Ethereum remains troubled after the Merge. What is the way ahead?

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

The Merge, which was completed earlier this month on September 15, changed its mechanism to proof-of-stake (PoS), making it more energy efficient. It used the Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism earlier. Ethereum, which was expected to regain $2,000 levels post its software upgrades, was hovering around the $1,325 mark on Saturday. It recently tested $1,200 levels earlier this week. The total market capitalization of Ethereum has dwindled sharply, and is marginally more than $160 billion, with volumes being flat at around $17.5 billion in the last 24 hours, the coinmarketcap data suggested.

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Jobs in crypto, blockchain, and NFTs have grown by 804% in India between April 2020 and April 2022 according to a report by Indeed

What is hurting Ethereum? Market experts believe that Ethereum has fallen prey to 'buy on rumours and sell on news' theory over the Merge, coupled with monetary tightening by the central bank. The vulnerability is high in the decentralized applications, they said. Khaleelulla Baig — Founder — Koinbasket said Ethereum is losing steam as the US government's indication of treating it as a security instead of a commodity, thereby creating fear and uncertainty of tighter regulations and tax implications. Trials and experiments carried out by mainstream web2 institutional investors to test waters in the crypto market are also causing some negative pressure on the overall crypto market spilling over to Ethereum, Baig added. The platform has become less decentralized after the switch to the PoS mechanism, said Ashwani Kumar, Founder & CEO, HelperWorld. «The Ethereum merge or upgrade could make it easier for hackers to exploit bugs in the code.»The road aheadThe consensus of the market is