ETH jumps 50% in over a month, founder says protocol to be 55% complete after ‘merge’

Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum. (image Source: Twitter)

Even as Ethereum (ETH), the world’s second-largest digital currency by market capitalisation, is up 50 percent in over a month and has played a crucial role in the recovery of the cryptocurrency market. The network’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin says the protocol will only be 55 percent complete after the ‘merge’.

Merge alludes to the network’s move to the ‘proof-of-stake’ consensus from its current ‘proof of work.’ Ethereum developers had, last week, announced that the merge will tentatively take place during the week of September 19.

Nearly 50% returns in a month and a half

ETH, which was trading at $1,080-odd levels on June 6, made a high of $1,610 on June 22, giving nearly 50 percent returns in about a month and a half.

“The difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum is that Bitcoiners consider Bitcoin to be 80 percent complete, but Ethereans consider Ethereum to be 40 percent complete. Ethereum can go up to being 55 percent complete after the merge. We're getting close, which is really amazing," Buterin said, speaking at the ETH Community Conference (EthCC) in Paris on Thursday.

Road map, post-merge, includes four major phases

Ethereum’s road map, following the merge, includes a few more major phases, including a four-part upgrade that developers call the “surge, verge, purge, and splurge.” These upgrades are aimed at making ETH much more secure and decentralised.

"At the end of this road map, Ethereum will be a much more scalable system. By the end, Ethereum will be able to process 100,000 transactions per second,” he said.

Rate of change will slow down

“At some point, the rate of change will slow down,” Buterin said, adding that this is what a lot of people want from the ETH protocol and this is his preference as well. “There are things that could happen. There are unknown unknowns. But those unknowns should decrease over time,” the co-founder said.