In support of Ethereum’s transition to the proof-of-stake (PoS) paradigm, Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume, announced it would halt deposits and withdrawals for ETH and ERC-20 during “The Merge.”
On Thursday, Binance announced that it would upgrade the “Paris” execution layer on September 15 and the “Bellatrix” consensus layer on September 6.
Two potential outcomes of the Merge were hinted at in the dialogue. Scenario A: Binance will reopen deposits and withdrawals as soon as practicable if no new token is generated.
Another possibility is that the chain splits into two rival chains, and a new coin is created.
Based on the snapshot of ETH balances prior to the Paris upgrade, Binance will then credit the users’ accounts with the forked token from the minority chain “at a ratio of 1:1”.
The forked token will go through the same listing review procedure if a new token is created, according to Binance.
With The Merge, the Ethereum blockchain will transition from its current proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism to a proof-of-stake (PoS) model, which is a quicker, more energy-efficient, and more secure way to scale projects.
The Ethereum Foundation said that the mainnet merge will occur in two steps, the Bellatrix and Paris upgrades. With the Paris upgrade, the network will move from PoW to PoS, while the Bellatrix upgrade will prepare Ethereum’s consensus layer for merger.
