The Ethereum Merge

2022

Date: September 15, 2022 · Place: Ethereum mainnet, block 15,537,394, transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake · Figures: Vitalik Buterin, co-founder · Tim Beiko, EF coordinator · Justin Drake, EF researcher · Danny Ryan, EF researcher · Ethermine, the largest miner to lose its business overnight · Tags: Protocol, Proof-of-Stake, Watch Party, Energy 01. 99.95% Energy Drop, Live At 06:42:42 UTC on September 15 2022, Ethereum's mainnet executes the Paris hard fork at terminal total difficulty 58,750,000,000,000,000,000,000. The chain transitions from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in a single block, ending mining as Ethereum's consensus mechanism after seven years. Network energy consumption drops an estimated 99.95% overnight, from roughly 78 TWh per year (comparable to Chile) to under 0.01 TWh. The change is the largest single-event sustainability shift in the history of computing infrastructure. 02. The Watch Party as Format The Ethereum Foundation hosts a live YouTube stream attended by 41,000 simultaneous viewers, with researchers narrating blocks in real time. The format is unprecedented: a financial network upgrade as livestreamed sporting event. Vitalik tweets 'happy merge all' at 06:42 UTC. Crypto Twitter coalesces around the panda emoji as Merge mascot. Memes refer to the Merge as 'the most ambitious crossover event in software history.' Despite years of bear-market price action, the Merge ships on schedule and without a critical bug. Engineering confidence in Ethereum stays high through the rest of the cycle. "Happy merge all." — Vitalik Buterin, Twitter, September 15 2022, 06:42 UTC Sources • Ethereum Foundation, 'The Merge,' ethereum.org, September 15 2022 • Tim Beiko, 'Mainnet Merge Announcement,' Ethereum Foundation blog, August 24 2022 • Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute, 'Ethereum Energy Consumption Post-Merge,' September 2022 • Etherscan, block 15,537,394