Centralization is one of the main concerns about the Merge. A second concern is the possibility of frauds as the public may not know how the Merge works.
Merge has a fundamental flaw. It will increase power concentration within the network. Validating blocks will get staker’s more valuable position. This could result in a situation in which a few wealthy people or groups hold the majority of stakes and exert a disproportionate amount of influence on the network.
Sixty-four percent of the stake is held by five major organizations. These organizations could conspire to decide which chain to support in the event of a contentious split, potentially censoring transactions and double-spending money. Critics are already debating whether Merge is a scheme where the ‘rich get richer’ will cement the power of existing stakeholders.
Staking is required in order to earn interest on one’s ETH holdings. This could lead to those who can’t afford to stake being priced out of market. As only large sums of money are allowed to take part in staking, this could result in increased centralization.
Scammers are not uncommon to profit from big transitions like The Merge. They pretend that users must do something (usually involving giving away tokens) in order to upgrade. Scammers can also use wallet upgrades to trick users into downloading malware masquerading as an update.
Finally, some miners who have been mining on Ethereum’s mainnet for many years might decide to stay on Ethereum’s old chain. Many of these miners may have incurred large electricity and hardware costs and feel they have more to lose by continuing on Ethereum’s old chain.
This could cause a split in Ethereum’s community with two different versions of Ethereum running simultaneously. Although unlikely, investors should be aware that this possibility exists.
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