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Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, will complete a plan to reduce its carbon emissions by more than 99% within the next month, the foundation that manages the platform has confirmed.
Dubbed Merge, the project will switch the underlying technology Ethereum uses to validate crypto transactions to a new process that requires less energy to manage.
Once integrated, they will end their role as miners in the Ethereum ecosystem and significantly reduce their power usage. These users run vast amounts of powerful proprietary technology all day, every day, to generate random numbers that affect the security of the entire network.
The energy consumption of Ethereum mining is Currently estimating Approximately 72 terawatt hours per year, according to Dutch economist Alex de Vries, who runs the Digiconomist website. This is comparable to Colombia’s electricity consumption and a carbon footprint comparable to Switzerland.
This shift moves the platform away from the proof of work process. This process requires cryptocurrency miners to generate random numbers and verify records stored on the blockchain. This is the technology that underpins digital currencies such as Ethereum and the more popular Bitcoin.
Instead, Ethereum uses a proof of stake process. In this process, the network is secured by users who stake a sum of cryptocurrencies and commit to acting honestly at the risk of losing it.
De Vries said the switch eliminates most of the power usage. They were able to cut off most of the electricity demand. We are working on a more precise quantification, but we should be able to achieve a reduction of at least 99% (probably 99.9%). It would be like having a country like (a quarter of all data centers in the world combined) run out of electricity overnight.
The proof-of-stake model is currently being used on an experimental beacon blockchain to ensure the theoretical security it provides is sufficient for the multi-billion dollar economy on the Ethereum network. tested to The experimental blockchain now takes over the work of the main network.
Imagine Ethereum as a spacecraft that is not ready for interstellar travel, the Ethereum Foundation explained of the merger. With Beacon Chain, the community has built a new engine and a beefed-up hull. After significant testing, it was time to hot-swap the new engine into the old mid-flight. The engine will be integrated into an existing vessel, ready to throw some serious light years into space.”
Potential problems are still ahead. The foundation said users should be aware of increased fraudulent activity. “Don’t send ETH anywhere trying to ‘upgrade to ETH2’. There are no ETH2 tokens and nothing else is required to keep your funds safe.
The final phase of the merger is expected to begin on September 6, according to the foundation, with the old blockchain being turned off at some point between September 10 and 20.
Ethereum is not the first network to use Proof of Stake, and other networks including Cardano and Solana have demonstrated the technology on a smaller scale. But with that switch, Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, will face new criticism for its continued reliance on proof of work.
De Vries estimates that the Bitcoin network uses 130TWh of electricity per year, but defending this amount is increasingly likely if the Ethereum blockchain proves it can achieve the same capacity in a greener way. It will get harder.
