Last September The Merge took place, considered more of an energy revolution since it allows the reduction of the electricity consumption of the Blockchain.
Last September, The Merge took place, one of the crucial milestones in the development of the Ethereum ecosystem. Enabled the transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS). This implies, among other things, a change in the model used to validate transactions. For many, The Merge is more of an energy revolution than anything else. This is because it allows the reduction of the electricity consumption of the chain of blocks.
Ethereum More Environmentally Friendly
Long criticized for its excessive energy consumption, the Ethereum network has managed to establish a less greedy model, thanks to the Merge, which operated last September. In the past, energy consumption ranged from 46.31 terawatt hours (TWh) to 93.98 TWh per year. This finding is the result of data provided by ConsenSys, a software company specializing in Ethereum.
Now, this consumption is reduced by 99.9%, allowing the Vitalik Buterin network to achieve its goal. The same goes for the carbon footprint of the Blockchain. We learn that these figures are also better than what was expected in the short term by the team behind The Merge.
After The Merge
Immediately after The Merge, there was a sharp drop in network consumption. As a result, the carbon footprint is currently 0.1 million tons of CO2 (MtCO2) per year. Specifically, compared to Blockchain transactions, the energy consumption is 0.03-kilowatt hours (kWh) and the carbon footprint is 0.01 kg CO2. According to analysts, this corresponds to the electricity consumed to watch two hours of videos on YouTube.
Ethereum thus positions at the forefront of an era of adaptation to new requirements for environmental protection.
Despite this successful transition from Ethereum to PoS, concerns remain. After The Merge, 46.15% of the nodes for storing data, processing transactions, and adding new Blockchain blocks are assigned to only two addresses. This makes community members say that the network is less decentralized than before.
It should be remembered that last May, Vijay Boyapati, author of the book “The bullish case for Bitcoin”. used ideological arguments, considering that decentralization would be affected. He also added the following:
“Proof of stake does not replace the current politically motivated financial system. It is a politically motivated financial system, wrapped in a thin layer of cryptography.”
In his opinion, “proof of work is the only way to separate money and State.”
Some expert concerns revolve around the Proof of Stake feature, which would give privileges to those who get in first, and, since only capital is needed, anyone with enough money will have more decision-making power. With PoS, according to some of its detractors, this happens because it is money that produces more money, Ethereum would then resemble the fiat system.
By Audy Castaneda
