Bitcoin vs Ethereum after the merger

Now that the merger is done, the question remains: who is more decentralized between Bitcoin and Ethereum?

Bitcoin vs. Ethereum after the merger: the importance of decentralization

Ethereum’s move to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) after the merger in September marked a change of nature that also involves Bitcoin with its Proof-of-Work (PoW), interrogation which of the two blockchains is the most decentralized.

In the crypto sector, decentralization is still one of the basic principlesas it ensures a blockchain’s resilience against censorship and attack.

In this sense, according to a more in-depth analysis of blockchain calculations, Figurea leading provider of institutional staking services, started by states that Ethereum’s decentralization has increased since the merger.

Figment is part of Lido’s 30 independent operators, the largest entity on Ethereum by participation that has more than $5 billion in ETH stake in the project.

In this regard, Figment analyzed it to attempt a 51% attack on Lido will require the cooperation of all 29 Lido operators plus 2 other major validators. This means that should collusion occur, the remaining honest validators may decide to continue building on the minority chain and ignore the attacker’s fork. A catch-up situation that was not possible before the Ethereum merger.

Another interesting aspect is that with PoS, now the ETH that is staked still cannot be withdrawn and this would currently eliminate the capacity and leverage needed to hold validators accountable.

Bitcoin vs. Ethereum after the merger: decentralization PoW vs. Bucket

In order to compare Bitcoin and Ethereum and their degree of decentralizationit is necessary to compare the PoW and PoS protocols of the two most prominent cryptos in the industry.

In fact, while theoretical PoW has always been seen as the decentralization protocol par excellencenow, due to the expansion of cryptocurrencies, maybe not so much anymore.

Considering the different mining pools that Bitcoin operates with and the efforts of Ethereum validators, one could even argue that ETH is more decentralized.

The reason is the entry barriers for PoW mining, which are much higher than for PoS validation. And indeed, while to become an Ethereum validator one only needs to deposit 32 ETH (today valued at ~$41,129), to successfully mine Bitcoin requires a multi-million dollar operation, or at least be a part of one.

Not only that, Bitcoin’s energy consumption is also increasing steadily, compared to Ethereum’s post-merger. And in fact, the merger has alleviated energy concerns surrounding the crypto sector by moving away from mining or PoW, which relies on computers solving complex mathematical problems to mine coins, which must be in continuous operation.

Bitcoin vs. Ethereum after merger: when is the flip?

To Ethereum enthusiasts, there will come a day when the second crypto by market cap will surpass Queen Bitcoinand that’s it “Flip” will happen.

According to these people, the merger was the trigger which may give rise to this hypothetical change.

In contrast, market experts do not believe that “Flippening” will happen in the short term, as overcoming Bitcoin’s establishment as the most important and driving resource for the entire crypto market is no small feat. In fact, the Bitcoin community still has a strong sentiment against the queen of cryptocurrencies, considering that it is the foundational currency of the internet.

In addition, this market has proven itself over the years a multi-chain ecosystemso the possibility of Ethereum surpassing Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization is vanishingly small.

If, however, other calculations were considered instead of market value, then maybe The flip may already be a reality. For example, while Ethereum records approximately 1 million daily transactions, Bitcoin completes approximately 270,000 transactions in the same period. In this sense, Ethereum has a higher transaction volume than Bitcoin.

Not only that, if we also consider the number of crypto projects and active addresses at the top of the networks, again Ethereum is already surpassing Bitcoin. However, this does not detract from the fact that despite PoW, Bitcoin remains the largest asset in the crypto market.

Price estimate for ETH after merger

eToro’s Crypto Market Analyst Simon Peters published an interesting comment last month on post-Merge ETH price prediction.

Generally, expectations were that ETH’s price would riseespecially as the transition to PoS brings with it financial benefits. In reality this did not happen and could also mean that the investors would not have appreciated the upgrade.

In this regard, Peters considered that the reasons why the price of ETH has not increased are not linked to the merger, but to macroeconomic factors and interest rates.

This means that post-Merge ETH price predictions should not be made in the short term, but in the long term.

At the time of writing, Ethereum is worth $1480 against Bitcoin which is worth $19,700so both are in one downward trend.