Between a digital asset crash and increasing competition for a dwindling number of investors, it has been a tough year for trading platform Coinbase Global. An update to one of crypto’s key networks could be good news the stock dearly needs.

Anticipation is building for Ethereum’s “Merge”, a process that will fundamentally change the blockchain network that underpins ether, the second-largest crypto after bitcoin. Expected to start on 6 September and finish by 20 September, the Merge will change how Ethereum is secured and, in the process, slash the network’s intensive carbon footprint and reduce the supply of ether — both of which are expected to support prices.