With the Ethereum Merge upgrade only about three days away, the general mood in the market is a mix of excited expectancy and skepticism. One thing for sure is the event will have a lasting effect on the market in the near to medium term.

As protocols tie up loose ends ahead of the event, Ethereum research company Nethermind recently took to Twitter to reveal that the blockchain had just carried out its last shadow fork, adding that it was a successful exercise.

Shadow forks are programs that allow developers to test synchronization assumptions to help assess network safety during upgrades. These exercises are necessary considering upgrades are irreversible and complex processes, a dicey combination

Meanwhile, data from EtherNodes show that 84.2% of ETH nodes are marked as “Merge Ready.”

Numerous Scams Sprouting Ahead of the Merge

Many scammers and opportunists are trying to capitalize on the excitement and anticipation ahead of what has been termed one of the most significant events in crypto history.

Users have been advised to keep in mind that the upgrade will not come with any airdrops or giveaways, making it wise to shun all such claims on social media or websites.

Some days ago, the official Twitter account of South East England-based radio station KMFM got hacked and was used to promote Ethereum giveaway scams through the impersonation of Vitalik Buterin. Unfortunate events like this have become alarmingly common, as scammers target the Ethereum community.

Google Acknowledges Ethereum Merge with “Easter Egg”

On a brighter note, a Google “doodle” can be seen counting down to the highly-anticipated Merge upgrade. This doodle symbolizes recognition from the world's largest search engine.

According to the doodle, the Merge is now only three days and 12 hours away. Simply typing “Ethereum Merge” into the Google search bar, users can see how much time is left for the Merge, the current difficulty rate, the hash rate, and the Merge difficulty.

The doodle also features two cartoon bears approaching each other with arms open for a hug. Once a successful Merge occurs, both bears would merge to create one panda, which is the unofficial mascot for Ethereum’s transition to a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism.

Ethereum Price Dynamics Ahead of the Merge

After retesting the $1,500 low on September 7, ETH has staged an aggressive recovery and hasn’t looked back since. So far, the cryptocurrency is up by over 18%, as traders await a possible breach of the $1,800 resistance.

With the Merge eclipsing market discourse in recent days, it’s most likely external factors will have minimal effect on Ether’s price dynamics this week.

Meanwhile, data from the 4-hour chart for ETH suggests a golden cross between the 50 and 200 SMAs is set to occur in the coming hours. This cross comes when Ethereum is on the verge of a bullish breakout, lending more credence to the argument of an upward march in the coming days.

ETH Statistics Data

ETH Current Price: $1,600

ETH Market Cap: $216.8B

ETH Circulating Supply: 122.3M

ETH Total Supply: 122.3M

ETH Market Ranking: #2

Trade ETH now >

Disclaimer
This article should not be taken as a piece of financial advice. It is essential to conduct your research before making investment decisions.