Ethereum is one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies, along with Bitcoin, one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies, and it has just opened a page in its history that may be decisive. It has undertaken a process called The Merge (the merge) called to become the great transformation, a profound change of philosophy. And with substantial energy savings.
The reduction in energy consumption in transactions with Ethereum would reach 99.95 %
This new model seeks greater efficiency and, above all, enormous savings by bringing with it a substantial reduction in the energy costs associated with the mining process (generation of cryptocurrencies), something that will no longer occur as it has been occurring until now.
Until now, operations were based on a mechanism that has been in testing since 2016. This “classic” consensus mechanism called Proof-of-Work (PoW, proof-of-work) gives way to a new model called Proof-of-Stake (PoS, proof-of-stake). The PoW is based on powerful arrays of computers belonging to individuals and mining entities that compete with each other to solve complex mathematical problems that allow for consensus operations which are added to the Blockchain by confirming transactions. In exchange, fractions of the cryptocurrency unit in question are received.
The problem with this method is that requires large amounts of energyand has become, over time, expensive and inefficient. Abandoning the PoW model in favor of PoS would reduce energy consumption by up to 99.95% how? By exchanging competition for consensus.
Instead of having farms of powerful teams consuming resources competing with each other transactions will be validated based on the consensus of the users participating in the system, with a system proportional to the amount of cryptocurrencies they handle. A model that is not free of doubts either.
An additional consequence of this change of model would be the reduction in the demand for graphics accelerator cards, the most used, due to their power, in mining operations, which has increased their prices and has even led to stock shortages of that component. The great beneficiaries would be the gamers, who would experience a drop in the price of GPUs for its equipment, both personal computers and home game consoles.