What Happens To ETH Holdings During And After The Merge?

05-Sep-2022 By: Divya Behl

A section of the cryptocurrency community is expecting Ethereum proof of work to run concurrently with the new proof of stake chain.

However, the possibilities of the proof of work chain's success are now quite uncertain. On the other side, there is a strong probability that ETH miners will switch to Ethereum Classic (ETC) following the Merge. Also, it will be fascinating to see how the ETC price movement plays out after September 15.

What About Proof Of Work Ethereum After Merge

The existing proof of work will survive once the main Ethereum network merges with the Beacon Chain. Also, people might even keep trading the old currency associated with proof of work. And the old coin would not be prohibited from being traded. Furthermore, miners would want to maximize their profits from mining the old coin before it switches to the new mechanism.

The possibility of an Ethereum blockchain hard fork would also have certain downsides. It might lead to considerable misunderstanding and probable technology concerns in the future.

Those Ethereum holders who prefer to remain on the forthcoming proof-of-stake chain will be carried forward by default. Following the Merge, all existing ETH tokens held by traders would be operating on the new consensus mechanism.

Potential Forked Tokens

Meanwhile, Poloniex, a cryptocurrency exchange, is already prepared to trade hard fork Ethereum. It has facilitated the trading of potential ETH forks. Furthermore, Poloniex users may now exchange ETH for the possible forked tokens.

“Poloniex has made potential ETH forks, ETHS (ETH2) and ETHW (ETH1), tradeable, as well as listed TRON-based ETHS and ETHW. Prior to the official ETH 2.0 upgrade, Poloniex ETH holders can visit the swap page and exchange their ETH for two potential forked tokens, ETHS [IOU] and ETHW [IOU], at a 1:1 ratio.”

Since June of this year, ETH's market capitalization share in the cryptocurrency market has been steadily increasing. Currently, the cryptocurrency accounts for roughly 20% of the total market capitalization. In contrast, Bitcoin's market share has recently decreased. BTC has a market share of 38.88%, while ETH has a market share of 19.48%. According to CoinGabbar statistics, the price of Ethereum is currently trading at $1,560, increased 0.45% in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the price of Ethereum Classic is currently trading at $32.06 and decreased 0.48% in the last 24 hours. However, if Ethereum's transition to a proof-of-stake mechanism encounters any difficulties, ETC may witness an increase in demand.

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