The Ethereum Merge is currently the most anticipated upgrade in the crypto space. It has been about two years in the making and has been pushed back due to multiple delays. However, the project has since gotten back on track as the team has assured the public that the Merge will happen sometime this year. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has disagreed with this timeline, saying that the merge will not happen in 2022.
Wait Till 2023
In a fireside chat with Simon Bogdanowicz, the famous Ethereum co-founder and Cardano founder shared his thoughts on the upcoming Ethereum upgrade. ETH 2.0 as it’s commonly known is scheduled to move completely to the proof of work mechanism around August this year. This has sparked hope in the hearts of investors that it will provide the much-needed push for the digital asset but Hoskinson has disagreed with the timeline.
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He explained that Ethereum 2.0 will not be happening in the year 2022. Rather, users of the network should be looking towards 2023 as the earliest timeframe for the launch. Furthermore, the founder added that it may even be delayed until 2024. If this is the case, then it could lead to negative sentiment among investors.
ETH trending above $1,800 | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com
Hoskinson also took a dig at the leading smart contracts network. He explained that although ETH 2.0 was not happening anytime soon, ETH 1.5 was already available. This is the Polkadot network, according to the founder.
When Ethereum 2.0?
According to the Ethereum official website, the move to ETH 2.0 is meant to happen this year. Titled The Merge, this will ‘merge’ the Ethereum mainnet with the already running Beacon Chain. What this will do is rid the network of the energy-intensive proof of work mechanism and move to proof of stake, which will slash Ethereum’s energy consumption by more than 95%. It will also bring staking to the entirety of the network.
Even though the team has assured users that it is on track to move ahead with the merge, there is still a lot of skepticism regarding their ability to do so. Most of it is borne out of the numerous delays that have rocked the project in the past.
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Taking Hoskinson’s predictions into account, the ETH users who already have their ETH locked on the network may have to wait longer for their coins to be unlocked. If the merge doesn’t happen until 2024, that will mean these coins may be locked for another two years.
However, there is no way to tell if there is any truth to what the Cardano founder is saying. The Ethereum foundation maintains that the merge will happen sometime in 2022, and shard chains are expected to debut on the network sometime in 2023.
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