We are quickly approaching Ethereum's switch from a proof-of-work consensus to a proof-of-stake consensus. Ethereum will do this by merging with Beacon's proof-of-stake chain which will "reduce Ethereum's energy consumption by ~99.95%." This merge has been long-awaited, but what will be the ultimate consequences of it?

"The Merge represents the joining of the existing execution layer of Ethereum (the Mainnet we use today) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain. It eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining and instead secures the network using staked ETH. A truly exciting step in realizing the Ethereum vision – more scalability, security, and sustainability."

While ETH will be more energy efficient, this switch will have no effect on gas fees. Being that ETH is the home of notable NFT projects including CryptoPunks and BAYC, I think we'll still see ETH-based NFTs despite gas fees not being reduced. Even though Solana is much more efficient, Solana's novel hybrid blockchain reportedly handles 65,000 transactions per second and is built for decentralized applications, finance, and smart contracts -- supposedly making it a surefire "Ethereum Killer." It still experiences far too many issues for it to "kill" Ethereum just yet, most notably its network outages. In order for the crypto space to become "safer" for the average joe, Solana will have to suffer fewer exploits and prove that it is as safe as stocks to invest one's money in (always keeping in mind that nothing is ever 100% "safe" as an investment).

The ETH merge is expected for the end of August thru the beginning/middle of September.