The Merge

From Figment (18-8-2022):

"The Ethereum network is undergoing a series of upgrades to help make it more scalable, secure and sustainable. These upgrades were previously referred to as Ethereum 2. A few of these upgrades, culminating in ‘The Merge’, represent Ethereum’s transition from a proof-of-work (POW) network to a proof-of-stake (POS) network.

Goerli, the last Ethereum testnet, successfully merged on August 11th. Currently, The Merge itself is expected to happen around September 15th. To view a time ticker on the Ethereum Merge Timeline we recommend the Wen Merge website.

The Merge drastically changes the economics of ETH reducing its issuance and - most likely - converting it into a deflationary asset. Currently about 15,000 ETH/day is issued to pay miners (~13,500 ETH/day) and validators (~1,500 ETH/day). On top of this, roughly 8,100 ETH is being burnt every day, implying that Ethereum could become “deflationary” post-merge. In other words, stakers will still receive an estimated 7–9% staking rewards in an asset with a potentially decreasing supply.

MEV is the maximum value that can be extracted from block production above the block reward and gas fees by including, excluding and reordering transactions. On the Ethereum network, searchers currently look for profitable opportunities and pay miners to execute them. With the change to a PoS network, the majority of these MEV rewards will go to stakers."