The Merge of Ethereum
Because Ethereum relies on Proof-of-Work (PoW) to confirm transactions, many miners are utilizing nothing but processing power to protect the network. Unfortunately, the procedure uses a lot of energy, which is why many people are against it.
The least energy-intensive option is Proof-of-Stake (PoS), the most used one. Depending on how many coins they are staking, validators—rather than miners—secure the network. They would lose their cash if they tried to trick the network.
The Ethereum Merge will take place this September as anticipated. In addition, switching to a Proof-of-Stake blockchain will make the Ethereum network more scalable and effective.
The largest NFT marketplace in the world, OpenSea, announced that it would only support NFTs on the updated Ethereum PoS chain. The most recent update from OpenSea noted:
“Insofar as forked NFTs on ETH PoW exist, we won’t speculate about potential forks, but they won’t be supported or reflected on OpenSea.”
OpenSea stated that they have been working on the OpenSea product to enable a smooth transition in addition to supporting the Ethereum PoS chain.
OpenSea doesn’t anticipate any significant complications because the developments surrounding the Merge update have gone well and according to schedule. However, the statement also stated, “we’re dedicated to monitoring, managing, and communicating throughout.”
Moving Polygon to the Seaport Protocol
OpenSea is working on new projects and is ready to switch to Ethereum PoS. OpenSea declared that it would integrate the Polygon blockchain into its recently released Seaport Protocol. This transition allows OpenSea to maintain its market in a more energy-efficient manner.
Previously, the 0x protocol was used to power Polygon on OpenSea. The infrastructure for OpenSea will be better and more reliable if it switches to Seaport. The official statement stated:
“We are pleased to launch Polygon support on Seaport after studying Seaport’s effects for several months and gathering insightful comments. In the upcoming months, we will also introduce support for Klaytn and other EVM-compatible chains.”
Other NFT markets operate differently than the OpenSea seaport protocol. For example, OpenSea utilizes the “offer & consideration” process instead of a peer-to-peer transaction. This appears to be a sophisticated transaction where the buyers can provide the agreed-upon digital goods in Ethereum (ETH), ERC20, ERC721, or ERC1155.
Eliminating initiation fees for new platform users will be another advantage of migrating to the Seaport protocol.