Ethereum co-founder says the Merge isn’t priced in it yet, here’s where ETH is headed

• The Ethereum CEO believes the Merge can only have an actual price after it happens.
• Prices of staked Ethereum and Ethereum Classic rose in the last couple of days.

In a recent interview, Ethereum CEO Vitalik Buterin said that until the Merge happens, its price won’t be in. He explained that he was talking about the pricing in market terms and the psychological and narrative effects accompanying the Merge completion. September 19 is the current likely date for completing the hugely expected Merge.

However, Buterin noted that the proof-of-stake switch wouldn’t immediately involve the complete Merge of the beacon chain and Ethereum mainnet. In marketing terms, there isn’t likely to be a massive change in the asset’s price immediately after the Merge or even immediately before it.

The Merge isn’t priced in yet – Buterin

Investors should expect a minimum of six months before any considerable price action after the Merge. Even at that, there has to be the right set of conditions for that to happen. One such condition is the post-Merge clean-up fork. It usually runs for up to 8 months. Experts expect Ethereum to be a deflationary cryptocurrency following the Merge.

Research head at blockchain analytics firm, IntoTheBlock, Lucas Outumuro, said Ethereum supply would deflate over time after the Merge. The EIP-1559 proposes the burning of ETH rather than giving it to miners.

Buterin asserted that the Merge isn’t priced in yet during a recent appearance at the podcast interview show with the Bankless on Thursday. He also said that the Splurge, Surge, Purge and Verge phases are all essential parts of the Merge. Buterin explained during the interview that Ethereum’s price could rise before the Merge, dump on it and rise again after it.

Staked Ethereum and Ethereum classic prices rise

Over the past 24 hours, the prices of Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), and lido staked Ethereum (stETH) have all surged. ETH rose by 12 percent, while ETC and stETH soared by 11 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Analysts believe the speculation regarding the Merge is one of the causes for the spike in the prices of these digital assets.

It is also likely that there would be a lock on staked ETH till the completion of the post-Merge clean-up upgrade. Nevertheless, Coinbase, Kraken, and a few other exchanges claim that they won’t disallow trading on staked ETH during the clean-up fork period.

With news that miners can switch to Ethereum Classic after Ethereum switches to a pos network, ETC’s price has been rising. Also, the leading crypto mining platform, Antpool, has pledged support for the Ethereum Classic blockchain.

ETH miners will no longer have reason to be on the Ethereum network once the Merge is complete. On Thursday, IntoTheBlock data revealed a 48 percent rise in the number of daily active addresses on the Ethereum network. The 1.06 million daily active addresses are a new record for the network.