OpenSea says it will focus on supporting proof-of-stake NFTs after September’s Ethereum mainnet upgrade, seemingly abandoning everything PoW.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated Ethereum Merge, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has confirmed that it will only support proof-of-stake (PoS) NFTs. Part of a series of related tweets released by the platform regarding this development read:
“First, and most importantly, we are committed to solely supporting NFTs on the upgraded Ethereum PoS chain.”
This specifically implies that the leading NFT marketplace will not support forked digital assets after the major Ethereum blockchain upgrade. Forked NFTs are a reference to the proof-of-work (PoW) module currently rounding out its last days on the Ethereum protocol. However, in a tweet, OpenSea also says that it also “won’t speculate on potential forks – to the extent forked NFTs on ETHPoW exist.”
In addition, the New York City-headquartered company also suggested that it would carefully observe the Merge process and its ramifications. Speaking directly to this, OpenSea explained:
“While we don’t anticipate major issues, we also acknowledge this is a first! So we’re committed to monitoring, managing, and communicating throughout.”
Furthermore, OpenSea advised concerned developers to seek further details concerning the Merge on the Ethereum website.
So far, OpenSea has seen around $31 billion in Ethereum-linked NFTs traded on its platform, according to reports. However, to date, the entirety of that sum comprises trading NFTs tied to the soon-to-be-obsolete PoW version of Ethereum.
OpenSea Adoption of NFTs on Proof-of-stake ETH Protocol Part of Growing Trend Among Third-Party Providers
The switch to PoS by OpenSea represents a changing of the module guard for a host of decentralized networks, which also includes Chainlink. Early last month, Chainlink revealed that its services would adopt the PoS transition of the Ethereum blockchain.
“The Chainlink protocol and its services will remain operational on the Ethereum blockchain during and after the Merge to the PoS consensus layer. Users should be aware that forked versions of the Ethereum blockchain, including PoW forks, will not be supported by the Chainlink protocol,” Chainlink’s message read.
Furthermore, Chainlink also suggested that Ethereum developers and dApp teams unsure of their migration strategy regarding the Merge should pause smart contract operations. This is to forestall unforeseen incidents and help protect end users.
Amid the mass gravitation toward the Ethereum PoS operational module, Coinbase appears to be taking a more diplomatic stance. According to the prominent American crypto exchange, it will still consider listing items associated with a PoW fork after the Merge.
Ethereum Merge
The Ethereum Merge slated for this month will render the blockchain “greener” and more environmentally friendly. Furthermore, by adopting a less energy-intensive system, Ethereum also looks to pave the way for unlimited optimization down the stretch. This would drastically improve and enhance user experience with NFTs, decentralized finance (DeFi) and smart contracts, to name a few.
Observers also opine that the Merge will impact the price of the network’s native currency ETH for better or worse. However, the extent of this remains unclear at the moment.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
