{"id":758,"slug":"what-was-the-ethereum-merge","question":"What was the Ethereum Merge?","intent":"informational","language":"en","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/what-was-the-ethereum-merge","entity":{"slug":"ethereum","name":"Ethereum","url":"https://worldwiki.io/entity/ethereum"},"answer":{"short_answer":"The Merge was the September 15, 2022 upgrade in which Ethereum's original proof-of-work mainnet joined the Beacon Chain, a proof-of-stake chain that had been running since December 1, 2020. After it, validators staking ETH produced blocks instead of miners. Ethereum.org says energy use fell by about 99.95%. The Merge did not lower gas fees or require any action from ETH holders.","detailed_answer":"<p>Staking withdrawals were not available at the Merge. They were enabled later by the Shanghai-Capella upgrade on April 12, 2023 <span class=\"ref\">[9]</span><span class=\"ref\">[4]</span>.</p>","format":"paragraph","confidence":75,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23","updated_at":"2026-09-18 16:10:23"},"sources":[{"id":196,"title":"What is Ethereum? (A Complete Guide)","url":"https://ethereum.org/what-is-ethereum/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:45"},{"id":197,"title":"Introduction to smart contracts","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/smart-contracts/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:47"},{"id":198,"title":"What is Ether (ETH)?","url":"https://ethereum.org/what-is-ether/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:47"},{"id":186,"title":"Timeline of all Ethereum forks (2014 to present)","url":"https://ethereum.org/ethereum-forks/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:36"},{"id":199,"title":"Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/evm/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:47"},{"id":200,"title":"Gas and fees","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/gas/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:47"},{"id":161,"title":"Proof-of-stake (PoS)","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:20"},{"id":201,"title":"Prague-Electra (Pectra)","url":"https://ethereum.org/roadmap/pectra/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:48"},{"id":160,"title":"The Merge","url":"https://ethereum.org/roadmap/merge/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:18"},{"id":202,"title":"Ethereum Activates Fusaka Upgrade, Aiming to Cut Node Costs, Speed Layer-2 Settlements","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/12/03/ethereum-activates-fusaka-upgrade-aiming-to-cut-node-costs-speed-layer-2-settlements","publisher":"CoinDesk","type":"news","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:49"},{"id":203,"title":"Layer 2","url":"https://ethereum.org/layer-2/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:49"},{"id":191,"title":"Client diversity","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/nodes-and-clients/client-diversity/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:43"}],"published_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23"}