According to the announcement from the Ethereum Foundation, The Merge will happen in two steps. The first step, the upgrade of the consensus layer Bellatrix, is scheduled for epoch 144,896 on the Beacon Chain at 11:34 on September 6, 2022 (UTC). The second is the upgrade of the execution layer Paris, which will be triggered when the PoW chain hits the terminal total difficulty (TTD) of 58750000000000000000000, expected on September 15, 2022 (UTC). New fork tokens may be created during The Merge. As the world's first exchange to support the potential Ethereum fork, Poloniex has listed ETHS (ETH2, Ethereum PoS), ETHW (ETH1, Ethereum PoW) and their markets. For more details, please refer to Poloniex Supports Potential Forking of ETH and Lists Forked Futures.
To ensure asset security and reduce market risks during and after the upgrade, Poloniex has made the following arrangements regarding the swap, deposits and withdrawals, trading, and snapshots of ETH fork tokens.
1. Swap
On September 14, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. (UTC), Poloniex will suspend the swap between ETH and its potential fork tokens ETHS and ETHW. The swap page will be retired sometime after The Merge.
2. Deposits & Withdrawals
On September 14, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. (UTC), Poloniex will pause the deposits and withdrawals of ETHS and ETHW. We will closely monitor the situations that may result from The Merge.
- If new fork tokens are created:
- Poloniex will delist ETHS and airdrop upgraded ETH to ETHS holders' spot accounts at an amount equivalent to their ETHS balances;
- Poloniex will assess the validity of ETH fork assets and support their distribution, deposits, and withdrawals right away. Technically the PoW chain with the most computing power, strongest community consensus, and steady growth in blocks will serve as the main chain for the original ETHW tokens, and ETHW will be renamed based on the community's opinions;
- Should there be more than one valid fork chain that stably generates new blocks, ETHW holders will obtain corresponding fork tokens at a ratio of 1:1 with their ETHW balances recorded by the snapshot;
- In the meantime, all ETH holders on Poloniex will obtain all valid fork assets at a ratio of 1:1(details will be stated in further announcements);
- If no fork tokens are created:
- Poloniex will delist ETHW and ETHS and airdrop upgraded ETH to ETHS holders' spot accounts at an amount equivalent to their ETHS balances.
3. Trading
At 10:00 a.m., September 14, 2022 (UTC),Poloniex will cancel orders of all ETHW trading pairs and suspend these markets; their API endpoints for order placement will also be disabled. Besides, Poloniex will cancel all orders of ETHS trading pairs (USDT/USDD/ETH) and delist them;
- If new fork tokens are created:
- Poloniex will re-list all ETHW markets. Technically the PoW chain with the most computing power, strongest community consensus, and steady growth in blocks will serve as the main chain for the original ETHW tokens, and ETHW will be renamed based on the community's opinions;
- Poloniex may also support other valid fork tokens and enable trading of these tokens;
- If no fork tokens are created, Poloniex will delist all ETHW markets.
4. Snapshot
Poloniex will take a snapshot of all ETHS and ETHW balances on September 14, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. (UTC).
- Note: Please deposit the withdrawn ETHS and ETHW tokens back to Poloniex before September 14, 2022 at 09:00 a.m. (UTC). Otherwise, you may suffer an asset loss that cannot be recovered.
For more information, please see:
Note: Poloniex does its best to keep the market stable. We reserve the right to make reasonable modifications and adjustments to the above arrangements according to the market trends. Please check out our latest announcements for more information. The potential new chains arising from the uncertain Ethereum fork may terminate service due to insufficient computing power or a possible lack of support from developers or community members. This may cause either of the fork tokens to lose value or be delisted from Poloniex. Poloniex does not guarantee the value of any fork tokens. Please be prudent before making any decisions.
Poloniex Team
September 6, 2022