Connect with us
  • tg

Cryptocurrency

Ethereum blockchain upgrade is only 55% complete. What happens after Merge

letizo News

Published

on

next Ethereum upgrade

Ethereum blockchain upgrade has happened. On September 15, the entire mainnet moved from the highly energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm as part of the long-awaited Merge upgrade. But the Ethereum price after the upgrade only went down.

Ethereum just got on the upgrade path

This upgrade was the most significant in Ethereum’s history – but by no means the last. After Merge, new updates with the consonant names Surge, Verge, Purge, and Splurge are on the way. Each of these is intended to add a new level of scalability and security to the Ethereum network.

The Merge phase helped the blockchain move to the more environmentally friendly PoS consensus mechanism. However, Ethereum’s transformation is now only 55% complete, according to project co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

Once all five phases are completed, Ethereum will be able to process 100,000 transactions per second; Buterin assured. Currently, the transaction processing speed on this blockchain is 15-20 transactions per second. This leads to network congestion and higher fees.

The next Ethereum upgrade – Shanghai – awaits us within the next six months. It will allow all validators – owners of ETHCoins who have blocked their coins to secure the network – to take back some of their money placed on stacking, and to be rewarded for their help.

“Surge”

Surge is dedicated to sharing. This horizontal partitioning of data solves the problem of scaling by greatly increasing network bandwidth and transaction speeds. This will reduce costs, simplify nodes, and make it cheaper to implement “rollup solutions” aimed at reducing the load on the network by grouping transactions and moving some transactions from the main blockchain to sidechains.

“Verge”

Verge’s next step will be to reduce Ethereum’s reliance on nodes as repositories for all transaction history and data. Verge will optimize data storage and reduce the size of nodes. It will also help increase the scalability of the Ethereum network.

“Purge”

The Purge update should tangibly reduce the amount of free hard drive space required to store ETH. In particular, irrelevant old data stored on the blockchain for a long time will be removed.

Earlier, we reported that Coinbase shares plummeted after trading ended amid a negative outlook from Wells Fargo.

Cryptocurrency

Why Is XRP Pumping? Whale Moves $90M as Ripple Price Nears $3

letizo News

Published

on

TL;DR

  • XRP jumps 80% from April lows as whales move over $200 million in large transactions.
  • ETF volume surges 5x above normal as traders await ProShares’ XRP futures fund launch.
  • XRP nears $3 as traders speculate on $4 breakout amid revived momentum and whale activity.

XRP Hits Five-Month High After 80% Climb

XRP has surged nearly 80% from its April lows and shot up to almost $3 for the first time in several months. The token has increased by 8% in the last 24 hours and 25% weekly, making it one of the strongest assets in the market this week.

Interestingly, the rally also marks a Bitcoin (BTC) breakout to a new record of $118,800, assisting in pushing up wider crypto prices. XRP has gained renewed momentum after months of muted movement, drawing fresh interest from both retail and institutional traders.

Whale Transfers Fuel Speculation

On-chain data shows several large XRP movements over the past 24 hours. Whale Alert flagged a 33 million XRP transfer (worth about $90 million) from Upbit to an unknown wallet. Another 40 million XRP, valued at over $100 million, moved between unidentified addresses, as CryptoPotato reported.

In a separate transfer, 25.49 million XRP were sent from a private wallet to Coinbase. The cause behind such transactions is not clear, but these movements are likely to precede or follow price action. The timing has added to ongoing market speculation around the asset’s next move.

XRP ETF Volume Spikes Ahead of Key Deadlines

Trading activity has also picked up in XRP-linked exchange-traded products. Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas noted a sharp increase in volume. 

“The XRP ETFs seeing surge in volume today, like 4-5x the norm,” he posted. 

The 2x leveraged XRP fund ($XXRP) rose 27% on the day and 55% this week, with volume hitting $120 million.

As reported, ProShares plans to launch three futures XRP ETFs on July 14. These include Ultra XRP, UltraShort XRP, and Short XRP funds. The launches depend on whether the SEC allows them to proceed without objection before deadlines later this month.

Traders continue to watch the charts closely. Edoardo Farina, a crypto educator, said,  

“It wouldn’t be surprising if market participants woke up to see XRP trading above $4.”

XRP has remained below its all-time high for over seven years, but current momentum has revived market expectations for a breakout.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Continue Reading

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin Price Analysis: Is a Correction Coming or Will BTC Break $120K Next?

letizo News

Published

on

Bitcoin has decisively broken above its previous all-time high of $111K, triggering a powerful bullish rally toward the key $120K psychological resistance.

