Top Crypto News Today: Ethereum Merge is Now LIVE! Welcome to the Future of the Second Largest Blockchain!

Key Takeaways:

1. Ethereum Merge went live at around 12:18 pm, IST
2. Ethereum Mainnet Merge Viewing Party here!
3. ETH price manages to retain, despite rumours of a price crash post the Ethereum Merge.

Ethereum Merge LIVE!

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

Scripting history as one of the biggest upgrades to live on the second largest crypto by market capitalisation – the Ethereum Merge has finally gone live – and this altcoin king has now become a blockchain network that has the security and execution of the Ethereum we all know and love, but is backed by the energy efficient proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, instead of the PoW one. This marks one of the biggest shifts undertaken by any crypto project in history, and has hence become such a momentous occasion.

The Merge is practically six years in the making and thus is widely considered by all in the crypto industry as a milestone in the history of crypto thanks to the potential it opens up for Ethereum as a whole. This could bolster market confidence amongst investors and institutions. A merge like this is an incredibly rare event in the world of crypto and probably might never happen again.

We're good. It's done. We Merged. Holy shit. Amazing work everyone 🥂🐼! https://t.co/bhbNS8LkZR pic.twitter.com/zx1d3L7Iox

— timbeiko.eth (@TimBeiko) September 15, 2022

What is the Ethereum Merge?

For the uninitiated, the Ethereum Merge is essentially the replacing of the existing proof-of-work consensus layer of the older Ethereum mainnet with the new and upgraded proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, also known as the Beacon Chain – but keeping the execution layer of the Ethereum network exactly the same as before the Merge.

Hence, the Ethereum Merge is only the first step in a number of steps that are planned by the developers of the blockchain, to make the largest smart contract capable blockchain network more efficient, increase transaction speeds while at the same time make it more eco-friendly. Here’s a graphic regarding the same, from the Ethereum Foundation themselves.

Source: Ethereum Foundation

What’s next immediately after the Merge?

One the Ethereum Merge is successfully executed, the Beacon Chain, which was initially launched back in December 2020, will fully take over the process of validating new transactions through a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and Ethereum’s older proof-of-work model will be shelved permanently. To date, over 13 million ETH has been staked to the ETH 2.0 deposit contract on the Beacon chain.

Now as the Ethereum mainnet is merged with the Beacon Chain, the complete transaction history of Ethereum, including all transactions, smart contracts and balance since its launch back in July 2015 will also be merged.

How did the Ethereum Merge impact ETH Price?

ETH/USD | Source: Tradingview

Right after confirmation about the successful implementation of the highly anticipated Ethereum Merge, ETH price somehow managed to not move at all. As is evident from the chart above, prices are pretty much well within its bounds, not too far up nor down either. This is somewhat surprising, but at the same time reassuring too. Fears of a major drop in ETH price right after the Ethereum Merge had been doing the rounds online and it seems like those fears were unwarranted.

From a technical standpoint, things seem more or less on the positive side as of now. ETH price did fall below the 50 day moving average again (marked in cyan) two days ago, but only marginally. Hence a small price jump from current levels would be enough to push prices back up above the 50-DMA and also eventually continue its journey towards the golden crossover, which is pretty close at hand now. It had also broken into the accumulation zone (marked in grey) but couldn’t sustain within it. The next rally in Ethereum could potentially push ETH price farther into that zone and form a new support zone for the altcoin king.

Prices as of 15th September, 2022.

Additional Read: Ethereum Price Prediction