Sizzling on the heels of an official announcement from USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle Pay, stablecoin big Tether has now additionally formally confirmed its help behind Ethereum’s upcoming Merge improve and swap to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism-based blockchain.

The announcement got here on the identical day as its stablecoin competitor, who pledged they may solely help Ethereum’s extremely anticipated improve.

In an Aug. 9 assertion, Tether labeled the Merge one of many “most vital moments in blockchain historical past” and outlined that it’ll work in accordance with Ethereum’s improve schedule, which is presently slated to undergo on Sept. 19.

“Tether believes that in an effort to keep away from any disruption to the neighborhood, particularly when utilizing our tokens in DeFi tasks and platforms, it’s essential that the transition to POS isn’t weaponized to trigger confusion and hurt inside the ecosystem.”

“Tether will intently comply with the progress and preparations for this occasion and can help POS Ethereum according to the official schedule. We consider {that a} easy transition is crucial for the long run well being of the DeFi ecosystem and its platforms, together with these utilizing our tokens,” Tether added.

Whereas the official assertion solely got here out as we speak, the stablecoin issuer’s chief expertise officer Paolo Ardoino had already beforehand indicated in July that they deliberate to help the post-Merge ETH2.

I meant that we plan to help ETH2.

— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) July 31, 2022

USDT is presently the most important stablecoin in crypto with a complete market cap of $66.6 billion, whereas USDC is comparatively shut behind at $54.1 billion in keeping with CoinGecko. Each stablecoins have a big quantity of their circulating provide on Ethereum’s present Proof-of-Work blockchain, with USDT at $32.3 billion and USDC taking the highest spot at $45.1 billion on the time of writing.

Given the scale of those stablecoins and their dominance over the stablecoin market, the present of this help on this occasion ought to end in a easy transition for the Ethereum, USDT and USDC ecosystems, in addition to the broader crypto market as a complete.

Establishments flocking to Ethereum for 7 straight weeks as Merge nears: Report

Nevertheless as Vitalik Buterin not too long ago warned, their energy may probably trigger points in future Ethereum arduous forks, as centralized entities equivalent to Tether and Circle may select to make the most of the forked chain of their very own desire, fairly than what the Ethereum neighborhood has proposed.

“I believe within the additional future, that undoubtedly turns into extra of a priority. Principally, the truth that USDC’s choice of which chain to contemplate as Ethereum may develop into a big decider in future contentious arduous forks,” he mentioned.

Stablecoin issuers (Circle/Tether) management fork alternative in Ethereum.

What occurs when the state pressures Circle to help a fork that goes in opposition to “eth neighborhood social contract?” https://t.co/dP7ZPFiJ0u

— Brandon Quittem (@Bquittem) August 6, 2022

This week Ethereum will bear its remaining Merge trial through the Goerli testnet, and if all goes to plan, there’s an expectation that the Sept.19 Merge date is unlikely to be delayed.