The Merge

On September 15, 2022, at block 15,537,394, Ethereum's original chain merged with the Beacon Chain. From then on, blocks were produced by validators who stake ether, and mining ended. The Ethereum Foundation estimated the change cut the network's energy use by about 99.95 percent.

Users saw little difference: balances, apps and addresses stayed the same. Fees did not fall, because the Merge changed consensus, not capacity. New ether issuance dropped by roughly 90 percent, because validators earn far less than miners did.

The price fell in the weeks after the Merge, in line with a weak market overall. A group of miners forked off the old proof of work chain as ETHW, which never gained much value. Read our full explainer on how the Merge affected Ethereum.