Coinbase which is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States will reportedly temporarily suspend Ethereum deposits and withdrawals during the 'merger' that will take place in September.
Based on Coinbase's announcement, the suspension will affect all ETH and ERC-20 token movements in the chain but it needs to be implemented to ensure the improvements are properly implemented in Coinbase's internal systems. Trading of assets that are already on the exchange is not expected to be affected.
Coinbase said, "we see this event as a big step towards increasing the use of the crypto economy and will support it in various ways that are in line with our mission to increase economic freedom in the world."
The merger or "The Merge" which is the improvement of Ethereum is highly anticipated which is currently in the development process. It will change the protocol's consensus mechanism from proof-of-work (POW) to proof-of-stake (POS), reducing its energy consumption by a projected 99.95%.
The transition also enables developments in Ethereum's scaling roadmap, which will help it address issues related to high transaction costs. The merger is finally scheduled to take place on September 15.
Ahead of the event, Coinbase advised users to be wary of merger-related scams, which may ask users' funds to "upgrade to ETH2," even though no token is associated with the upgrade. Your assets will be safe and secure during this period and no action is required to upgrade on your part,” the exchange said.
Coinbase said that any "ETH2" deposits currently staked with the platform will be listed under users' "ETH" balances after the merger. However, the balance will be listed separately as “staked ETH” and is not expected to be available for withdrawal until early 2023.
