{"id":88921,"date":"2025-09-15T12:30:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T09:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=88921"},"modified":"2025-09-15T12:37:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T09:37:27","slug":"ethereum-marks-three-years-since-the-merge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/ethereum-marks-three-years-since-the-merge\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethereum marks three years since The Merge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exactly three years ago, Ethereum developers activated the landmark The Merge upgrade. The key change was the shift of the second-largest cryptocurrency to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm.<\/p>\n

The impact of staking<\/h2>\n

The mainnet merged with a new consensus layer\u2014the Beacon Chain. Staking replaced mining: instead of computing power, validators now lock up ETH to confirm transactions. This cut<\/a> energy consumption by ~99.95%\u2014Ethereum\u2019s energy use is comparable to that of a single Web2 data centre.<\/p>\n

The move to PoS also broadened decentralisation by lowering barriers to entry. At the time of writing, Ethereum has more than 1 million active validators.<\/p>\n

\"image\"
Source: Validator Queue<\/a>.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new consensus algorithm minimised the risk of a 51% attack. To gain control of the chain would require<\/a> 50% of the assets in staking plus 1 ETH. According to core developer Justin Drake, this is difficult and costly, but theoretically possible only for a wealthy state.<\/p>\n

The volume of locked coins on the network of the second-largest cryptocurrency exceeds 3.6 million ETH worth $162.4bn\u2014almost 30% of Ethereum\u2019s total supply.<\/p>\n

\"image\"
Source: Validator Queue.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fate of Ethereum PoW<\/h2>\n

After The Merge, miners launched a fork of Ethereum called ETHW to continue operating on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm. The idea did not succeed.<\/p>\n

Since launch, the project\u2019s token has lost nearly 100% of its value.<\/p>\n

\"image\"
Source: CoinGecko<\/a>.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ethereum PoW also faced technical difficulties: in September 2022 hackers breached the Omni bridge and stole 200 ETHW. Within a year the community began calling it a \u201cdead fork\u201d, as developers stopped updating the code.<\/p>\n

\n

ETHW \u2014 born from refusing the merge, now just another ghost chain no one asked for.<\/p>\n

At least it\u2019s proof you can fork the code, but not the community. \u26cf\ufe0f #FUDClub<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/D9Mj57Jcm0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \ud83c\udf4aBullish0xCrypto\ud83d\udc51\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddf4 (@Bullish0xCrypto) August 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n