A dramatic correction shortly after the Merge went live on Thursday,
September 15. At the time of writing, Ethereum's price was trading at $1,470, with a market valuation of $177 billion.
The Ethereum Merge is turning out to be precisely what many in the crypto world predicted: a sell-the-news event. BeQuant's head of research, Martha Reyes, told a local media outlet:
“Now that the enthusiasm surrounding the Merge has faded away, we don't have a catalyst for Ethereum in the near future. It is normal to expect some rotation back into Bitcoin.”
Since July 2022, Ether (ETH) has outperformed throughout the crypto market's recovery. Of course, the optimism around the Merge was a driving factor in the price increase. However, it appears that global macroeconomic factors are now having a stronger impact on Ethereum and the broader crypto market.
When US CPI inflation came in at 8.3%, which was more than expected, the crypto market quickly corrected. The US equity market has also shown signs of selling pressure ahead of the Fed meeting later this month. According to analyst estimates, the Fed will announce a rate hike of 100 basis points to combat rising inflation.
The Merge Is A Success
Of course, the Merge implementation was a technical accomplishment on Thursday, but it also implies that the Ethereum community will be more successful in the long run. The Ethereum blockchain will be upgraded, making it more efficient, faster, and scalable.
However, the merger of Ethereum PoW with the Beacon Chain is only the beginning. There is still a lot of work to be done until Sharding is fully implemented.
Preston Van Loon, co-founder and Ethereum developer at Prysmatic Labs, stated: “The Merge event was a huge success. What we'll observe over time is whether the metrics hold up. The transition to proof-of-stake has truly enabled the next stages of development.”
