As the launching of the long-awaited Ethereum upgrade, Merge, approaches, there’s a spike in institutional investment. Ethereum products are receiving more attention from big-shot investors.
Though there is no stated period for the Merge, most developers anticipate the upgrade by September 19. However, most Ethereum derivatives are getting more investment deals as the final phase details are revealed.
James Butterfill, the Head of Research of CoinShares, stated that investors’ sentiment for Ethereum products is changing. Butterfill made this known in the latest edition of Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report. He noted that the sudden intensity and desire from the investors is due to the Merge approach.
According to the report, most institutional investors make preferential investments in Ethereum products. Hence they are pushing in more funds as they believe in the great possibility of the Ethereum network.
To them, upgrading the global second largest cryptocurrency would create a more positive and profitable impact. Due to the change in sentiment, the report noted that Ethereum had seen more inflows amounting to about $16 million. This resulted in a seven-week pattern of inflows that accumulated up to $159 million.
So, Butterfill reports that the change in the investors’ sentiment signifies more clarity with the Merge’s timing. This would create the desired transition for the Ethereum network as it moves from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
Ethereum blockchain has been operating with a PoW consensus mechanism for its transaction validation and security of its network.
Unfortunately, this involves using the mining process that consumes more energy or electricity. But the Merge would transform the system of operation for the blockchain. First, it would start using the more energy-efficient staking process that requires the staking of ETH tokens.
Plan For Ethereum Merge Has Been A Tough One
The plan for the shift has been delayed for several months. But as the date for the launch approaches, Ethereum proponents are having their fun-filled season. The journey has taken several rough routes that include changes in roadmaps, ambiguous terminology, and, lastly, the recent opposition to the Merge.
On the part of its founder, Vitalik Buterin, he kept announcing all the possible hard forks to the transition. This action is an excellent advantage for any PoW blockchain that may opt for a change in the future.
However, some prominent personalities in the industry don’t mind a hard fork. For example, Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, pledged the listing of both ETHs and ETHw tokens on his Poloniex exchange. Also, BitMEX revealed its support for any ETHPoW fork.
Once it finally happens, it will link the Ethereum mainnet and the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain for a complete transition to PoS. Hence, Ethereum 2.0 would receive increased efficiency and security in its execution of transactions.’
Also, there would be a drastic reduction of carbon emission into the environment by over 99% as the network become energy efficient. This was one of the main criticisms against Ethereum as a PoW network.
Featured image from Pixabay, Chart from TradingView.com