The world’s second-biggest and safest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, Ethereum, is expected to overhaul its operating systems and mining policies in a bid to become more environmentally friendly.

As per Japan Today, this move comes after international criticism of the blockchain leader’s operating technology and model. Once the move is made next month, the crypto is expected to reduce its carbon emissions by some 99 per cent.

The project, which is titled ‘the merge’, will result in Ethereum switching its technology systems used for validating crypto transactions to a new process that requires less energy to manage.

The merge is expected to take place in five stages and begin operation in September 2022.

Once completed, “miners” (individuals and entities involved in the process of creating a block of transactions to be added to the Ethereum blockchain) will lose their relevance.

Currently, these miners run heavy software (dominated by processing-heavy Graphic Processing Units – GPUs) on expensive and electricity-intensive hardware to generate random numbers that authenticate the security of the overall blockchain network to offer unmatched protection to the Ethereum network.

How much energy does Ethereum currently consume?

The crypto’s energy consumption is currently estimated at about 72 TerraWatt-hours a year as per Alex de Vries – a Dutch economist. This corresponds to the power consumption of developing nations such as Bangladesh, Chile, and Colombia.

The digital currency is expected to switch to a ‘proof-of-stake’ process in which a network will be secured by users who ‘stake’ sums of the cryptocurrency and commit themselves to act honestly at the risk of losing it.

The proof-of-stake model, as per the Guardian, is currently being used on an experimental ‘beacon’ blockchain, where it has been tested to ensure that the theoretical security it provides is sufficient for the multibillion-dollar economy that sits on top of the Ethereum network.

Ethereum is still down by a hefty 55 per cent in value so far this year, but it still regarded one of the most valuable cryptos in the digital space as virtual assets, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are still traded with Ethereum.