How Did the Ethereum Network’s “Merge” Impact Its Energy Consumption?
The Ethereum network's "Merge" was the transition from the energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to the highly efficient Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism. This change drastically reduced Ethereum's total energy consumption by approximately 99.95%.
This shift effectively eliminated the need for competitive mining hardware and the associated electricity costs, making Ethereum a "green" blockchain and addressing major environmental concerns.