The Ethereum blockchain merge is expected to occur on September 15th around 5:05am UTC. This is a milestone that marks Ethereum’s full transition to Proof of Stake, reducing the need for energy-intensive mining by a projected 99.9%. When compared to Proof of Work (PoW).
Some miners are also preparing hard forks that will allow them to continue using the PoW consensus. Forked coins have proven lucrative in the past. For example, holders of Ether (ETH) now own equivalent amounts of Ethereum Classic (ETC) when it forked in 2016.
In the event of a new hard fork where the Ethereum blockchain splits into two different networks, users holding ETH on the chain will have an equal balance of ETHPoW (ETHW) on the forked chain. This is an additional token and a completely different asset than ETH.
For ETH holders using hard wallets, the question is simpler. What happens to your tokens in the event of a fork following a merge? We’ve prepared some answers to this question so you don’t get lost or scammed in the next few hours.
Most hardware wallet providers take the same approach. Monitor adoption on new and forked chains before adding support for ETHPoW. It also states that no user action is required during the upgrade.
Charles Guillemet, chief security officer at secure hardware wallet provider Ledger, explained to Cointelegraph: The company said, “On day one he will not support the ETH Proof of Work fork because there are many technical aspects that need to be evaluated to make sure it is safe for users. It’s about making sure the chain is secure.”
Similarly, Trezor Bitcoin analyst Josef Tětek said: Access older versions of the blockchain. “
Swiss wallet provider Tangem also has no plans to support PoW forks. “We are not ready to demonstrate customer support for this project until we confirm the seriousness of this hard fork proponent,” said Chief Technology Officer Andrei Razutkin.
ETH holders who use non-custodial wallets and manage their own private keys will have quick access to both coin sets (ETHW and ETH). A private key holder can use MetaMask to collect forked coins and connect the PoW network to her Ethereum virtual machine wallet.
Cryptocurrency wallet companies warn users to take extra precautions during and after network upgrades. “Scammers are especially active during major network upgrades. Do not get involved with anyone who claims that urgent steps need to be taken to protect your coin,” he warned Tětek. .