The Merge — small explanation
Everyone is talking about the merge but what it is?
What are POW (proof of work) and POS (proof of stake)?
Let’s find out:
Proof of work:
It is the underlying algorithm that sets the difficulty and rules for the work miners do on proof-of-work blockchains. This protocol, Ethash, required miners to go through an intense race of trial and error to find the nonce for a block. Only blocks with a valid nonce could be added to the chain.
Read about nonce here
Proof of stake:
where validators explicitly stake capital in the form of ETH into a smart contract on Ethereum. This staked ETH then acts as collateral that can be destroyed if the validator behaves dishonestly or lazily.
One validator is randomly selected to be a block proposer in every slot. This validator is responsible for creating a new block and sending it out to other nodes.
Merge:
Ethereum originally launched a separate proof-of-stake Beacon Chain on December 1, 2020. It was running in parallel with the main Ethereum blockchain.
The Merge refers to the original Ethereum Mainnet merging with a Beacon Chain, now existing as one chain.
The Merge reduced Ethereum’s energy consumption by ~99.95%
official link: https://ethereum.org/en/upgrades/merge/
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