ALT Ethereum transition to proof-of-stake delayed again, as is tradition For years now, Ethereum has been talking about a transition from its energy-intensive, expensive proof-of-work consensus model to a proof-of-stake consensus model, which touts a totally different set of flaws! Exciting. The project has been delayed so many times that it has become a bit of a running joke—crypto critics regularly describe the Ethereum PoS migration as something that has been "only six months away" for several years now. Meanwhile, it has proven a useful way for Ethereum fans to dismiss the valid concerns about the enormous energy expenditure of their preferred blockchain, as though enormous emissions and e-waste are somehow a non-issue if there is some vague plan at some perpetually-in-the-future point to move away from them.

ALT Anyway, Ethereum developers have projected new levels of optimism lately, with several of them describing "the merge" as imminent—I believe a June time-frame was the popular estimate. Unfortunately, this appears to have been just as unachievable as the prior "deadlines", with an Ethereum core developer stating it was now looking like it wouldn't happen until some time this autumn. This is particularly brutal timing, given Nilay Patel's interview yesterday with a16z's Chris Dixon, where he confidently pointed to a July "merge" date (only to become substantially less confident when pressed on specifics). Anyway, see you this fall for the next hype cycle—between now and then, Ethereum will have again consumed energy comparable to the annual small countries, for little if any useful purpose.