Cryptocurrency
Ethereum and the Merge. Moving to PoS. Everything we know about The Merge by this hour
The network of the second most capitalized cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH) has migrated from the extremely energy-consuming Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm to the more environmentally friendly Proof-of-Stake (PoS). Community members could watch the migration of ETH with the project’s development team during the online broadcast.
Ethereum, the Merge release date is September 15, 2022. Today, the Ethereum network moved to PoS. The event took place on block 15537394, amid a rise in the network’s terminal complexity to 587500000000000000000000000, as part of The Merge update. The migration to a different algorithm was the most significant event in Ethereum’s history.
Project co-founder Vitalik Buterin congratulated community members on the successful migration of ETH to PoS.
The reward for the first block mined in the PoS network, according to developers, was 45 ETH. Ethereum responded to the migration with a slight increase.
Ethereum and the Merge: How migration to PoS will change Ethereum
Classic PoW mining will replace another way of mining coins – stacking. The Ethereum core network will now be protected by validators. The update will also reduce the power consumption of the network, which will have a positive impact on the environment.
“The Merge will reduce global electricity consumption by 0.2%,” Ethereum researcher Justin Drake believes.
Also, the move to the new algorithm should help the ETH ecosystem cope with the scalability problems that the network has faced amid the growth of the DeFi and NFT markets. This will have a positive impact on Ethereum Merge and price.
A couple of words about Ethereum’s PoW fork
The migration of ETH to the new algorithm has not made everyone happy. Miners of the traditional version of Ethereum faced the prospect of losing income. This prompted them to create a fork to stay on the old Proof-of-Work mechanism.
Ethereum’s PoW fork token, ETHPoW (ETHW), was unveiled in August 2022. On the morning of September 15, information appeared on the network that the coin’s mining decided to support the teams of several large pools at once.
Amid the launch of the PoW fork, Ethereum holders will be able to get new tokens in the proportion of 1:1 to their ETH balance. The initiative has been supported by several crypto platforms, including the Binance exchange.
The launch of the main ETHW network should take place soon. Experts doubt the viability of the fork, as almost all leading decentralized ETH applications (dApps) are migrating to PoS.
ETHW won’t be the only PoW-Ethereum. After the migration of ETH to PoS, the first version of the cryptocurrency, Ethereum Classic (ETC), will remain on the market. The project’s network has been running on PoW since its early days.
Ethereum prediction after the Merge: what next?
Next year the developers planned another update – Shanghai. It will allow you to start withdrawing ETH for everyone who previously placed their coins in stacking.
Earlier, we reported that Huobi excluded Dash, Monero, and zcash from the listing.
Cryptocurrency
Important for Dogecoin: This Metric Jumps by Almost 100% Amid DOGE Price Rally
TL;DR
- Dogecoin’s price surged past $0.20, with market cap nearing $30 billion, driven by increased trading volume and active addresses.
- The rally coincides with speculative whale movements and endorsements from public figures like Elon Musk.
Dogecoin (DOGE) – often cited as the first meme coin – currently stands out as one of the market’s best performers.
Its price has spiked by over 30% on a weekly scale, surpassing the $0.20 mark for the first time since December 2021. DOGE’s market capitalization inches toward the $30 billion level, making it the ninth biggest cryptocurrency.
Key indicators related to the asset’s ecosystem have taken off, too. According to IntoTheBlock, aggregated daily volume (where each transaction is larger than $100K) has jumped by nearly 100%. Daily active addresses are also on the rise, registering a 13% increase.
DOGE trading volume for the past 24 hours has been impressive. CoinGecko’s data shows that the figure has climbed to $5.5 billion, thus surpassing Solana’s SOL ($4.1 billion) and Ripple’s XRP ($1.9 billion).
Dogecoin’s latest rally coincides with a slight resurgence of the cryptocurrency market and increased activity from whales. As CryptoPotato reported, a mysterious person (or entity) recently transferred more than 1 billion DOGE (worth over $200 million at current rates) to an unknown wallet.
The move triggered speculation within the crypto community, with many members trying to guess who this whale might be. Some suggestions even pointed out to Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, an outspoken proponent of the memecoin and a HODLer.
Not long ago, the world’s richest man said the EV giant may accept DOGE as a payment method “at some point.” Musk also promised to continue supporting the token, adding “Dogecoin to the moon.”