However, as BTC approaches the $120K zone, profit-taking and distribution pressure may rise, increasing the likelihood of a short-term corrective pullback.

Technical Analysis

By ShayanMarkets

The Daily Chart

After a prolonged consolidation phase, Bitcoin has decisively broken above its previous all-time high of $111K. This breakout was backed by a notable surge in buying activity, triggering a short-squeeze that accelerated the bullish momentum. As a result, Bitcoin rapidly climbed toward the psychologically significant $120K resistance level.

While this move signals strong market confidence, the $120K region is a probable zone for profit-taking and distribution, which could temporarily slow down the rally. A short-term corrective phase is therefore expected, likely pulling the price back toward the $111K region to retest the breakout level. Based on the Fibonacci retracement tool, key resistance levels ahead are located at $120K and $131K.

The 4-Hour Chart

On the lower timeframe, Bitcoin printed a powerful bullish candle, decisively breaking above both the descending wedge pattern and the previous ATH at $111K. Following a minor pullback to retest the breakout zone, the price resumed its upward surge, reaching the $120K mark.

Such impulsive rallies are often followed by short-term corrections, as traders begin to realize profits. A healthy retracement would likely target the 0.5 ($113K) to 0.618 ($111K) Fibonacci levels, a key zone where the market may stabilize and build momentum for the next leg up.

On-chain Analysis

By ShayanMarkets

As Bitcoin trades at all-time highs near $120K, an intriguing insight emerges from the Short-Term Holder SOPR metric. This indicator, which measures realized profits from investors who’ve held BTC for less than 155 days, remains notably muted, especially when compared to November 2024, when Bitcoin first reached $111K.

Despite the recent surge, short-term holders aren’t cashing out aggressively, indicating that profit-taking is still relatively limited. Historically, the end of a bullish cycle is often accompanied by elevated SOPR values due to massive profit realization. But for now, the data suggests the market isn’t overheated, and the current rally could still have room to grow if new demand enters.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

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.

Continue Reading

Cryptocurrency

Binance Crushes Rivals: Grabs 37% of Global BTC Spot Volume in H1 2025

letizo News

Published

on

Binance led global BTC spot volume in the first half of 2025. CryptoQuant’s latest analysis revealed that the crypto exchange commanded more than 37% market share, which is equivalent to over $3.44 trillion in traded volume.

This significant lead evidenced Binance’s position as the primary hub for Bitcoin liquidity and major flow activity, as volume spikes and large trades often appear there first.

Competitors Lag Behind

Other prominent platforms such as Bybit, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and OKX collectively accounted for around 29% of total spot volume during the same period. Together, they formed the next tier of liquidity centers despite the wide gap with Binance.

Meanwhile, crypto exchanges such as Upbit, Bitget, and HuobiPro each hovered around the 5% mark. While they did maintain relevance in the global market, but had comparatively lower influence, as noted by CryptoQuant.

On the other hand, Kraken, KuCoin, and Gate.io, among other long-tail exchanges, each contributed less than 3% of total BTC spot volume and largely served niche or regional markets.

“Bottom line: If you’re looking for deep liquidity or want to track major BTC flow activity, Binance is still the primary exchange (by far).”

Beyond its spot volume share, Binance also dominates in whale activity.

Bitcoin Whales Won’t Leave Binance

In fact, CryptoQuant found that Binance has been leading in cumulative whale transaction flows across centralized exchanges. The exchange recorded a whopping 31.36 million BTC in whale inflows and 30.82 million BTC in outflows. This reflected not the total BTC supply but the sheer velocity and frequency of whale-sized movements (≥1000 BTC/day) over its operational lifespan.

Spread across 2,869 active days of whale inflows, Binance has facilitated over 53.2 million whale transactions. It has dwarfed competitors with 10 times Kraken’s activity and five times that of HTX. This massive two-way flow indicates Binance’s role not merely as a custody hub but as a trusted venue for large-scale, active trading, market-making, and arbitrage operations, confirming its depth and infrastructure as reliable for whales.

For context, HTX Global follows with 24.1 million BTC in inflows across 6.8 million whale transactions, while Kraken recorded 23.7 million BTC in inflows with 765,000 whale transactions. Other notable platforms include Bitstamp, Bitfinex, Gemini, OKX, and Poloniex, but none match Binance’s scale.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Continue Reading

Trending

©2021-2024 Letizo All Rights Reserved