# The Merge: Ethereum changed consensus while preserving its history The Merge was Ethereum’s September 2022 transition from proof-of-work mining to proof-of-stake consensus. Its existing execution history and balances continued. Users did not need to exchange ETH for a new token. The change ended proof-of-work issuance, but it was not itself a broad transaction-fee reduction or the launch of staking withdrawals. Evidence: [The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md); [How ETH supply changed after the Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/issuance/index.md); [Ethereum protocol upgrade history](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/ethereum-forks/index.md) Canonical: https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/ethereum-merge/ Published: 2026-10-02 Substantively modified: 2026-10-02 Independently verified by an automated reviewer: 2026-10-02T15:10:23.134Z AI-assisted research and drafting with a separate automated source-verification pass; no external expert or named human review is implied. ## Key facts - **Transition:** September 2022, from mining to proof of stake ([The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md); [Ethereum protocol upgrade history](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/ethereum-forks/index.md)) - **Balances:** Existing ETH and application state continued ([The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md)) - **Withdrawals:** Enabled by a later upgrade, not the Merge itself ([The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md); [Staking withdrawals](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/staking/withdrawals/index.md)) ## The mechanism choosing blocks changed Before the transition, Ethereum’s execution chain used proof-of-work mining. The Beacon Chain had been running proof of stake alongside it. The Merge connected execution to that consensus system, ending mining as the method of extending canonical Ethereum. Execution clients still process transactions and contracts. Consensus clients and validators handle proof-of-stake agreement. The change in consensus did not replace every application with a newly written one. Evidence: [The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md); [Proof of stake](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/index.md) ## Example: a holder did not need to swap old ETH for new ETH Imagine an account with 1 ETH before the transition and no intervening transactions. The protocol transition did not require its holder to send that ETH somewhere to obtain an upgraded coin. The existing state continued. The same continuity matters for contract storage and token records. An unsolicited request to migrate an account merely because of the Merge was not a requirement of the protocol transition. Evidence: [The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md); [Ethereum accounts](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/developers/docs/accounts/index.md) ## Issuance changed more directly than execution capacity Proof-of-work block rewards stopped, while consensus rewards continued under proof of stake. Base-fee burning had already begun with the London upgrade, so its origin should not be dated to the Merge. Transaction fees depend on demand and available resources. The Merge did not itself provide the large execution-capacity expansion that would make every interaction cheap. Rollup and data-capacity work address different parts of scaling. Evidence: [How ETH supply changed after the Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/issuance/index.md); [The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md); [Gas and fees](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/developers/docs/gas/index.md) ## Later features should not be folded into the 2022 event Staking withdrawals arrived through the later Shanghai/Capella upgrade. Further changes, including compounding validator balances and account delegation, belong to subsequent protocol upgrades. Historical explanations become clearer when each change retains its date and scope. Eth2 was an old umbrella term; it is not the name of a separate replacement asset that users must acquire. Evidence: [The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md); [Staking withdrawals](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/staking/withdrawals/index.md); [Ethereum protocol upgrade history](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/ethereum-forks/index.md) ## Questions ### Did users have to exchange their ETH at the Merge? No. Existing balances and history continued. The Merge did not require ordinary holders to swap ETH for a new protocol token. Evidence: [The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md) ### Did the Merge make all Ethereum transactions cheap? No. It changed consensus without a corresponding large expansion in execution throughput. Fees still depend on resource demand and capacity. Evidence: [The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md); [Gas and fees](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/developers/docs/gas/index.md) ### Did staking withdrawals start on Merge day? No. Withdrawal functionality arrived in a later upgrade. Consensus transition and withdrawal activation are separate historical events. Evidence: [The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md); [Staking withdrawals](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/staking/withdrawals/index.md) ## Claims and scope ### ethereum-merge-quick-answer The Merge was Ethereum’s September 2022 transition from proof-of-work mining to proof-of-stake consensus. Its existing execution history and balances continued. Users did not need to exchange ETH for a new token. The change ended proof-of-work issuance, but it was not itself a broad transaction-fee reduction or the launch of staking withdrawals. Scope: {"collection":"ethereum","dataAsOf":null,"blockHeight":null} ### ethereum-merge-fact-transition Transition: September 2022, from mining to proof of stake Scope: {"collection":"ethereum","dataAsOf":null,"blockHeight":null} ### ethereum-merge-fact-balances Balances: Existing ETH and application state continued Scope: {"collection":"ethereum","dataAsOf":null,"blockHeight":null} ### ethereum-merge-fact-withdrawals Withdrawals: Enabled by a later upgrade, not the Merge itself Scope: {"collection":"ethereum","dataAsOf":null,"blockHeight":null} ## Sources - [The Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/index.md) — ethereum.org contributors. Supports the 2022 consensus transition, preservation of history and ETH balances, and separation from fee scaling and withdrawals. Locator: What was the Merge; users and holders; misconceptions; relationship between upgrades. Retrieved: 2026-10-02T14:35:43.712420+00:00. - [How ETH supply changed after the Merge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/roadmap/merge/issuance/index.md) — ethereum.org contributors. Supports consensus issuance versus fee burning; historical issuance estimates are not used as current rates. Locator: Post-merge issuance; the burn. Retrieved: 2026-10-02T14:35:44.215542+00:00. - [Ethereum protocol upgrade history](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/ethereum-forks/index.md) — ethereum.org contributors. Records shipped Pectra changes including EIP-7702 and EIP-7251; supports dated historical upgrade context. Locator: Prague-Electra (Pectra); Paris (The Merge); London. Retrieved: 2026-10-02T14:42:49.753070+00:00. - [Staking withdrawals](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/staking/withdrawals/index.md) — ethereum.org contributors. Supports legacy/compounding withdrawal differences, withdrawal credentials, queues and fees for execution-triggered requests. Locator: Compounding validators; exiting staking entirely; gas free. Retrieved: 2026-10-02T14:35:43.704850+00:00. - [Proof of stake](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/index.md) — ethereum.org contributors. Supports 12-second slots, 32-slot epochs, stake-weighted checkpoint voting and block verification. Locator: Validators; transaction execution; finality; fork choice. Retrieved: 2026-10-02T14:35:43.818781+00:00. - [Ethereum accounts](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/developers/docs/accounts/index.md) — ethereum.org contributors. Supports accounts versus wallet software and account state fields. The older empty-code EOA description is qualified using EIP-7702. Locator: Account types; an account examined; a note on wallets. Retrieved: 2026-10-02T14:35:40.369782+00:00. - [Gas and fees](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/ethereum-org-website/dcc900ff125891da5b6c723b905a7113cf1bd864/public/content/developers/docs/gas/index.md) — ethereum.org contributors. Supports gas units, ETH/gwei units, base/priority fees, resource limits and charges for executed failed transactions. Locator: How are gas fees calculated; base fee; gas limit. Retrieved: 2026-10-02T14:35:40.393022+00:00. ## Revision history - 2026-10-02: First publication after primary-source research and independent automated verification. ## Cite this entry Degrees of Satoshi editorial project. “The Merge: Ethereum changed consensus while preserving its history.” Published 2026-10-02; updated 2026-10-02. https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/ethereum-merge/