ETH Up 40% In A Month; Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin Says Network To Be 55% Complete Post Merge

Even as Ethereum ETH/USD, the world’s second-largest digital currency by market capitalization is up 40% in a month and has played a crucial role in the recovery of the cryptocurrency market, the network’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the protocol will only be 55% complete after the merge.

Often described as the “merge,” the event alludes to the network’s move to the proof-of-stake consensus from its current "proof of work" model.

ETH developers had last week announced that the merge will tentatively take place during the week of September 19.

Nearly 50% returns in a month and a half

ETH, which was trading at $1080 on June 6, made a high of $1641 on June 22, a nearly 50% return in about a month and a half.

“The difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum is that Bitcoiners consider Bitcoin to be 80% complete, but Ethereans consider Ethereum to be 40% complete. Ethereum can go up to being 55% complete after the ‘merge. We're getting close, which is really amazing," Buterin said, speaking at the ETH Community Conference (EthCC) in Paris on Thursday.

Also Read: Did Tesla Crash the Bitcoin Market?

Roadmap post-merge includes four major phases

Ethereum’s roadmap following the merge includes a few more major phases, including a four-part upgrade that developers call the “surge, verge, purge, and splurge.” These upgrades are aimed to make ETH much more secure and decentralized.

"At the end of this roadmap, Ethereum will be a much more scalable system. By the end, Ethereum will be able to process 100,000 transactions per second,” he said.

The rate of change will slow down

“At some point, the rate of change will slow down,” Buterin said, adding that this is what a lot of people want from the ETH protocol and this is his preference as well.

“There are things that could happen. There are unknown unknowns. But those unknowns should decrease over time,” the co-founder said.

Photo: Courtesy of TechCrunch on Flickr