How Does Ethereum’s Transition to Proof of Stake Work?
Ethereum's transition, known as "The Merge," involved merging the original Proof-of-Work execution layer with the new Proof-of-Stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain. This change replaced energy-intensive mining with staking, where validators lock up 32 ETH to propose and attest to blocks.
The network's security is now based on the value staked, penalizing malicious behavior through "slashing." This drastically reduced Ethereum's energy consumption. The process was designed to be seamless for end-users and existing smart contracts.