Ethereum merges are currently 99.95% complete as Ethereum customers and developers are constantly working on successfully completing checklists and preparations such as releases and updates.
Moreover, almost 85% of the nodes in the Ethereum network have been updated to the latest client versions. As the network hashing rate drops below 872 TH/s, the merge will be launched on September 15th.
Ethereum is ready to switch to Proof-of-Stake (PoS)
According to OKLink's "Ethereum Merge countdown" report, Ethereum merge progress is 99.95% complete as Ethereum customers, developers and users are ready to prepare. The main Ethereum network (execution level) will merge with the Beacon Chain (consensus level), transferring Ethereum from PoW to PoS.
The Bellatrix consensus update on September 6 prepared Beacon Chain for the merge. In addition, updating Paris at the execution level will prepare the main network for the merge. This will be caused by Cumulative Network Complexity (TTD) 587500000000000000000000 on September 15th. Almost 13 minutes after the Paris update, Ethereum will switch to PoS when the Beacon Chain validator completes the block.
This marks the end of PoW, which makes Ethereum miners obsolete. However, the power consumption of Ethereum will decrease by 99.95%. Most Ethereum mining pools have expressed support for mining ETC as Ethereum moves to PoS.
Last month, Ethereum developers announced that the network hashing speed of 872 TH/s is sufficient to launch the merge on September 15. However, the hashing rate jumped to almost 900 TH/s, according to the merge estimate on September 14. The hashrate of the network dropped after the Bellatrix update.
Thus, according to the recommended Ethereum Foundation tracker, the merge will take place on September 15 from 02:00 to 04:00 UTC. There are 11344 blocks left for mining.
In addition, almost 85% of the nodes in the Ethereum network have been updated to the latest client versions. It is noteworthy that 83% of Go-Ethereum (geth) client nodes, 91% Erigon, 99% Besu and 92% Nethermind are ready.
Analysts are bearish about the price of Ethereum (ETH) ahead of the merge
Cryptocurrency analyst Big Cheds believes that Ethereum Merge is a "buy the rumor, sell the news" event. As the price of Ethereum (ETH) jumped above $1,750, some profit-taking was noticed. If the ETH price falls below $1,700, it will trigger short positions. Other analysts also expect a downward move as ETH loses momentum.
