Ethereum's blockchain switched successfully this week from using proof of work to validate transactions to using proof of stake. The immediate results: a massive drop in its carbon footprint and a slump in the price of GPUs, the peripherals that can no longer be used crank out crypto (bitcoiners mostly use ASICs nowadays). Justine Calma:
Ethereum's electricity use is expected to drop by a whopping 99.988 percent post-Merge, according to the analysis published today by research company Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI). The network was previously using about 23 million megawatt-hours per year, CCRI estimates. Moving forward, it's expected to usejust over 2,600 megawatt-hours per year. To help visualize just how massive this is, the report compares this reduction to the Eiffel Tower shrinking to the size of a Lego toy person.
Gamers rejoice! But beware the condition of those eBay lots. And note that the vastly overmanufactured 4xxx series, about to hit shelves, means there'll be a lot of downward pressure on the prices of new cards too. One top manufacturer, EVGA, is already calling it quits—and calling out NVidia as it goes. As ever, web3 is going great.
