The ‘Merge’

Eventually the current Ethereum (ETHUSD) Mainnet will merge with the beacon chain proof-of-stake system. This will mark the end of proof-of-work for Ethereum, and the full transition to proof-of-stake. This is planned to precede the roll out of shard chains. It is referred to as "the docking."

When ready, Ethereum Mainnet will merge with the Beacon Chain, becoming its own shard which uses proof-of-stake instead of proof-of-work. Mainnet will bring the ability to run smart contracts into the proof-of-stake system, plus the full history and current state of Ethereum, to ensure that the transition is smooth for all ETH holders and users.

Ethereum was activated with the so-called hard fork of “London”. Correspondingly, the prices also surged and even touched a high record in just 24 hours. Also, although developers introduce various upgrades on the network almost all the time, London hard fork was crucial as it responded to the numerous proposals for Ethereum improvement. Though, the delay in their upgrade ‘Merge’ risks causing Ethereum to lose its market dominance.

This will impact the market value. ETH 2.0 upgrade also created quite polarized views across the investors' community. They were excited and worried at the same time, about preserving quality of their Ethereum investments. However, developers of Ethereum promised providing the best attainable facilities with the modern upgrades in the network. Lately, software developers of ETH have announced the much-anticipated upgrade of the network. This will possibly be completed within a few months preceding June 2022. After The Merge.

This will signal the final end of implementation of proof-of-work for Ethereum and start the era of a more sustainable, eco-friendly Ethereum. At this point Ethereum will be one step closer to achieving the full scale, security and sustainability outlined in its Ethereum vision.

This means a few features, such as the ability to withdraw staked ETH, will have to wait a little longer after The Merge is complete. Plans include a post-merge "cleanup" upgrade to address these features, which is expected to happen very soon after The Merge is completed.