The head of product at XGo, Josh Cowell, explains what the much-anticipated Ethereum Merge entails and the primary issues that remain unanswered.

They are a group of crypto enthusiasts that founded XGo intending to return the cryptocurrency business to its original ideas and values, which go beyond making money (or losing it!) rapidly. They now provide a complete online trading suite and staking tool, but this is not their primary focus, and there are many more products in development.

A little over three years later, Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. It needs substantial energy to run, and its decentralized character is compromised by a limited number of giant, more technologically proficient mining corporations. As Bitcoin does, the network is now using a Proof-of-Work consensus method to protect the integrity of the blockchain. This shows that miners actively use equipment to do number crunching to validate transactions and obtain ETH rewards.

Throughout the history of the Ethereum chain, several enhancements have been implemented. Throughout the history of the Ethereum chain, various upgrades have been implemented, but the upcoming Merge is perhaps the most anticipated blockchain update yet. It will signify the network’s switch to Proof-of-Stake. It will mark the network’s move to Proof-of-Stake; this change has been considered since before Ethereum went online, but it has taken almost eight years to reach this point. These organizations combine their Ethereum holdings to boost their chances of earning more Ethereum. The network is made more secure and decentralized due to its presence and investment. Validators for staking will be employed to assure the security of this new chain.

Billionaire Mark Cuban says he’s a fan of the #Ethereum merge to proof-of-stake.

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) August 25, 2022

Josh proceeded by stating that, as a consequence of decentralizing the network and relying on a bigger pool of validators, the Merge should result in increased security. Compared to mining, the challenge of entering the market is much reduced. In addition, the energy used to maintain the blockchain’s functioning should fall by more than 99 per cent, and the average wait time between blocks might be reduced by up to 12 per centt. In addition, Proof of Stake will provide the foundation for future innovations like Sharding, which will further enhance scalability and speed.

Also read: Will the Ethereum Merge put other cryptocurrencies at risk?

Due to the small number of participants in the staking process, there is considerable fear that the Merge might make the network less safe and lead to further centralization. Because they would no longer be able to utilize their equipment to collect ETH rewards, many miners are fiercely opposed to Proof-of-Stake. Considering how costly mining equipment can be, this is a huge blow. Some individuals are afraid that governments throughout the globe may find it easier to manage Ethereum at the protocol level. This is because governments may enforce laws and restrictions on huge businesses that stake ETH, which might result in censoring transactions.

Due to the product Superfluid, anyone may participate in staking rewards with a much-reduced barrier to entry. Even better, there are no lock-ups, incredible incentives, and the freedom to use assets for trade and to bet simultaneously. These characteristics are all standard. XGo is a strong supporter of the objectives of the Ethereum Foundation, and it is crucial to consider the ETH community’s response to the latest DAO attack, which was the formation of Ethereum Classic (ETC.). As a result of the community and developers’ diplomatic efforts, the network was preserved; thus, it would be unwise to reject ETH-W altogether since this is not their first rodeo. They propose to provide all stakeholders with the following tools: a seamless PoW to PoS ETH token conversion with two-way replay attack protection and access to staking rewards for the mass retail audience, as well as ETH PoW fork futures trading alongside ETH PoS markets, should a lead fork (ETH-W) develop.