Ethereum Merge fails to meet expectations, price drops by 20%

The historic Merge update raised expectations for Ethereum’s (ETH) future prospects, including the potential for luring new users to the network.

The initial phases of the Merge, however, fell short of projections due to the current market crisis, with the asset registering capital outflow.

For example, as of October 3, Ethereum’s market value was $195.89 billion, down 19.22% from the $158.23 billion it had on September 15, when the Merge had been formally completed. According to CoinMarketCap, the asset has lost around $37.66 billion over the time period.

At the same time, Ethereum’s price, which has consistently fallen despite battling to stay over $1,300, reflects the capital outflows. The decentralized finance (DeFi) asset’s price at the time of publication was $1,290, down more than 23% from the $1,590 it was on September 15.

Following the official switchover of the network to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol, it was anticipated that The Merge would increase interest in Ethereum. The upgrade aims to deflationize Ethereum and maybe draw institutional investment.