The so-called ‘Merge,’ considered to be the biggest update in the history of cryptocurrency, has come and gone: the Ethereum network successfully transitioned from its miner-centered proof-of-work (PoW) mining method to the validator-centered proof-of-stake (PoS) method.This merge, which refers to the act of combining the existing PoW-based mainnet with a pre-made PoS-based testnet, not only marks a significant development in Ethereum’s development, but also marks the cryptocurrency’s transition to operating on PoS in earnest.Why has this Ethereum merge had such a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market? Put simply, Ethereum (ETH)’s supply mechanism has changed. Given that many DeFi (Decentralized Finance) services operate on Ethereum’s blockchain, on which ETH, the second largest cryptocurrency is issued, changes in the ETH issuance mechanism are expected to have a significant impact on other cryptocurrencies, especially as the ETH blockchain is also connected to various layer 2 blockchains.