EthereumHere’s how Ethereum falls 6% amid growing merger concerns

Ethereum (ETH) fell 6.78 percent in the last 24 hours, dropping below $1,600. With a market capitalization of $192.73 billion, the second-largest cryptocurrency is now trading at around $1,575 per coin. According to CoinMarketCap data, the current trading price is 67 percent lower than the all-time high of $4,891 set in November 2021. The bearish price movement of Ethereum could be attributed to growing concerns about the future of Ethereum and its miners following the merger. The event is scheduled to take place in September. There are a lot of potential risks with the ETH merge, Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy tweeted. Just because people have been working on it for years doesn't mean it will be perfect.

Ethereum currently uses the same consensus model as Bitcoin, which requires so-called miners to run continuously to verify transactions and keep the network secure. The merge event will switch from this consensus model to proof-of-stake, which is arguably greener. As a result of the change, validators will now maintain the network rather than miners. Users can stake 32 Ethereum to become a validator on the upgraded network instead of purchasing farms of machines to validate transactions. Validators are compensated for their efforts but can also lose money if they engage in fraudulent behavior.

Some mining groups are acting in response to this out-of-datedness of miners. Antpool, the cryptocurrency mining platform backed by Bitmain, has invested $10 million in Ethereum Classic, the Original Ethereum, to safeguard their business interests following the merger. Chandler Guo, a prominent Chinese crypto miner, has proposed forking Ethereum to continue operating as a proof-of-work blockchain.

Bitcoin is falling alongside Ethereum

Following Ethereum, the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), is trading bearishly, having lost 2.46 percent of its value in the previous 24 hours. According to CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin currently sells for around $22,767, a drop of 66.73 percent from its all-time high of $68,789 in November 2021.