What’s happened: “The Merge”, a major upgrade to the Ethereum cryptocurrency platform, was finally completed early this morning after a six-year buildup. Ethereum now uses proof of stake, a way to approve new transactions that promises to cut the blockchain’s energy requirements by 99.9% and usher in a new era for the second-largest cryptocurrency.
Why it matters: It would be hard to overstate how much industry excitement there has been around this shift. Many hope it can both rehabilitate the reputation of crypto for sceptics and improve the efficiency of Ethereum’s enormous ecosystem of businesses and developers, cutting fees and helping it to scale.