 
 
Ethereum’s much-anticipated Merge is finally close to fruition and that is sending ripples across the layer-1 network with investors now buying the ETH dip in hoards to avoid missing the train.
Since launching the “metropolis phase” in the autumn of 2017 aimed at solving challenges that come with expansion and growth, it was outrightly clear that for the network to receive its rightful global attention, its carbon footprint has to be sized down by roughly 99%.
Several upgrades have been rolled out since then leading up to the current “serenity phase.” This phase has been a work in progress since January 2020 and is mainly focused on reducing network congestions as well as the persistent problem of high energy consumption that comes with the PoW mechanism.
The merge is thus the final iteration of Ethereum’s transition to proof of work. Last week, Ethereum developers successfully ran “Ropsten” the first of the three major tests before completing the merge.
The merge is not only expected to lower energy consumption on the network but also improve the current token burn mechanism, theoretically driving up ETH prices. Moreover, Eth 2.0 is envisioned to be more secure, sustainable, and scalable. This, in addition to the Eth 2.0 staking services being one of the hottest topics in crypto now is perhaps the reason the merge has stoked the interest of many crypto adherents.
 
 
According to data by IntoTheBlock, despite ETH’s transaction volume being on a downtrend in the past two or so months, retail accumulation has been on the rise with addresses holding between 0.01-0.1 ETH increasing their balance by 3.35% over the past 30 days.
Retail holding 1-10ETH and 10-100 ETH have been on the same accumulation trajectory, steadily increasing their holding in the last 6 months, Santiment reported last week.
Santiment also reported that Ethereum’s top ten no-exchange addresses are maintaining a high ratio of ETH than exchange whales- 3.4 instances more to be particular. According to the analytics firm, this could mean whales are unwilling to let go of their coins which is a great recipe for prices to stabilize. The total percentage of Bitcoin sitting on exchanges is also down to 9.9%, a low that was last witnessed in December 2018 which “is a sign of hodler confidence,” According to Santiment.
As of writing, Ethereum is trading at $1,217 after shedding 19.91% in the past 24 hours. On the other hand, Bitcoin is down 19.87% to $23,366 after losing the $30k support mid-Friday.
