Merge in the Ethereum Blockchain

Abstract

The food industry has been at the forefront of rapid implementation for several technological innovations. One of the main reasons for this is that food security has been of paramount importance in supplying a growing population, taking into account both quantitative and qualitative requirements. And the necessary development could only be ensured by incorporating the latest developments. Blockchain technology is also a tool to consider in terms of how it can help track food chains. Its widespread application is only a decade old, but in some areas, for example, the operation of cryptocurrencies has already accumulated enough experience to see if it really lives up to the hopes attached to it, and what problems still stand in the way of further spread. With this material, our primary goal is to present a significant technological change that aims to solve one of the main problems of blockchain-based data management. It will be presented how the technology works (with a specific focus on the proof of work mechanism) and the transition to a truly significant platform, the proof of stake mechanism at Ethereum. This gives us an idea of how much a relatively new technology can undergo changes, and at what rate a seemingly significant problem (in this case, e.g. environmental impact) can decrease. This potential for development provides the basis for counting blockchains as a technology that can be applied in other areas, such as the food industry. In addition to scientific treatises, we often rely on Internet sources in the material, since the change occurred so quickly that publications in scientific journals could not yet track it or only in a narrower circle.