Key Takeaways
- OpenSea says it is working on the OpenSea product to ensure a smooth transition.
- Ethereum’s transition from PoW to PoS is scheduled for September 15.
The world’s largest NFT marketplace OpenSea announced that it would solely support NFTs only on the upgraded Ethereum PoS (Proof of Stake) chain.
“We are committed to solely supporting NFTs on the upgraded Ethereum PoS chain. While we won’t speculate on potential forks–to the extent forked NFTs on ETHPoW exist–they won’t be supported or reflected on OpenSea”, OpenSea’s announcement reads.
Ethereum’s transition from Proof of Work Mechanism to Proof of Stake is scheduled for September 15. While announcing its decision to support the PoS chain, OpenSea further added that it is also working on the OpenSea product to ensure a smooth transition.
Since the developments around the Merge upgrade have moved smoothly as per the plan, OpenSea also doesn’t expect any major issues. However, it added that OpenSea is committed to monitoring, managing, and communicating throughout.
Recently, OpenSea also announced the integration of the layer two scaling solution Polygon into its Seaport protocol implementation. This switch is to avoid high Ethereum gas fees, make signature confirmation actions easier to read, and remove the need for new users to pay an account initialization or setup fee.
Apart from OpenSea, several big names in the crypto industry have also put their weight behind the PoS chain. Leading crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance, Uniswap, and Crypto.com, have demonstrated their support for the much-anticipated Merge. However, these organizations have also announced certain measures to ensure a smooth transition.
In August, Coinbase announced that ETH and ERC-20 token deposits and withdrawals would be paused to ensure a seamless transition.
The world’s leading exchange Binance had also announced that ETH and ERC-20 token deposits and withdrawals would be suspended on 15 September. Binance had added that in the event of a fork, the ETH ticker would be reserved for Ethereum PoS. It also added that “withdrawals for the forked token will be supported.”
USDT stablecoin issuer Tether has also announced that it is in support of the pending Ethereum Merge upgrade. Circle Pay, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, also expressed their support for Ethereum PoS, adding that “USDC as an Ethereum asset can only exist as a single valid ‘version”.
