FTX, one of the leading cryptocurrency trading companies, has announced that it will cease Ethereum trades on Arbitrum, Solana and Binance Smart Chain as a result of the imminent Ethereum Merge. The Ethereum merge will happen in the week of September 10th. Significantly, it will likely revolutionize operations of the network and potentially the crypto market as a whole.
What the Merge brings
Many participants in the crypto community decided to take preventative measures to ensure the safety of investor funds. This is despite assurances from Ethereum developers that there would be no downtime during The Merge, one of the most anticipated Ethereum upgrades. One of the most popular exchanges, FTX, has temporarily halted withdrawals and deposits until the Merge is complete and networks are stable.
Through the implementation of the Merge upgrade, the Ethereum network will fully transition from a PoW consensus mechanism to a PoS consensus mechanism. Market suspension for Ethereum on many blockchains has been scheduled to commence at various times. However, this is still subject to change based on anticipated difficulties.
Ethereum developers say that The Merge, will make the switch to PoS with no interruptions thanks to the terminal total difficulty (TTD). This guarantees the switch based on the sum of all mining power used to construct a chain. FTX has set the trading halts for Ethereum to begin at different times across blockchains. However, this is still subject to change in light of any unforeseen difficulties that may arise.
FTX stated that users have the responsibility to recognize the consequences of the transition. The crypto exchange added that it would not be responsible for any losses resulting from large price swings. Prior to the Merge, FTX has no intention of suspending or settling ETH futures, and the exchange will do everything in its power to keep trading open.