Analysts advise ETH users to avoid transacting during the Merge day because many things can go wrong on the day of the big update.

With Ethereum’s (ETH) Merge approaching, the hazards that the event may bring are being discussed more openly, with crypto researcher Coin Metrics referring to price differences in DeFi protocols as one clear concern, and encouraging users to avoid from trading at all on the day of the Merge.

Coin Metrics stated in a recent paper titled Mapping Out The Merge that while the Merge will help Ethereum overall, “a lot may go wrong in a network move of this size.” Because of that analysts advise ETH users to avoid transacting during the Merge day.

For instance, the company, which has been operating its own validator nodes on Ethereum’s new Beacon Chain since 2020, stated that the fake Merge that occurred on the Goerli testnet occurred twice on its nodes. The report also said that this may have disrupted uptime if it had been the genuine Merge.

The Goerli testnet Merge occurred in early August of this year, and it was the penultimate test run before the actual Merge, which is slated to occur between September 10 and 20.

Coin Metrics went on to recommend that users abstain from performing any transactions on the Ethereum network on the day of the Merge, citing “the variety of issues that might harm Ethereum’s uptime.”

The paper identified a change in block order on the chain, known as a “reorg,” as one of the things that may go wrong. If this occurs, “a huge set of transactions may be routed back to the mempool and become trapped,” the experts warn, causing “major disruptions in the network.”

Furthermore, users should be aware of the dangers associated with delays during the transition from the previous proof-of-work (PoW) chain to the new proof-of-stake (PoS) chain. According to analysts, this might lead to pricing disparities in DeFi protocols, decentralized exchanges (DEXes), and on-chain lending markets.

“While these may generate generous payouts in [Maximal Extractable Value – MEV], they could also negatively impact regular users,” the report pointed out, referring to the value validators can extract from users by reordering, inserting, or censoring transactions within blocks.”

In conclusion, Coin Metrics stated that, despite the dangers, the Merge represents a new chapter for Ethereum, possibly bringing “a slew of interesting new scaling options” to the most popular smart contract network.

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