The reasons why the Ethereum merger will lead to the collapse of this cryptocurrency

According to Merkle Science principal researcher Coby Morgan, Ethereum’s transition to a PoS consensus mechanism will make ETH more centralized and vulnerable to government interference and censorship.

Coby Morgan suggested that the high cost of validators could lead to the consolidation of nodes among large cryptocurrency companies such as Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. In order to become a full-fledged validator of the Ethereum network, it is necessary to staking 32 ETH. Currently, 64% of ETH are controlled by only 5 companies.

According to the researcher, the largest ethereum holders will be «subject to the whims of governments around the world,» and therefore ETH risks becoming a fully government-controlled digital asset. «Crypto platforms will have 2 choices: either to comply with the requirements of governments or to risk being sanctioned,» emphasized Coby Morgan.

In addition to submitting to the authorities, The Merge risks increasing the number of cryptocurrency fraudsters and hackers in the Ethereum network. PoS is less secure than PoW, so the update will make the Ethereum blockchain more vulnerable to various cyberattacks. Unlike PoW, the green blockchain informs node validators in advance which blocks will be verified, thus allowing hackers to plan attacks.

It is worth noting that Ethereum developers are aware of the theoretically possible security problems and are already working on solving them. «This problem is difficult to solve, but if it is done, the security of the proof-of-stake will be at a high level, as Ethereum will be protected from various attack vectors,» the security expert emphasized in a conversation with Cointelegraph journalists.

As for the details of the update: The Merge took place at 9:45 a.m. (Kyiv time), and according to the developers, no difficulties were reported during the merger. During the upgrade, the main Ethereum network connected to the Beacon Chain, fully switching the cryptocurrency to the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm, a faster, more energy-efficient and secure way to scale projects. The Merge will reduce energy consumption by 99% and, according to Buterin, will open up new opportunities for developers.