The crypto community is celebrating a milestone for the Ethereum blockchain, which just transitioned from the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to the proof-of-stake (PoS) model. The move is aimed at reducing the power needed to secure Ethereum by around 99.95%, easing the concerns of those worried about the environmental impacts of crypto (Ethereum currently emits as much carbon as Singapore and its total energy consumption is similar to the Netherlands). ETH (ETH-USD) issuance will also decrease (a.k.a. Triple Halving), while industry players will further decentralize the network by securing Ethereum at home, taking some control away from the institutions and sophisticated miners.Backdrop: Ethereum researchers and developers decided to ease the transition into two steps, with the Beacon Chain successfully executed in December 2020. The update formed a separate parallel PoS chain - that could be tested in production without having a direct impact on the existing PoW network. It also grew the amount of staked ETH (ETH-USD), so that it would be large enough to secure the network before the "Merge." The second step happened early Thursday, as the consensus layer of the Beacon chain was merged with the Ethereum PoW chain, and from the look of it, the transition was a success. At the time of writing, (ETH-USD) is up 1.4% to $1,633.50."If you're a big company and you're planning on investing millions of dollars in Web3 opport...
