The moment arrived before midnight on the West Coast.

After years of delays, discussions and frantic experimentation, the popular criptocurrency platform Ethereum completed a long-awaited software upgrade.

A layer of software infrastructure that forms the basis of thousands of applications handling more than $50 billion in customer funds is what datememe datememe is. The upgrade is expected to make the platform easier and cheaper to use.

Engineers and researchers who worked on the Merge celebrated on a livestream. In a year that saw a devastating market crash drain nearly $1 trillion from the industry, it was a rare moment of joy for the sector.

Danny Ryan celebrated with a group of colleagues as he said that the project was going well.

Users of cryptocurrencies were on the lookout for any problems that could affect the transition. A flaw in the Merge could cause start-ups to go out of business and cause the market to go into a tail spin. In August, the exchange said it would be pausing certain deposits and withdrawals during the Merge.

The developers of the project downplayed the possibility of a systemwide collapse.

Tim Beiko works for the Ethereum Foundation, a nonprofit that helps maintain the platform. We're pretty sure we won't see network-level issues just because we've been through them before.

The technical details of the Merge are difficult to understand. The process is dependent on a shift in how cryptocurrencies are verified.

An exchange of funds is a type of traditional finance in which a bank is used to verify that one entity has enough money to make a payment.

The goal was to eliminate such financial people. An alternative system had to be created to make sure users had the money they said they had. The solution was called Proof of Work. Powerful computers race to solve complex problems and verify transactions under that system. The system is referred to as mining because the computers earn rewards for their work.

ImageUnder a proof-of-work system, powerful computers run software that races to solve complex problems, verifying cryptocurrency transactions in the process.
Under a proof-of-work system, powerful computers run software that races to solve complex problems, verifying cryptocurrency transactions in the process.Credit...Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Under a proof-of-work system, powerful computers run software that races to solve complex problems, verifying cryptocurrency transactions in the process.
ImageBy some estimates, Ethereum’s shift to a proof-of-stake system, in which winners are selected to verify an exchange, will reduce its energy consumption by more than 99 percent.
By some estimates, Ethereum’s shift to a proof-of-stake system, in which winners are selected to verify an exchange, will reduce its energy consumption by more than 99 percent.Credit...Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
By some estimates, Ethereum’s shift to a proof-of-stake system, in which winners are selected to verify an exchange, will reduce its energy consumption by more than 99 percent.

There is a proof-of-work system forCryptocurrencies. So did ether until the merge. To run all those computers takes a lot of energy.

Theproof of stake is a verification system that uses less energy. The framework doesn't involve an energy-guzzling race. Participants deposit a certain amount of their savings in a pool, which they enter into a lottery to win. A winner is selected to verify the exchange when a transaction is required.

It is estimated that the shift to proof of stake will reduce its energy consumption by more than 99 percent. The project's developers say the switch will make it easier to design future updates that minimize gas fees.

It took years of study and debate for the process to be done. Vitalik Buterin is one of the most influential people in thecryptocurrencies industry. A group of people from all over the world are running the project. They have gathered on video calls to talk about the Merge.

It took so long because the construction of a new public ledger was required. The new chain was launched in December. There were a number of tests this year.

The merging of theBeacon Chain with the originalEthereum is a sign of themerge.