The Ethereum merge date is finally nigh, with the holders speculating on the post-Ethereum merge price, but also on the Ethereum merge NFT impact.
The merge is scheduled for a mid-September launch, bringing us closer to the Ethereum 2.0 release date. As Ethereum supports many crypto projects, from coins to NFTs, holders have been asking how it could impact these.
So, after looking at how the Ethereum merge will affect Shiba Inu, let's look at how it will affect NFTs.
How will the merge impact NFTs?
The Ethereum merge and transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (PoS) will further deliver two visible changes to NFTs. First, users will see a dramatic shift in its energy consumption. Second, the network may face a sudden popularity surge once again.
Per research conducted by NFT Club, adding any NFT to a blockchain utilises around 83kg worth of CO2. The transition to Ethereum staking is set to cut its energy consumption levels by half, which means that the users may finally be able to mint and sell NFTs in a sustainable setting.
The PoS mechanism will notably help the blockchain reduce its energy consumption by almost 90%, making it sustainable for the masses to mint and develop more post-Ethereum merge NFTs and projects.
This shift may make interesting the further battles between Solana, Polygon and Ethereum for minting new NFTs. These so-called Ethereum killers previously could use this staking feature to their advantage. However, as Ethereum gas fees after the merge will remain similar, they will still have those advantages.
Alongside this, the merge is already kickstarting a price and interest increase in Ethereum. Users may suddenly flock to experiment with the blockchain's new features. This could see NFT popularity also increase, particularly if it can move away from the environmental issues associated with them.
However, there is no guarantee that any price action - whether for Ethereum, ERC-20 tokens, or NFTs - will happen. Any predictions remain pure speculation.
In an updated announcement, OpenSea has extended its support to the upcoming Ethereum merge but has also clarified that it will only support PoS NFTs after the merge.
What is Ethereum merge all about?
Ethereum's upcoming merge is one of the most hyped crypto events of the year.
The update, in simpler terms, will shift Ethereum's core mechanism from its existing proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus. In turn, this will dramatically reduce the blockchain's power consumption.
Apart from that, the transition will introduce an element of Ethereum staking where miners will have to stake their cryptocurrency to be selected for processing transactions on the blockchain.
In PoS consensus, the more Ether a validator stakes, the greater chance of getting selected to process transactions.
Anticipation for the merge is among the reasons why Ethereum is going up in price, as holders cite things such as the Triple Halving for their views.