doesn’t facilitate this transformation.
Withdrawal of stETH holdings will likely be made out there in the course of the subsequent main improve after The Merge, often known as the Shanghai improve. Consequently, the property will stay locked and illiquid for at the very least 6-12 months after the merger.
False impression 5: Validators will be unable to withdraw ETH rewards til the Shanghai improve
Whereas stETH stays blocked for traders till withdrawals are resumed following the Shangai improve, validators could have rapid entry to the price rewards and maximal extractable worth (MEV) earned throughout block proposals from the execution layer or Ethereum Mainnet.
Because the price compensation won’t be newly issued tokens, it will likely be out there to the validator instantly.
Associated: Ethereum will outpace Visa with zkEVM Rollups, says Polygon co-founder
Sharing his tackle Ethereum’s untapped potential, Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic informed Cointelegraph that zkEVM Rollups, a brand new scaling answer for Ethereum, will permit the sensible contract protocol to outpace Visa when it comes to transaction throughput.
Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon’s different co-founder, echoed Bjelic’s ideas as he envisioned the answer slicing down Ethereum charges by 90% and rising transaction throughput to 40–50 transactions per second.