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Cryptocurrency
Dogecoin (DOGE) Explodes 10% Daily, Bitcoin (BTC) Reclaims $70K (Market Watch)
Bitcoin slumped hard yesterday and dropped below $69,000, but the bulls have taken charge since then, and the asset now stands well above $70,000.
While most alternative coins are slightly in the green, DOGE and BCH have gone on a tear with double-digit price gains overnight.
BTC Goes Above $70K
Last week was quite negative for the largest cryptocurrency, in which it fell to under $61,000 at one point and was down to $62,500 on Friday. The weekend finally saw a recovery attempt but BTC was stopped at $66,000.
It wasn’t until Monday that the asset started actually charting meaningful increases and soared to $70,000. More gains came on Tuesday and Wednesday that culminated in jumping to almost $72,000 yesterday.
However, the cryptocurrency failed to overcome that level, and the subsequent rejection pushed it south by over three grand to $68,500. The landscape now is quite different, and Bitcoin has returned to over $70,500 as the community’s anticipation for a $100,000 price tag grows stronger.
Its market capitalization has increased overnight but still stands below $1.4 trillion. Its dominance over the alts remains stagnant at just under 50% on CG.
DOGE, BCH Go Up
Most altcoins were in a retrace mode yesterday but have managed to erase a large portion of the losses today. Binance Coin, Ripple, Toncoin, and Chainlink have increased by somewhere between 1% and 3%. Ethereum, SOL, ADA, and DOT are also in the green but in a more modest fashion.
Shiba Inu has gained over 4% overnight, but its increase is trumped by its older and larger brother – Dogecoin. DOGE has jumped by over 10% in a day and sits above $0.2.
Bitcoin Cash is the other notable gainer from the larger-cap alts. Just days ahead of its next halving, BCH has soared by 13% to over $550.
The cumulative market cap of all crypto assets has increased by about $50 billion overnight but still stands below $2.8 trillion.
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.
Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
Cryptocurrency
BlackRock CEO Remains Confident on Ethereum ETFs, Says IBIT Is The Fastest-Growing ETF
In a recent interview on FOX Business, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink shared his insights on the potential for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) amidst regulatory scrutiny.
Despite concerns over a possible designation of Ethereum as a security by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Fink expressed confidence in the feasibility of launching such an ETF.
SEC’s Stance on Ethereum Raises Doubts
BlackRock and several other ETF providers have submitted applications for a spot Ethereum ETF to the SEC. However, there are doubts regarding the agency’s approval of these ETFs as the May deadline approaches.
When asked about the SEC’s stance on ETH possibly being classified as a security, Fink refrained from providing detailed commentary but remained optimistic. “But I don’t think that designation is going to be too deleterious,” Fink stated, suggesting that such a designation wouldn’t necessarily hinder the creation of spot Ethereum ETFs.
It was recently disclosed that the SEC is exploring the classification of Ethereum as a security and has issued subpoenas to three companies for details regarding the Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit important to the growth and advancement of the blockchain. This development has raised concerns about the possibility of launching an Ethereum ETF in the United States.
On the other hand, analysts in the field are sharing differing opinions. Bloomberg’s ETF experts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have voiced doubts, pointing to the SEC’s minimal interaction with filings as worrisome. However, Craig Salm has countered this argument, suggesting that the SEC’s lack of engagement shouldn’t necessarily signal the approval outcome.
Fink Bullish on Bitcoin
Despite these challenges, Fink remains optimistic about Ethereum’s and Bitcoin’s long-term prospects. BlackRock is not only pursuing an Ethereum ETF but also operates one of the most successful spot Bitcoin funds, the iShares Bitcoin Fund (IBIT), which has amassed over $17 billion in assets under management since its approval in January.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says the $IBIT Spot #Bitcoin #ETF is the fastest growing ETF in history
pic.twitter.com/NOsDlFgROi— Simon Dixon (@SimonDixonTwitt) March 27, 2024
IBIT is the “fastest-growing ETF in the history of ETFs,” Fink stated on Fox Business. He also said he is “very bullish on the long-term viability of Bitcoin. We’re creating now a market that has more liquidity, more transparency, and I’m pleasantly surprised and would have never predicted it before we filed it that we were going to see this type of retail demand,” he added.
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