Ethereum Team Debunks Common ‘Misconceptions’ About The Scheduled Merge

Ethereum users have expressed their fears about the proposed Merge, prompting the development team to address the misconceptions.
Dot
January 29, 2023
Chiagoziem Bede Ikwueze

Chiagoziem has gathered a wealth of experience, having worked for many prominent crypto-based businesses, including Revain, Whiteboard Crypto, DeRev, The Crypto Cartel, Crypto News, MoneySwitch, Full Value Dan, and Bitcompare. Over the past couple of years, his works have been featured in many publications and places. When he is not writing, he spends time working on his other digital businesses, playing video games, reading books, watching movies, and most importantly, enjoying quality time with loved ones.

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Addressing the misconception, the Ethereum team said, "the Merge upgrade is designed to transition to proof-of-stake with zero downtime." 

The Ethereum network’s team has dispelled some common misconceptions about the highly anticipated merge upgrade scheduled for mid-September.

On Wednesday, the team clarified expectations on the network’s website regarding the Merge, reducing gas fees, dramatically improving transaction speed, enabling staking withdrawals, and allowing unlimited validator exits.  

Pertaining to the hope that the upgrade will lead to decreased gas fees, the team stated that the Merge was "a change of consensus mechanism, not an expansion of network capacity, and will not lead to lower gas fees."

For the change in transaction speed, the network’s team admits that certain changes will be made, but the transaction speed may not change on layer 1. It further said that both the block and the time to finalization would change slightly, "but not in a way that users will notice."

Another common expectation is that when withdrawals are enabled with the Shanghai upgrade, all stakeholders will exit at once, but this is incorrect, according to the team, because "validator exits are rate limited for security reasons."

The website clarifies that "staking withdrawals are not yet enabled with The Merge" and adds that "the following Shanghai upgrade will enable staking withdrawals" in the hope that users will be able to withdraw their staked ETH after the Merge.

Finally, the team stated that "the Merge upgrade is designed to transition to proof-of-stake with zero downtime," addressing the misconception that the Merge will cause chain downtime.

Note that fears of problems during the Merge implementation, including potential downtime, prompted cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to announce on its blog a halt in all Ethereum withdrawals and deposits until the migration is complete, as Finbold reported.

Ethereum Team Debunks Common ‘Misconceptions’ About The Scheduled Merge

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Addressing the misconception, the Ethereum team said, "the Merge upgrade is designed to transition to proof-of-stake with zero downtime." 

The Ethereum network’s team has dispelled some common misconceptions about the highly anticipated merge upgrade scheduled for mid-September.

On Wednesday, the team clarified expectations on the network’s website regarding the Merge, reducing gas fees, dramatically improving transaction speed, enabling staking withdrawals, and allowing unlimited validator exits.  

Pertaining to the hope that the upgrade will lead to decreased gas fees, the team stated that the Merge was "a change of consensus mechanism, not an expansion of network capacity, and will not lead to lower gas fees."

For the change in transaction speed, the network’s team admits that certain changes will be made, but the transaction speed may not change on layer 1. It further said that both the block and the time to finalization would change slightly, "but not in a way that users will notice."

Another common expectation is that when withdrawals are enabled with the Shanghai upgrade, all stakeholders will exit at once, but this is incorrect, according to the team, because "validator exits are rate limited for security reasons."

The website clarifies that "staking withdrawals are not yet enabled with The Merge" and adds that "the following Shanghai upgrade will enable staking withdrawals" in the hope that users will be able to withdraw their staked ETH after the Merge.

Finally, the team stated that "the Merge upgrade is designed to transition to proof-of-stake with zero downtime," addressing the misconception that the Merge will cause chain downtime.

Note that fears of problems during the Merge implementation, including potential downtime, prompted cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to announce on its blog a halt in all Ethereum withdrawals and deposits until the migration is complete, as Finbold reported.

Chiagoziem Bede Ikwueze

Chiagoziem has gathered a wealth of experience, having worked for many prominent crypto-based businesses, including Revain, Whiteboard Crypto, DeRev, The Crypto Cartel, Crypto News, MoneySwitch, Full Value Dan, and Bitcompare. Over the past couple of years, his works have been featured in many publications and places. When he is not writing, he spends time working on his other digital businesses, playing video games, reading books, watching movies, and most importantly, enjoying quality time with loved ones.

Addressing the misconception, the Ethereum team said, "the Merge upgrade is designed to transition to proof-of-stake with zero downtime." 

The Ethereum network’s team has dispelled some common misconceptions about the highly anticipated merge upgrade scheduled for mid-September.

On Wednesday, the team clarified expectations on the network’s website regarding the Merge, reducing gas fees, dramatically improving transaction speed, enabling staking withdrawals, and allowing unlimited validator exits.  

Pertaining to the hope that the upgrade will lead to decreased gas fees, the team stated that the Merge was "a change of consensus mechanism, not an expansion of network capacity, and will not lead to lower gas fees."

For the change in transaction speed, the network’s team admits that certain changes will be made, but the transaction speed may not change on layer 1. It further said that both the block and the time to finalization would change slightly, "but not in a way that users will notice."

Another common expectation is that when withdrawals are enabled with the Shanghai upgrade, all stakeholders will exit at once, but this is incorrect, according to the team, because "validator exits are rate limited for security reasons."

The website clarifies that "staking withdrawals are not yet enabled with The Merge" and adds that "the following Shanghai upgrade will enable staking withdrawals" in the hope that users will be able to withdraw their staked ETH after the Merge.

Finally, the team stated that "the Merge upgrade is designed to transition to proof-of-stake with zero downtime," addressing the misconception that the Merge will cause chain downtime.

Note that fears of problems during the Merge implementation, including potential downtime, prompted cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to announce on its blog a halt in all Ethereum withdrawals and deposits until the migration is complete, as Finbold reported.

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Chiagoziem Bede Ikwueze