A major event in the cripto industry which was long waited has finally happended: Ethereum's merge. This Ethereum upgrade or Merge, as it's being referred to , changed how new crytp transactions take place on the blockchain. The ethereum netwrok has shifted from Proof-Of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model. This will change ho new transactions are verified and added to the blockchain.
The new protocol claims to reduce the energy consumption on the network by 99 percent. Further after the PoW network ceases to exist, Ethereum Issuance will decline drastically, raising the value of Ethereum in the process.
Merging With Mainnet
Proof-of-work secured Ethereum mainnet from genesis until the merge. This allowed The Ethereum blockchain we’re all used to come into existence in July 2015 with all its familiar features – transactions, smart contracts, accounts etc.
The Merge represented the official switch to using the Beacon Chain as the engine of block production. Mining is no longer the means of producing valid blocks. Instead, the proof-of-stake validators have adopted this role and are now responsible for processing the validity of all transactions and proposing blocks.