One DeFi staking pool and three centralized crypto exchanges account for almost two-thirds of ETH securing the network ahead of the merge.Ethereum staking pools have been a popular, if somewhat contentious, way for investors without the funds or know-how to get in on network validator rewards.
And there’s been plenty of time to get involved. The merge, which is scheduled to begin next week, has been in the works for years.The merge will shift Ethereum’s current proof-of-work mining model—which requires lots of power to run the mining rigs that process transactions—to a proof-of-stake consensus system that’s expected to use over 99% less energy, according to the Ethereum Foundation.
When the Ethereum mainnet makes that transition, it’ll be validators, not miners, who verify transactions and add them to the blockchain. Like miners, those validators will earn rewards for helping secure the network.
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