Ethereum Merge was successful. What does this give ordinary users?

The long-awaited Ethereum Merge has finally happened. So what did one of the most critical events in Web-3 in the last few years give us?

Whether you keep your savings in it or not, the network's switch from Proof-of-work to Proof-of-stake is a big game changer. But how, exactly? 

There have been rumors that this upgrade will make Ethereum faster and cheaper. But that's not true - at least not yet, according to the Ethereum Foundation and experts who spoke to Decrypt. 

Today's update, however, solves no other problems other than reducing power consumption. So far, it's unclear what will happen to Ethereum's bandwidth and capacity (i.e., the number of transactions processed per second). We all hope this will be done later and will not be forgotten.

"Despite some minor changes, the transaction rate at the first tier will largely remain the same," the fund said. "This is a fairly minor change and is unlikely to be noticed by users."

The network's once-high fees have discouraged some people from using the blockchain, and they are looking for an "Ethereum killer," among the likes of Solana, Avalanche, or Tezos, to mine and sell NFT. 

But contrary to what you might think, this week's update will not make using Ethereum cheaper. "The merger is a change in the consensus mechanism, not an expansion of network capacity, and it will not result in lower fees," the fund said in a statement. 

Ethereum is moving to proof-of-stake, which will increase energy efficiency by more than 99%, the foundation claims - but it won't make it cheaper. 

"There will just be less energy consumption overall," said P.J. Murphy, CEO of Artgreen, an Ethereum-based creative DAO that promotes cryptocurrency investment. 

There are a couple of other changes, but we'll talk about them a little later, for they will only play a role in the future, not that close. Well, or don't play a role for ordinary users like you or us.