Today the so-called Goerli testnet was "merged". It was the last test before the Ethereum Merge will actually take place. The date set for this is September 19. After the recent successful test, it is likely that this date will be met.

The Goerli test was the third in a row (after Roppsten and Sepolia). With these tests, Ethereum has shown that these chains have all successfully moved to proof-of-stake. The same will hopefully happen next month with the Beacon chain. That's the Ethereum chain that is now running in test mode in the background and will become the main chain.

A new era

The successful Ethereum dress rehearsal coincides with relatively favorable inflation data yesterday from the United States. With all the good news, the price of Ethereum continues to rise. It's up more than 100% from its June lows.

The realization is slowly sinking in that the Merge is not a mirage but is really going to happen. This transition to proof-of-stake is creating a new kind of economy in Ethereum. Owners of Ethereum are incentivized not to sell their Ethereum but to stake it in exchange for interest. Combine that with the fact that the issuance of Ether will fall post-Merge and you can see why expectations for the price are high.

Defense lines

Meanwhile, Bitcoin maxis are propping up their lines of defense. Maybe they are a bit paranoid but they expect a media offensive from Ethereum supporters after a successful Merge. These could then boast that Ethereum is more than 99% more energy efficient than before the Merge. After all, the miners have left. Investors that are mindful of ESG requirements will love it!

Incidentally, not all Ethereum miners are happy about the transition to proof-of-stake either. It is conceivable that after the Merge they will continue to mine and continue the old chain. In theory, this would create a problem. To give an example, your USDC coins are on the Ethereum blockchain. If two chains continue after the Merge, do you suddenly have twice as much USDC? This problem will most likely not arise in practice. It is expected that all major parties - such as Circle, the company behind USDC - will only recognize the proof-of-stake chain as valid.