The Ethereum Foundation gives a precise definition of the term: "The merger represents the joining of Ethereum's existing execution layer (the mainnet we use today) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain." More precisely It is said that the beacon chain (consensus layer) is merged with the existing chain (execution layer), and the PoW part of the original execution layer is discarded. The completion of this merger means the end of the Ethereum POW consensus era, and the POW node miners will withdraw from the stage of history.
Why merge?
The low performance and high gas of the Ethereum network seriously restrict the development of the ecology. We need to improve as soon as possible. Sharding will fundamentally solve this problem in Ethereum. Before enabling sharding, "merging" is the The basis for building shards. At the same time, there is another fatal problem that is also driving the "merger", that is, the difficulty bomb of Ethereum. The "difficulty bomb" is a mechanism algorithm that adjusts the difficulty of the chain according to the block time. POS, but if the merger and sharding cannot be completed before a certain block height, then the difficulty bomb will in turn threaten Ethereum itself, resulting in slower block generation and further network congestion.
Benefits of Merger: Lower Security Costs More Sustainable Helps Reduce Future Code Complexity What will change after the merger?
1. Lower Gas Fee
2. Improve network throughput
3. Democratize network participation and achieve a more equitable distribution of rewards through new incentives, validators, and innovations
4. Green and environmentally friendly, each transaction will reduce energy consumption by 99.95%
5. Comprehensive deflation, reducing the issuance of ETH, and providing stronger security guarantees for end users and the DeFi industry
6. Increased pledge income
7. Lower GPU prices
Can the PoW version of Ethereum continue to be used after the merger of the expanding Ethereum ecosystem?
No, there is only one Ethereum, and the entire network will switch to the PoS consensus mechanism. If any nodes were to continue mining the PoW version of Ethereum, they would be on their own minority fork, and the economic value of their block rewards would be far less than their operating costs. Since miners are incentivized to make a profit, it is expected that all PoW participants will immediately start mining with their hardware on other non-Ethereum PoW blockchains.
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