Ethereum (ETH) fell sharply on Thursday after a disruption in its proof-of-stake (PoS) plans cast doubts over the upcoming merge.
ETH slumped over 7% in past few hours to as low as $1,811- its lowest level since March 2021. Its tumble corresponded with a surge in liquidations over the past 12 hours.
The Ethereum Beacon chain, which is set to introduce PoS into the blockchain, underwent a 7-block deep reorganization in the past 24 hours. A block reorganization occurs due to a discrepancy in the ordering of blocks, usually resulting from malicious activity or a bug.
In this case, it was the latter. But it also demonstrates that ETH’s upcoming shift to PoS may not be as stable as espoused by founder Vitalik Buterin.
ETH’s merge not as stable as initially thought?
While the impact of the recent reorganization was limited, ETH’s lead developers are still rushing to gauge what caused it. So far, they have confirmed that it was not an attack on the blockchain.
