Ethereum Merge or ETH Merge is the latest term used to refer to the Ethereum 2.0 initiative. The major network upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain will see the network transition from a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus algorithm to a Proof of Stake (PoS) model.
The Ethereum Merge occurred on September 15, 2022 when the last block on the original network was mined. Following this, the network transitioned to a PoS consensus, and no more new blocks will be mined on Ethereum's blockchain.
The Merge represents the integration of the Ethereum mainnet with the proof of stake Beacon Chain system, implementing a complete transition of the leading dApp blockchain platform to a PoS consensus model. The Ethereum Merge has made the blockchain more scalable and energy-efficient, bringing down the energy consumption of the blockchain by as much as 99.95%.
Following the Merge, the Ethereum Foundation will focus on improving the scalability of the network by implementing sharding. Sharding will allow Ethereum to process multiple transactions in parallel, solving the network congestion issues the blockchain has experienced as its dApp ecosystem expands.