What exactly was the Ethereum Merge?

[lengendarytraderbtc]

I know this may seem like a silly question, but I'm still not sure what the merge was. Could someone please explain this to me?

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[ryzaadit]

Rather than waiting someone explaining to you about the Merge.

It's better to read about the Merge from Official Resource of "Ethereum" : https://ethereum.org/en/upgrades/merge/ you can get a fully resource with a different category about the merge it self.

Feel free take your time to read about "Merge" ETH.

[vv181]

I know this may seem like a silly question, but I'm still not sure what the merge was. Could someone please explain this to me?

Specifically what parts you are not sure about?

Asking one to explain it while yourself does not address it in any way or any sense what is not understandable to you is like shooting in the dark. The merge explanation is thoroughly addressed by the Ethereum team itself, and there are many conversations about it that readdress it in a simple manner. Asking to explain it again would only give a burden to the explainer since one can not tell it in a specific manner of what you are trying to understand and which part you are trying to comprehend.

[Yogee]

Some basic changes since the Ethereum merge that a simple investor or trader would hopefully understand,
- Algorithm is now POS which is a switch from POW
- Gas fee used in transactions seems to be more stable and costs less since the transition

Deeper explanations are available on the net like the one posted above.

[batang_bitcoin]

To make it simpler and easier to understand, the main thing is all about its moving from the algorithm of being a proof of work into a proof of stake.
Now, if you have no idea about pow and pos, that's where you should start your research and understand what has happened about it.
There are many resources where you can have the idea of the two.

[MAAManda]

I know this may seem like a silly question, but I'm still not sure what the merge was. Could someone please explain this to me?

In simple terms, "The Merge" is a change to the Ethereum network infrastructure that initially they used PoW (Proof-of-Work) consensus and then changed to PoS (Proof-of-Stake). Ethereum did this "The Merge" on the basis of scalability, as we know that in recent years the Ethereum network has experienced bottlenecks in its network, this has caused an increase in fees for transactions and it has become a problem for people in crypto. After "The Merge", that problem no longer exists, you can see it on this page.

Due to the change in consensus from PoW to PoS, currently we don't know the name Miner for the Ethereum network anymore, we only know Staker, LOL.

[TravelMug]

Or maybe you have the same as this misconception about the merge:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/the-merge-top-5-misconceptions-about-the-anticipated-ethereum-upgrade

Misconception 1: Ethereum gas fees will reduce after The Merge
Misconception 2: Ethereum transactions will be faster after The Merge
Misconception 3: The Merge will result in downtime of the Ethereum blockchain
Misconception 4: Investors will be able to withdraw staked ETH after The Merge
Misconception 5: Validators will not be able to withdraw ETH rewards til the Shanghai upgrade

Others have provided you a good link to start with. So it's better to read them first and understand everything. There are also a lot of threads here in this board. It's not that deep, as there are a lot of recent threads about the Merge.

[fuguebtc]

Or maybe you have the same as this misconception about the merge:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/the-merge-top-5-misconceptions-about-the-anticipated-ethereum-upgrade

Misconception 1: Ethereum gas fees will reduce after The Merge
Misconception 2: Ethereum transactions will be faster after The Merge
Misconception 3: The Merge will result in downtime of the Ethereum blockchain
Misconception 4: Investors will be able to withdraw staked ETH after The Merge
Misconception 5: Validators will not be able to withdraw ETH rewards til the Shanghai upgrade

Others have provided you a good link to start with. So it's better to read them first and understand everything. There are also a lot of threads here in this board. It's not that deep, as there are a lot of recent threads about the Merge.

Misconception 1 is that most people make the most mistakes, because most of them don't learn or read anything about the merge. They always think that the eth upgrade is short-lived and one-time only without knowing that the merge is just the first stepping stone for other upgrades to be updated in the future. The reduction in gas fees and the increase in scalability is only seen when the sharding upgrade is updated and the misconception of many people that upgrading will help increase the price of eth but things did not go as many people expected.

[lengendarytraderbtc]

I know this may seem like a silly question, but I'm still not sure what the merge was. Could someone please explain this to me?

In simple terms, "The Merge" is a change to the Ethereum network infrastructure that initially they used PoW (Proof-of-Work) consensus and then changed to PoS (Proof-of-Stake). Ethereum did this "The Merge" on the basis of scalability, as we know that in recent years the Ethereum network has experienced bottlenecks in its network, this has caused an increase in fees for transactions and it has become a problem for people in crypto. After "The Merge", that problem no longer exists, you can see it on this page.

Due to the change in consensus from PoW to PoS, currently we don't know the name Miner for the Ethereum network anymore, we only know Staker, LOL.

I see. Thanks man!

[DeathAngel]

In short it was what takes Ethereum away from sound money & proof of work, towards proof of stake. It will ultimately be its downfall.

I have never been the biggest Ethereum advocate so I am not too disappointed.

[hd49728]

For this simple question, DYOR Do Your Own Research. It is a must step to do in crypto.

The Merge is a start of Etherereum Proof of Stake by changing from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. That will result in more upgrades later to solve scaling issue and transaction fee issue.

It is expected to help transaction fee becomes cheaper and more feasible for everyone.

[Ayers]

For this simple question, DYOR Do Your Own Research. It is a must step to do in crypto.

