FTX will Suspend ETH Deposits and Withdrawals from Arbitrum

FTX Deletes Tweet Amid Confusion, Sam Bankman-Fried Clarifies ETH Trad

While Ethereum developers promised minimal downtime during The Merge, one of the most anticipated Ethereum upgrades, members of the cryptocurrency community opted to take proactive actions to protect investor assets.

In support of this effort, crypto exchange FTX said that it will suspend Ether (ETH) transactions on secondary blockchains until the September update is concluded.

Soon after the announcement, FTX deleted the tweet, and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried clarified that ETH trading will continue via Merge.

The Merge upgrade will permanently switch the Ethereum blockchain's consensus mechanism from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), decreasing energy consumption and enabling sharding capabilities.

According to Ethereum developers, the Merge is intended to shift to PoS with minimal downtime owing to the terminal total difficulty (TTD), which will assure the transition based on the entire mining power that goes into building a chain. Regardless of the rationale, FTX has decided to halt deposits and withdrawals until the Merge is completed and networks are stable.

The suspension of Ethereum deposits and withdrawals on multiple blockchains has been scheduled to begin at various times but is subject to change based on anticipated issues.

FTX further stated that it is not accountable for any losses incurred as a result of substantial price changes and that it is your obligation to comprehend the ramifications of this announcement.

The Ethereum Foundation dispelled one of the most common misconceptions about The Merge by stating that the impending update will not cut gas fees.

The official statement reads that gas fees are determined by network demand in relation to network capacity. The Merge abandons proof-of-work in favor of proof-of-stake consensus but does not significantly alter any parameters that directly affect network capacity or throughput. Instead, the upgrade aims to completely eliminate the need for energy-intensive mining.