A recent report from “Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA)” highlights how mature the Ethereum ecosystem has become, even to the point where the network can be used by enterprises to solve real-world problems: From supply chain management use cases, to payment solutions used by companies such as Visa and PayPal.
Overall, the report demonstrates that the Ethereum network has evolved into one of the most valuable public blockchains.
The EEA report also notes that the rapid growth of the Ethereum ecosystem had created a number of challenges for companies, especially in terms of power consumption, scalability and privacy.
For example, the document states that “sustainability was cited as one of the main concerns, as were transaction fees in relation to the use of the Ethereum Mainnet“.
The report further explains that the transparency associated with a public blockchain, such as Ethereum, was a barrier for businesses seeking data security and trust.
Based on the above, it was deemed critical that any upgrades involved Level-2 (L2) sharing and scaling solutions, as these elements are critical to businesses using the Ethereum network.
However, the complex nature of such solutions still makes it difficult for companies to adopt them. For example, the EEA report states that:
“Many Level-2 solutions and side-chains are relatively new projects, with relatively new technology. Thus, they do not necessarily have the track record or proven security and stability of Ethereum’s Mainnet.”
The merge will change the way businesses view Ethereum
Considering everything mentioned above, industry experts predict that the Ethereum Merger, which is scheduled to take place on September 14-15, will likely improve the adoption of the network by businesses.
Paul Brody, global blockchain leader at EY, pointed out in a statement to Cointelegraph that while the Merge will not affect most enterprise use cases currently in use, it will change the way businesses perceive Ethereum:
“For years, competing tier-1 networks have been talking about how Ethereum can’t complete the Merger. However, Ethereum’s incredible organizational maturity works well behind the scenes to accomplish this in a careful and professional manner. As a business, this is the kind of institutional maturity I want to see.”
Although the completion of The Merge has been underway for several years, Brody explained that upgrades to critical infrastructure should never be rushed. As such, he believes this will remain a key point for businesses using the Ethereum network:
“I believe that any attempts in the future to attack Ethereum’s capacity will have no chance after the Merger,” he said.
Closely monitored by Allianz
While it’s too early to detect how businesses will react to the Merger, Robert Crozier, chief architect and head of global blockchain at Allianz Technology, told Cointelegraph that his company will be monitoring the progress of the Ethereum Merger to see how it stabilizes certain use cases.
This is particularly noteworthy as Crozier revealed that Allianz has so far only looked at use cases for Ether (ETH) and Ethereum for experimental purposes on a small scale. The insurance giant is currently using Hyperledger Fabric and its decentralized ledger platform Corda to streamline cross-border auto insurance claims across Europe. Crozier added on this:
“At Allianz, our International Motor Claims Settlement product uses Hyperledger Fabric at its core. We need to understand and be confident that other protocols, such as Ethereum, would provide similar benefits in terms of ease of use, scalability and finality.”
With these benefits in mind, Brody explained that the Merger would ultimately lead to better scalability and privacy protection for businesses:
“I think we’re heading into a new era of enterprise applications. With the maturation of both scalability and privacy, it will be possible to address the needs of the business process quite comprehensively in the future,” he said.
Reducing energy use by 99%
In addition to scalability and confidentiality, sustainability (energy use) concerns will be addressed once the Merger is implemented. According to Brakrac, Ethereum currently uses an excessive amount of electricity, noting that the Merger will reduce energy use by 99%:
“This will make Ethereum very sustainable in the long run. By design, this further protects the grid and resolves an environmental concern that is clearly positive from an institutional adoption perspective,” he said.
Indeed, industry experts believe that the sustainability efforts addressed by the Merger will be critical to the adoption of Ethereum by businesses.
In this regard, Yorke Rhodes III, co-founder of blockchain at Microsoft and a board member and treasurer of the EEA, told Cointelegraph that the Merger will put an end to one of the main concerns of companies that focus on environmental impact, such as Microsoft.
Benefits not immediate
Considering all of the above, it seems that the Merger will most likely increase business interest in Ethereum, due to the evolution of the network, but also the sustainability due to the elimination of energy usage.
However, it is important to note that the benefits promised by the Merger will not be seen immediately. According to Brody, it will take at least 12-24 months for privacy-enabled use cases to emerge after the Merger.
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