Price

Following the Merge, ETH's price fell. However, by comparing the price correlation between BTC and ETH, we can see that after the Merge, all markets declined, and there was a bear market, proving that the Merge was not to blame for the decline in ETH prices.

ETH swap amount on DEXes

Swaps from ETH to other assets are far more significant than those from other assets to ETH in terms of volume. There was a sudden increase in the volume of swaps from ETH on September 16, one day after Merge. However, after that, the volume of swaps is unchanged after the Merge and is the same before and after.

Also, we can see a decrease in the volume of swaps from ETH transactions after the Merge, so the difference between swap to and from ETH volume is smaller for the after Merge period.

Comparison between total swap volume to and from ETH before and after the Merge

As mentioned before, there is no noticeable change in the volume of swaps to and from ETH after the Merge, so from the pie charts, we can see that the total volume after and before the Merge is almost equal for both to and from ETH swaps.

Comparison of the ETH transfer of Miners and Others

It is evident that miners have a small proportion of all ETH transfers compared to other users; hence they cannot significantly affect the price of ETH and are not held responsible for the decline.

ETH Trasfers from Miners’ wallets

We can see that ETH transfers from miners’ wallets had a peak during the Merge, but after that, the amounts of ETH transfer decreased significantly, so it is negligible compared to before the Merge period.

Miners swap from ETH effect on ETH price

The price of ETH and the amount that miners swap from ETH have a weak  association; as the quantity of swaps from miners increased, the price of ETH declined.

Miners ETH transfer effect on ETH price

There is no relationship between miners' ETH transfers and the price of ETH, therefore we can say that their influence on the price of ETH was negligible.

ETH swap transactions on DEXes

Using these charts, we can find the user behavior on DEXes over September as of the merge event’s month.

Both swaps to and from ETH transactions have increase since the Merge, but count of swap transactions to sell the ETH on DEXes after the Merge has risen more than ETH buy transactions.

Miners Effect

Comparison of the ETH swaps of Miners and Others

Just like the ETH transfer chart, we can easily notice that the miners have a small proportion of all ETH swaps compared to other users; hence they cannot significantly affect the price of ETH and are not held responsible for the decline.

When we compare Miners and Other users using the total chart of swaps from/to ETH across all DEXes, we see that the other users are almost responsible for 100% of swaps during September.

Conclusion

It is obvious that the price of ETH fell following the Merge. However, this was not caused by miners.

Miners' ETH transfers surged during the Merge, but there was a sharp decline afterward.

All markets were in decline during the Merge, and there was no discernible connection between the merge event and Ethereum users' and specially miners’ selling behavior.

What was The Merge?

The Merge was the joining of the original execution layer of Ethereum (the Mainnet that has existed since Genesis) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain. It eliminated the need for energy-intensive mining and enabled the network to be secured using staked ETH. It was an inspiring step in realizing the Ethereum vision—more scalability, security, and sustainability.

Initially, the Beacon Chain shipped separately from Mainnet. Ethereum Mainnet - with all its accounts, balances, smart contracts, and blockchain state - continued to be secured by proof-of-work, even while the Beacon Chain ran in parallel using proof-of-stake. The Merge was when these two systems finally came together, and proof-of-work was permanently replaced by proof-of-stake.

Imagine Ethereum is a spaceship that launched before it was ready for an interstellar voyage. The community built a new engine and a hardened hull with the Beacon Chain. After significant testing, it became time to hot-swap the new engine for the old one mid-flight. This merged the new, more efficient engine into the existing ship, enabling it to put in some severe lightyears and take on the universe.

Methodology

We will try to analyze the following metrics to find the reason for the decrease in the ETH price after the Merge and find out if miners were the source of sell pressure or not.

• ETH pricing before and following a merging
• ETH vs. BTC price
• Swap volume from/to ETH
• Total ETH swapped volume before and after the Merge
• ETH transfers of miners' wallets before and after the Merge
• Miners' and other users' ETH swap transactions and volume.
• Share of Miners in the daily ETH transfers and swaps
• ETH transfer amounts of miners vs other users
• The ETH price correlation with miners' ETH swaps and transfers

Introduction

Charts and Comments

Conclusion