Introduction
Ethereum successfully completed its historic transition from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) on September 15, 2022—marking the realization of a foundational vision held since the network's inception. This technical milestone occurred with remarkable smoothness, while related PoW fork projects (ETC and ETHW) gained negligible market traction (<4% of ETH's capitalization). Meanwhile, regulatory scrutiny from the SEC emerged as a potential long-term challenge. Below we chronicle the pivotal events during this transformative 24-hour period.
Timeline of Key Events
1. The Final PoW Block (14:43 UTC)
- Event: NFT project @VanityBlocks minted "The Last POW Block" NFT on Ethereum's final PoW block
Details:
Embedded Terence McKenna's inspirational quote:
"Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles."
- Symbolic act marking the end of Ethereum's mining era
2. First PoS Block (14:44 UTC)
Technical Data:
- Block Height: 15,537,394
- Validator: 0xeee27662c2b8eba3cd936a23f039f3189633e4c8
- Memo: HashKey Capital inscribed "Supporting next-gen blockchain innovation"
Network Impact:
- Gas fees spiked temporarily to 108 gwei
- Subsequent blocks confirmed seamless PoS validation
3. Vitalik Buterin's Statements
Pre-Merge:
- Predicted global electricity consumption would drop by 0.2% post-merge
Post-Merge:
- Celebrated the milestone as "an Ethereum ecosystem watershed moment"
- Acknowledged contributor efforts in achieving this transition
👉 Explore Ethereum's PoS architecture
4. Miner Migration (15:00-21:40 UTC)
Hashrate Shifts:
Network Hashrate Increase Peak Hashrate ETC 55.17% 92.48 TH/s RVN 35.46% 10.09 TH/s CFX 55.74% 1.6158 TH/s Industry Impact:
- 20-30% of ETH miners migrated to alternative networks
- Remainder temporarily halted operations
5. Exchange Responses (16:00-22:00 UTC)
Service Resumptions:
- Binance, FTX restored ETH deposits/withdrawals
Fork Listings:
- Major exchanges added ETHW (EthereumPoW) trading pairs
- Poloniex backed EthereumFair (ETF) as preferred fork chain
6. Market Reactions
Price Movements:
- ETH: Dropped below $1,500 (-9.2% in 24h)
- ETHW: Debuted at $16.94
Staking Shifts:
- Lido dominated staking (30% of nodes)
- US exchanges (Coinbase, Kraken) increased market share
Regulatory Implications
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler raised concerns about PoS tokens potentially qualifying as securities under the Howey Test. This positions staking services—especially exchange-provided ones—for future compliance challenges.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Did Ethereum's PoS transition cause network downtime?
A: No. The merge occurred without service interruptions—DeFi protocols and NFT markets continued operating normally.
Q: How does PoS improve Ethereum's energy efficiency?
A: Early estimates suggest a 99.95% reduction in energy consumption compared to PoW.
Q: Which miners benefited most from the fork?
A: GPU-minable chains (ETC, RVN) saw immediate hashrate boosts, though profitability normalized within days.
👉 Compare PoW vs PoS economics
Conclusion
Ethereum's seamless transition demonstrated the maturity of its developer community, while the muted impact of fork projects validated market preference for the canonical chain. However, evolving regulatory landscapes may present more substantial hurdles than technical challenges in Ethereum's PoS future.