The immediate impact of the Merge on Bitcoin will probably be minimal.
Ethereum, the blockchain behind ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and worth almost $200 billion, will attempt to do what no major blockchain has ever done – switch consensus mechanisms (how computers agree on the state of a network) from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. What impact will this transition, referred to as “the Merge,” have on the dominant cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC)?
According to some experts, not much.
The biggest impact will naturally be felt by Ethereum itself. The first and most critical step is for Ethereum to successfully execute the Merge. If the Merge fails, it would be catastrophic for the Ethereum community. However, this negative outcome is highly unlikely due to the extensive amount of testing the network has undergone over the past months.
Conversely, the immediate impact of the Merge on Bitcoin will probably be minimal. As for ether in relation to bitcoin, most experts seem to agree that any resultant price movements will likely be transient. After all, Ethereum’s switch to proof-of-stake has been on the network’s to-do list from inception.