Current Event 2

Topic of Article: Tech, Crypto

Title of Article: Ethereum ‘merge’ will change crypto forever: Everything you need to know

Ethereum 'merge' will change crypto forever: Everything you need to know

Who

The article is about a person, but rather the crypto market. The article is mainly centered around Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.

What

The story highlights what the “Merge” is, and how if affects us.

1. The “Merge” refers to Ethereum network switching from a PoW (Proof of Work) consensus method to a more sustainable PoS (Proof of Stake) method.
2. Ethereum remains the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.
3. The switch from PoW to PoS affects thousands of miners in the world, and will have a ripple affect to the broader crypto industry
4. PoS will help the environment by eliminating the amount of energy required to mine coins.

When

The merge occurred very recently, just yesterday (September 15, 2022) to be precise.

Where

The merge occurred on the Ethereum network, and because of it’s decentralized design, I guess you could say it occurred all around the world.

Why

The story is important as the transition from PoW to PoS is a massive step towards sustainability in the crypto industry. Previously, miners would use massive amounts of electrical energy to turn a profit, but now, with PoS the network remains secure, cheaper, and more viable. This affects the U.S in terms of regulation, as there has been talk about further regulation of crypto in general within the U.S, but it will most likely remain unimplemented because of the nature of crypto. Crypto and blockchain technology has remained within the U.S, and there could/may be economic impacts because of the merge. This news remains pretty interesting to me as I was once a miner and profited decently while Ethereum was viable, but I quit roughly 2-3 months ago. Because crypto in general is quite new, I don’t think it applies to much of what we’ve learned in class (except for the economical parts of new currencies)