33% Think ETH Will Fork Into 2 Chains Post Merge: Survey

A third of respondents to Galois Capital’s survey believe that Ethereum ETH/USD will fork into two blockchains following the Merge to Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

What Happened: In a poll posted on Twitter last week, crypto hedge fund Galois Capital asked users what they believed would be the most likely post merge scenario.

Question 1: What happens during the merge? If Choice 2 or 3 go to Questions 2-5.

— Galois Capital (@Galois_Capital) July 27, 2022

While 53.7% believed that the ETH merge would be executed smoothly, 33% of respondents said that ETH would likely fork into two chains – a new PoS chain ETH2 and the existing Proof-of-Work (PoW) chain ETH1.

For context, a blockchain fork takes place when members of the network (miners or developers) do not agree on a planned upgrade. As a result, some continue to mine the existing network under the same rules, while others contribute to the network with the upgraded software.

It is worth nothing that Ethereum itself was born as the result of a fork of the Ethereum Classic ETC/USD blockchain after the DAO hack in 2017. 

With a tentative date for the Merge now in sight, the crypto market is rife with speculation about the potential outcome for the second-largest blockchain by market capitalization.

@Galois_Capital is pushing for the possibility of POW Eth which indirectly legitimizes it and creates a self fulfilling prophecy

— Foobazzler  (@Foobazzler) July 30, 2022

Galois Capital floating the idea of a potential ETH1 blockchain post Merge scenario was not well received by ETH2 proponents. The Twitter account offered Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin and one of China’s early Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum miners Chandler Guo $7.5 million for consulting advice on how to minimize the damage involved in transitioning to PoS – an offer that attracted a sarcastic response from Buterin.

@VitalikButerin EF can easily afford it. I understand the strategy of promoting ETC to make it more attractive than ETH1 to deter hashrate from going to ETH1. This might work at a surface level but could also backfire due to fundamental relative value traders…

— Galois Capital (@Galois_Capital) July 29, 2022

Wait I read the above and I'm confused. Why does twitter say that so many people I know follow @Galois_Capital ? Is it a famous parody account?

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) July 30, 2022

Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, ETH was trading at $1,649, down 3.72% over 24 hours.