The Merge is a start of Etherereum Proof of Stake by changing from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. That will result in more upgrades later to solve scaling issue and transaction fee issue.

It is expected to help transaction fee becomes cheaper and more feasible for everyone.

honestly, this is common knowledge, it's not too hard to find them in today's media, OP should do his own research to understand and grasp it better than getting a brief explanation here

besides switching to POS brings benefits like deflation, being environmentally friendly, offering future scalability, there are also inadequacies that people doubt about eth, like the move to proof of stake will make eth more centralized and currently most of the eth is believed to be in the hands of 2 sharks on coinbase and lido. since the merger has just ended, nothing can be confirmed yet, we should also observe carefully

[hichamito37]

the essence of this merger is that ethereum moved its mining system from POW to POS. But some of the changes will be visible for a long time, not instantly. It does look like nothing has changed since it's just called merge.

Why no change?, moving from POW to POS is a big change for ethereum. This event has been preparing for the past 4 years and this is the biggest move in the development of ethereum. The 2 things that you can most easily notice are the ethereum supply being reduced due to the burning of transaction fees and up to 99.95% reduction in energy consumption.

[Yamifoud]

Rather than waiting someone explaining to you about the Merge.

It's better to read about the Merge from Official Resource of "Ethereum" : https://ethereum.org/en/upgrades/merge/ you can get a fully resource with a different category about the merge it self.

Feel free take your time to read about "Merge" ETH.

This is clear enough to OP and I hope he was reading it and enlighten his understanding about the merge.
Well, it has been said it changes a lot and that also includes prices and market demand. But too unfortunate that instead, this will helps to increase demand and price, it happens that this becomes the reason why people got panic and dump their ETH. It doesn't look good actually and that was because many people don't really understand this, it is somehow they just listen to rumors and fake news.

[Fundamentals Of]

The Merge or Ethereum 2.0 is simply the transition of Ethereum from Proof of Work or PoW to Proof of Stake PoS. So with this transition, the Ethereum blockchain is not anymore using mining to come up with consensus. So there would be no more Ethereum miners. As a replacement for mining, consensus shall be reached through staking. So instead of miners, there will be stakers. As a result, the network won't be using too much energy anymore. But be careful with myths surrounding the Merge like gas fee reduction, etc.

[rozak]

I know this may seem like a silly question, but I'm still not sure what the merge was. Could someone please explain this to me?

OP, I think the reference @ryzaadit provided would be appropriate to satisfy your question. please read and you will have a new understanding regarding merge.

Misconception 1: Ethereum gas fees will reduce after The Merge

after the Ethereum network transaction fees increased high some time ago. and even become unstable. the announcement of the ethereum 2.0 update created a lot of opinions. one of the ones I hear most often is related to transaction fees.
we have to realize, that most of the people in the crypto forums must think that way.

[Coin_trader]

The Merge or Ethereum 2.0 is simply the transition of Ethereum from Proof of Work or PoW to Proof of Stake PoS. So with this transition, the Ethereum blockchain is not anymore using mining to come up with consensus. So there would be no more Ethereum miners. As a replacement for mining, consensus shall be reached through staking. So instead of miners, there will be stakers. As a result, the network won't be using too much energy anymore. But be careful with myths surrounding the Merge like gas fee reduction, etc.

This is true, The merge will not affect directly the gas fee because Ethereum just change consensus but it will make Ethereum more faster to implement an upgrade since stakers will dictate the approval for the next upgrade on Ethereum unlike PoW which requires certain blocks to implement upgrade which makes Ethereum slower to do the implementation.

The merge also introduced exciting new actors to the consensus mechanism like block builders and MEV relayers which will make Ethereum more decentralized. Maybe in the future it might help reduced the gas fee through the upgrades.

Source: https://www.blocknative.com/blog/will-the-merge-lower-gas-fees

[taufik123]

Misconception 1: Ethereum gas fees will reduce after The Merge

after the Ethereum network transaction fees increased high some time ago. and even become unstable. the announcement of the ethereum 2.0 update created a lot of opinions. one of the ones I hear most often is related to transaction fees.
we have to realize, that most of the people in the crypto forums must think that way.

I also think so, actually this Merger is only a transfer from POW to POS and does not guarantee changes in gas costs.
Lowering gas costs will require efforts to further expand network capacity and throughput.
The developer is also working on a rollup-centric roadmap to make transactions cheaper.
and it is certain that the Merger will not reduce gas costs.

[el kaka22]

There will be a million people explaining what it is, but let me tell you what it was for. It was for the fact that miners have been taking advantage of the situation too much and people overpaying for the transactions, now this way it would be cheaper, faster, no congestion, and it would allow people to know exactly how much they would make, instead of letting people drive up the price.

Will it work? I do not know really, but it is obvious that we are talking about something that will take some time before we know if it works or not, I will give it a year and after a year if there are no glaring mistakes that means it has worked for everyone.

[tvplus006]

...The Merge is a start of Etherereum Proof of Stake by changing from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. That will result in more upgrades later to solve scaling issue and transaction fee issue...

In addition, one of the important events that happened after the ethereum merger is that ETH is now becoming deflationary. Thanks to this https://ultrasound.money service, you can see how many new coins are entering the market now, and how many coins would have been issued if Proof of Work had been saved.