Coinbase will 'briefly pause' ETH and ERC-20 token deposits and withdrawals during Ethereum merge

The crypto exchange also warned users against scammers offering ETH2 tokens, saying users did not need to take additional action to receive staked ETH prior to the Merge.

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has announced it will be temporarily suspending certain token deposits and withdrawals when Ethereum’s core developers transition the blockchain to proof-of-stake, or PoS.

In a Tuesday blog post, Coinbase product manager Armin Rezaiean-Asel said during the Merge event, the crypto exchange will “briefly pause” deposits and withdrawals of Ether (ETH) and ERC-20 tokens “as a precautionary measure” to handle the migration. The exchange also warned users against scammers offering ETH2 tokens, saying crypto users did not need to take additional action to receive staked ETH prior to the Merge.

“Although the Merge is expected to be seamless from a user perspective, this downtime allows us to ensure that the transition has been successfully reflected by our systems,” said Rezaiean-Asel. “We do not expect any other networks or currencies to be impacted and expect no impact to trading for ETH and ERC-20 tokens across our centralized trading products.”

EthereumProof-of-Stake

It’s finally happening! Here’s how we’re getting ready for The Mergehttps://t.co/AIIUqWcDxm

— Coinbase (@coinbase) August 16, 2022

The crypto exchange will likely not be the only one to announce precautions or changes in trading activity as the date for the Ethereum Merge approaches. Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 12 that though there could be “unforeseen circumstances,” core developers anticipated a tentative Merge date on Sept. 15.

After the Ethereum network transitions from proof-of-work to PoS, many expect its energy consumption will drop precipitously, scalability will improve, and it will be less vulnerable to attacks. Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 13, however, that ETH gas fees may not necessarily go down and transactions on the network will likely not be noticeably faster than before.