https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/09/ethereum-completes-the-merge-which-ends-mining-and-cuts-energy-use-by-99-95/

Ethereum developers today executed the "Merge," an upgrade that eliminates mining and dramatically reduces the energy consumption of the world's second-biggest cryptocurrency. Today's action "completed Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake consensus, officially deprecating proof-of-work and reducing energy consumption by ~99.95 percent," the Ethereum.org Merge page said.

The Ethereum blockchain has existed since July 2015, and planning for today's change has been in the works for several years. Because a botched transition could have caused chaos, Ethereum developers over the past year have "repeatedly pushed back the date of 'the Merge' to give themselves more time to prepare," as Ars writer Timothy B. Lee previously wrote in a detailed feature on the transition. The Merge will "put the world's Ethereum miners out of work," as the new system doesn't require the powerful graphics cards previously needed to maintain the blockchain and create new ether, Lee wrote.