Who’s excited for The Ethereum Merge? I know we are! We’ve only been waiting what feels like forever. But jokes aside, groundbreaking technology always takes time, but the wait is (almost) over!
Read on to find out what exactly The Ethereum Merge is, the recent updates and how it will effect you Trust Wallet users.
Ethereum in a nutshell.
Ethereum launched in 2015 with the aim of allowing projects to be created on its blockchain. Like any other blockchain, it was designed to be decentralized and not controllable by one entity, instead of relying on a central authoritarian body (like a bank or government).
Vitalik Buterin (the Ethereum co-founder) has regularly referred to a balancing act within blockchain technology in general which he calls ‘The Blockchain Trilemma’. This describes the challenge of balancing scalability, security, and decentralization of smart contract verification on the blockchain.
Ethereum thus far has operated on its Proof of Work consensus mechanism. Proof of Work (or, PoW) is used in cryptocurrency mining, for validating transactions and mining new tokens, but at scale requires huge amounts of energy, which only increases as more miners join the network. PoW Blockchains tends to be harder to scale because the number of transactions that a block can validate in each block are limited and have to be mined at a constant rate. This regularly causes transaction fees and confirmation times to rise significantly.
Ever been waiting for hours for a transaction to complete? Or had to pay ridiculous gas fees? Well that’s why.
Ethereum was initially capable of handling what the crypto world was throwing at it, but now Ethereum’s current network cannot scale its operations efficiently and economically enough to uphold and sustain the growing demand for its services.
To combat its well-documented lack of scalability, the Ethereum team proposed a set of upgrades, aptly named: The Merge, The Surge, The Verge, The Purge, and The Splurge. The Merge is what we’re looking at today.
It’s worth noting that although Eth 2.0 promises less blockchain congestions, meaning faster transaction speeds - it doesn’t promise a significant reduction in transaction costs.
You can take a look at gas price calculators such as https://www.gwei.at/ - to see the current costs of popular actions on the Ethereum blockchain.
The Ethereum Upgrade/ The Ethereum Merge/ Eth 2.0…
The original ‘Beacon Chain’ update was carried out on December 1st 2020 and added a version of Proof of Stake (PoS) to Ethereum. This allowed you to start staking Ethereum for example, and runs in parallel to the Ethereum mainnet.
The Merge; Miners Out, Validators In.
The Ethereum mainnet is expected to merge into the Proof of Stake system coordinated by the Beacon Chain in September 2022. After The Merge, the ecosystem will only use a Proof of Stake mechanism to secure its network.
If you hadn’t guessed already - this is how ‘The Ethereum Merge’ got its name.
Once The Merge happens, Ethereum’s PoW will be replaced by a PoS consensus mechanism. Instead of mining, blocks will be minted by nodes called validators.
Did you know, this PoS mechanism is available for rewards directly in Trust Wallet on a number of different blockchains? Yep! You can natively stake: EVMOS, Polkadot, Solana, Osmosis, Kava, Cosmos, Tezos, Tron and BNB!
So, what do Trust Wallet users need to do…?
Don’t worry, Trust Wallet users don’t have to do anything. The Merge will not affect the funds of ETH holders. All funds will transfer over after The Merge, and ether will still appear as ETH in users’ wallets.
You can just sit back, relax and wait for the magic to happen! Perhaps, you could make a nice cup of tea, go for a walk, or read the plethora of other information we have on everything crypto and blockchain, in all corners of the Trust Wallet Community page: https://community.trustwallet.com/. You’re GUARANTEED to learn something new.
Ethereum Merge Scam Warning!
Please do not send your ETH to anyone in an attempt to ‘upgrade to ETH 2.0’ or connect to any scam websites that tell you that you need to ‘update your wallet’ or ‘update your client’ for The Ethereum Merge.
There is no ETH 2.0 token and no upgrade of your Trust Wallet is required for The Merge. Stay safe Trust Wallet Fam.
Why use Trust Wallet?
Trust Wallet is an easy to use, true multi-chain noncustodial wallet, which allows you to store and manage over 6 million crypto assets including NFTs across 68+ blockchains. No more storing your assets across multiple custody wallets or exchanges! You’ll have peace of mind knowing all your assets are in one safe place.
Your private keys are stored on your device and your assets on-chain meaning you are in full control at all times. Trust Wallet gives you the ability to natively buy, swap and stake your favourite crypto without having to leave the app and also connect to dApps with the in-built DApp browser.
Trust Wallet is used by over 50 million people worldwide!
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