Ethereum Far From finished After "The Merge"

ROBERT STONE

Amajor and highly publicized upgrade to Ethereum's blockchain technology occurred midSeptember With the update, the method is changed from proof of work, a clunky, energy-consuming method, to proof of stake, a more efficient and streamlined method Are you aware that this is just one of many upcoming upgrades for Ethereum?

In recent months, the most recent upgrade of the Ethereum network, aptly named The Merge, has caught the attention of cryptocurrency investors and blockchain users, mostly due to the complexity of the upgrade� Ethereum developers had deep doubts about their ability to pull it off Since they have, The Merge has set the groundwork for other upgrades that should increase Ethereum's value and enable it to serve more purposes

The Ethereum Foundation released a list of updates that will be included in the next upgrade on Oct 14 It is expected to be released by September 2023 at the latest and will add functionality to Ethereum

It's common for upgrades of this nature to begin with a list of updates before being narrowed down to just a few The number of possible candidates is currently seven, but as testing proceeds and developers prioritize which ones are most feasible and necessary, that number will likely decrease�

The Shanghai upgrade includes new functionality� Ethereum has boomed in popularity over the past couple of years, bringing rise to Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism In addition to making Ethereum faster and cheaper, these Layer 2 solutions will be even more affordable soon As part of the Shanghai upgrade, there are three Ethereum Improvement Protocols (EIP) updates The most important update will be reducing gas fees on Layer 2 solutions

Two EIPs on the list aim to lower the gas fees associated with Layer 2 solutions � Developers will likely test both before one of them is implemented The bottom line is that Ethereum transactions will be cheaper for users Besides the ether withdrawal, another important update in Shanghai will be the removal of staked tokens The Merge replaced miners with validators, who were required to stake 32 tokens to become validators � These tokens are more than $45,000 based on today's prices � It is possible to withdraw or trade staked ether once Shanghai is unveiled but not before� In the next upgrade, this EIP will be included to keep validators happy and ensure they continue supporting the networks

Lastly, smart contract functionality will be updated� Writing smart contracts can be a little technical, but developers can now validate their code as they write it rather than waiting until the end to have it validated Keeping up with new developer demands is extremely important for Ethereum to remain competitive because smart contracts are the backbone of things such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi), and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)

This will provide two main benefits, according to Ethereum developer Tim Beiko Separating code from data will make it easier and faster for Layer 2s to handle smart contract code by separating code from data This will further reduce gas fees with the new smart contract functionality

Blockchain with longterm potential

Ethereum will require many more upgrades to reach its goal of being "powerful enough to help all humanity," providing investors with a great opportunity Major upgrades such as The Merge and Shanghai are carefully planned and executed to ensure that the blockchain can meet the growing demand from its users and developers It will take a long time before Ethereum is a finished product

Ethereum is a no-brainer investment at today's price of about $1,250, considering its potential long-term value� Co-founder Vitalik Buterin has stated that Ethereum has only reached 55% of its potential in its current state As a result, Ethereum's all-time high of almost $5,000 might be the tip of the iceberg.

Why it might not matter if crypto crashes

In a world where token prices break records on a near-daily basis, who's really profiting from crypto moves? When trading in an educated way with good money management, you should be able to make money regardless of which direction any particular token is moving Traders have the best odds � There are methods where traders put the odds in their favor Yes, they lose regularly, but they also win bigger than they lose and make successful careers out of it, but that is for another article.