It applies not only to Ethereum, but to cryptocurrencies as well. It represents one of the most pivotal changes in the technology's short history. This will also have some practical significance for web3, because it addresses some of the technical criticisms about why people can't apply blockchain technology in their daily lives. It might show society how robust a process this technology is. It is worth mentioning that - protocols such as Ethereum have already standardized the common "normal" test cases of digital banking and DeFi. The applicability of web3 is becoming more and more obvious, and blockchain technology is only an actual part of web3.

what exactly is it?

We're going to dissolve it - simply put. For the past eight years, Ethereum has been using the infamous proof-of-work model to create new coins and run their chain of transmission. Proof of work is a way for the network to agree on what blocks and payments to include in the network. Mostly, mainly through data encryption to ensure that everything in the transmission chain is legal and compliant. But - what's the problem. Proof of work depends on raising the difficulty factor to ensure its consensus. This means that Ethereum consumes more and more network resources every year, because cryptocurrency mining must solve increasingly difficult problems to verify the state of the network.

The reason why it is called TheMerge is that in fact, there has been a portal chain running with the Ethereum mainnet for a long time. This portal chain has always been collecting validators, but it also preserves the previous history of the Ethereum network to ensure that only consensus is affected. Interestingly, the consensus algorithm is essentially a heat exchanger - in real time. It's like riding a bicycle, assembling a motor on the wall, but you still manually pedal on the highway. Fear not - Ethereum users don't have to worry about what will happen to ETH or blockchain smart contracts, as upgrading to the new client is solely the responsibility of the node owner. From a technical point of view, the merger also represents the separation of layers in the Ethereum protocol. In essence, there will be several clients playing different roles - but they will communicate with each other if necessary. Before the merger, each specific content was bundled with the mobile client. After the merger - there are two kinds of mobile clients. One is to solve the synchronization network situation (consensus layer), and the other is to work on the implementation of blockchain smart contracts, blockchain production and storage. The superglue that holds these parts together is called the Auto Engine API. The Auto Engine API allows each of these layers to seamlessly communicate with each other. In terms of security, layer separation is actually critical. For example, assume that the implementation of Ethereum has a serious error that allows a rollback. If this is how the vast majority of the Internet is built, then Ethereum itself will be compromised. But - as the layers are separated, many implementation layers will be used for the consensus layer and the decision layer at the same time. This client diversification is particularly important to the security of Ethereum, as it reduces the need for the network to depend on a single client or layer.

What does this future development of web3 mean?

There is one thing that Web3 lacks at this stage - application software. To a certain extent, this is mainly due to the difficulty for developers and companies to integrate into the construction of PoW-based dApps. Since Ethereum is the only blockchain that can also build all kinds of practical applications on DLT, TheMerge can use these more generally. It is worth mentioning that TheMerge also reduces the functional loss of Ethereum by 99.95%. TheMerge shows the feasibility analysis and development of this technology, as well as the subsequent web3. Due to functional loss, it is often called the main reason why blockchain technology cannot be used.

Summarize

This is the outer packaging! Blockchain technology is developing in a stronger direction, from PoW to PoS, and then from better applicability. The improvement of the blockchain will have a profound impact on all aspects of web3. On the other hand, this will allow for more usage and normalization. In a world where many people lack control, web3 is about to give power and information back to customers. That was just the beginning of the new internet.