Cryptocurrency exchange Binance suspends deposits and withdrawals in ETH while Ethereum switches to the green blockchain

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced that it will suspend deposits and withdrawals of ETH and ERC-20 during Ethereum’s transition to the proof-of-stake (PoS) model. The company said it will do so on September 6 to update the Bellatrix consensus level and on September 15 to update the Paris consensus level. The Bellatrix update puts Ethereum’s consensus level in a state ready for merging, and the Paris update will move the network from PoW to PoS.

As a result of Ethereum’s transition to PoS, a new coin may appear, in which case the ETH token will be assigned to it. However, a new token may not appear, and for this reason, Binance has prepared two scenarios:

Scenario A: If no new token is created, Binance will reopen deposits and withdrawals as soon as possible.

Scenario B: if a new coin is created as a result of the fork, it will be credited to users' accounts in a 1:1 ratio based on snapshots (file copies) of ETH balances taken before the Paris update.

Merge intends to switch the Ethereum blockchain from the PoW to the PoS model, a faster, more energy-efficient, and secure way to scale projects. It is expected that the transition of Ethereum to a «green blockchain» will reduce energy consumption by 99%.