The Ethereum Merge is done. Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus was successfully completed at 6:42 UTC at block 15537391.

The historic upgrade casts aside the miners who had previously secured the world’s most used blockchain, immediately causing a 99.9% decline in Ethereum’s energy use.

Analysts, including Bank of America (BAC), predict the upgrade could lead to “strong” institutional adoption of ETH, citing its deflationary effects, improved scalability and Ethereum’s existing vibrant digital economy.

The number of crypto startups in the latest batch at Y Combinator, the San Francisco-based accelerator that gave rise to companies like Coinbase (COIN) and OpenSea, hit a record number of 30 crypto and web3 companies, despite the global downturn.

Not all these startups will make it through the long term. But the strongest projects represent solid profit opportunities once the market shifts out of “risk-off” mode.

And the fact that we’re seeing this continued development even in the middle of the crypto winter is very bullish.

Even better, it looks like those outside the crypto community are looking for their own chances to get in on crypto’s growth.

(Grant Wasylik)