For better or worse, we live in a post-Merge world. Ethereum is finally a Proof-Of-Stake blockchain. The switch is among the most important and divisive news of the year. The Ethereum side sees it as a technological wonder and the bitcoin side as a great mistake. For the first time since we started the Crypto Reacts feature, both camps are at totally opposite ends of the spectrum. 

Grab some popcorn. This is going to be fun.

It all starts with Vitalik’s bizarre philosophical explanation of what the merge means.

“Proof of Work is based on the laws of physics, so you have to work with the world as it is… Whereas because Proof of Stake is virtualized in this way, it’s basically letting us create a simulated universe that has its own laws of physics.”#Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/62OnVYIjVb

— Walkernaut (@WalkerAmerica) September 15, 2022

Is this man joking?

“Proof of Work is based on the laws of physics, so you have to work with the world as it is…  Whereas because Proof of Stake is virtualized in this way, it’s basically letting us create a simulated universe that has its own laws of physics.”

Is Vitalik for real? What does this man mean by that? In a more lucid state, the man behind Ethereum tweeted:

“Happy merge all. This is a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem. Everyone who helped make the merge happen should feel very proud today.”

And we finalized!

Happy merge all. This is a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem. Everyone who helped make the merge happen should feel very proud today.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) September 15, 2022

The question here is, what did everyone else say?

The Ethereum Community Went To Bat For The Merge

• Our friends at Coindesk wrote about the live viewing party: “When the Merge officially kicked in at 6:43 a.m. UTC, more than 41,000 people were tuned in on YouTube to an “Ethereum Mainnet Merge Viewing Party.” They watched with bated breath as key metrics trickled in suggesting that Ethereum’s core systems had remained intact. After about 15 long minutes the Merge officially finalized, meaning it could be declared a success.”
• Messari founder Ryan Selkis doubled down on his Ethereum bet, “The positive impact of the Merge is tremendous, and there’s a good chance institutions and the woke mob bid ETH to the moon now that it’s “clean.” Still like me BTC, but the game just changed!”

I’ve 4x’d my ETH holdings.

I figured this would be the “sell the news” event, but the positive impact of the Merge is tremendous, and there’s a good chance institutions and the woke mob bid ETH to the moon now that it’s “clean.”

Still like me BTC, but the game just changed!

— Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) September 15, 2022

• Nouns NFT’s Steve Fink praised the development team, “the merge being uneventful means the engineers are absolutely f***ing elite.”

the merge being uneventful means the engineers are absolutely fucking elite

— steve ⌐◨-◨ (@stevefink) September 15, 2022

• Shape Shift’s Erik Voorhees went a little overboard tackling the same idea, “the pure triumph of human ingenuity demonstrated by the Ethereum merge is supremely inspiring. It occurred without the centralization of a corporation, without the coercions of government, without patents,  politicians, or borders.”

The pure triumph of human ingenuity demonstrated by the #Ethereum merge is supremely inspiring.

It occurred without the centralization of a corporation, without the coercions of government, without patents, politicians, or borders.

Peaceful, emergent order at high scale.

— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) September 15, 2022

• The Ethereum maximalist Eric.eth honored his name, “It’s an absolutely incredible feat to transition a globally used blockchain to PoS without most end users even noticing or having to do anything.”

Can’t say enough about all of the builders, researchers, coordinators and more that made this all happen.

It’s an absolutely incredible feat to transition a globally used blockchain to PoS without most end users even noticing or having to do anything.

Truly incredible. Cheers.

— eric.eth (@econoar) September 15, 2022

That’s the positive side. You can’t say that we didn’t reflect the merge’s positive side, because we did.

ETH price chart for 09/16/2022 on Eightcap | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
Bitcoiners Don’t Believe In The Post-Merge Ethereum

Are the bitcoin maximalists too grumpy and anti-innovation? Or are they on to something that changes everything? The answers depend on who you ask. One thing’s for sure, though. The bitcoin maxis came out in full force to make fun and paint the Ethereum merge as a serious tactical mistake.

• Synonym’s John Carvalho described the situation and attacked where it hurts: the price. “Bitcoin’s largest and most divisive competitor, Ethereum, gave up competing for hashpower and fully transitioned to a corporate security today in what media is calling “The Merge.” ETH prices fell 12% on the news.”

BREAKING: Bitcoin’s largest and most divisive competitor, Ethereum, gave up competing for hashpower and fully transitioned to a corporate security today in what media is calling “The Merge.” ETH prices fell 12% on the news.

— John Carvalho (@BitcoinErrorLog) September 15, 2022

• The legendary Adam Back defined Proof-of-Stake as, “neo-feudal serfs and to digital fiefdoms ruled by premine lords. digital dark ages accelerated by corporate controlled pre-mined money.”

vs PoS – neo-feudal serfs and to digital fiefdoms ruled by premine lords. digital dark ages accelerated by corporate controlled pre-mined money.

— Adam Back (@adam3us) September 15, 2022

• The Space Force’s Jason Lowery predicted the situation’s possible outcome. “PoS isn’t going to fail. PoS isn’t going to break.PoS is going to behave exactly how PoS is designed to behave, just like all trust-based, permission-based, and inegalitarian resource management systems have behaved over the past 7,500 years.”

PoS isn’t going to fail. PoS isn’t going to break.

PoS is going to behave exactly how PoS is designed to behave, just like all trust-based, permission-based, and inegalitarian resource management systems have behaved over the past 7,500 years.

— Jason Lowery (@JasonPLowery) September 15, 2022

• Adamant Research’s Tuur Demeester described the state of the Ethereum network post-merge. “44% of ETH is staked by just 2 entities, Lido & Coinbase. Add Kraken, and it jumps to 52% of total ETH staked by 3 entities.”

44% of ETH is staked by just 2 entities, Lido & Coinbase. Add Kraken, and it jumps to 52% of total ETH staked by 3 entities. https://t.co/XSzNwk0kRh

— Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) September 15, 2022

• Regarding the centralization issues, Finbold provides more data. “Following the upgrade, the first address has validated about 188 blocks accounting for 28.97%, while the second largest has 16.18% or 105 blocks. Generally, the two wallets dominate Ethereum’s transaction processing, storing of data, and adding new blockchain blocks.”

And that’s today’s Crypto Reacts.

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