‘Happy merge’: ethereum’s massive upgrade completed successfully

Software for the ethereum blockchain has been overhauled, drastically reducing its energy usage, its inventor and co-founder tweeted on Thursday.

The new system will use 99.95% less energy, according to the Ethereum Foundation. To its proponents, the upgrade represents a major advantage as ethereum seeks to surpass rival blockchain bitcoin.

Most blockchains devour large amounts of energy and have come under fire from environmentalists and some investors. Before the software upgrade, which is known as Merge, a single transaction on ethereum used as much power as an average US household uses in a week, according to researcher Digiconomist.

The overhaul has changed how transactions on the ethereum blockchain occur and how ether tokens, the second largest crypto coin after bitcoin, are created.

And we finalized!

Happy merge all. This is a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem. Everyone who helped make the merge happen should feel very proud today.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) September 15, 2022

Ethereum has moved from a “proof of work” system, in which energy-hungry computers validate transactions by solving complex maths problems, to a “proof of stake” system, where individuals and companies act as validators, using their ether as collateral, to win newly created tokens.

“Happy merge all,” inventor Vitalik Buterin said in a tweet. “This is a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem.”  — Maria Ponnezhath and Elizabeth Howcroft, (c) 2022 Reuters