The Ethereum Merge Is Almost Here. What Could Go Wrong?

[Jaya60]

Just weeks away from the historic event, experts discuss technical and political risks that could stem from the Ethereum network’s upgrade.It’s been awaited for half a decade, delayed for years, praised, condemned, tweaked, and so its developers say, perfected.

Ready or not, here comes Ethereum’s long-anticipated merge. But, given the technical feat that it is, is there any risk of something going terribly wrong?

The merge—Ethereum’s transition from a proof-of-work system to proof of stake—is set to occur between September 10 and September 20. During this historic upgrade to the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, upon which well over half of all decentralized finance activity is built, could your funds and NFTs go missing, or your favorite apps stop working?

Developers say there’s nothing to worry about—they’re confident the merge will have no impact on asset security or app functionality. But confusion surrounding the event could spike instances of scammers manipulating uninformed users, and, looking to the months and years to come, the implications of the merge could well have long-term political and even legal ramifications.more