A little earlier this month Ethereum released major news surrounding its merger to ETH2.0 for more efficient blockchain processing. The Ethereum Foundation revealed September 19 as the tentative date on which the long-awaited blockchain merger from PoW to PoS would begin. Price increases seen even earlier in July, prior to the announcement, increased thereafter. The news came on July 15 from a well-known Ethereum Foundation member and core ETH developer, Tim Beiko.
The news led to apparent accumulation for many investors and traders active in the ETH digital asset community, and an increase in spot and future options was seen ecosystem-wide. Fast forward to this Friday, July 29 and it has become evident that the good news for Ethereum had a dramatic effect on trading. According to on-chain information, over $1.26 Billion in Ethereum options expired this morning, and the price of ETH soared beyond a 6% growth in less than 24 hours.
Hope Building Around The Change In Consensus Model
While news of the merger came a couple weeks back, more recent merger news revealed in tweets on the 28th of July revealed that the merger for the Goerli testnet launch was scheduled for August 6th-12th. This is said to be the last step prior to the full merger being made certain. The efficiency of the Ethereum blockchain network is believed by many experts to be in for a significant boost with the transition from the current PoW consensus model to the much more energy-efficient PoS blockchain network design. The issuance of ETH Tokens will be considerably lowered by the transition, as the rate is expected to decrease from around 13,000 coins to around 1,600 ETH issued daily for chain operations to proceed. The move is expected to help Ethereum get closer to obtaining recognition as a viable Ultrasound money.
The change in consensus models will not only decrease the Ethereum energy and carbon footprint, as well as enhance the Ethereum monetary policy and standing, but also bring lower costs and much faster transaction times to the network as well. All of these factors suggest Ethereum’s potential to become an even more sound globally integratable digital currency alternative.
What Is Anticipated For The Rest Of The Crypto And Altcoin Market?
As Ethereum experiences such positive ecosystem adjustments as those mentioned above, the ETH holder community continues to demonstrate clear confidence, as the cryptocurrency value has risen beyond 60% in July alone. The entire cryptocurrency market has experienced an increase, crossing back over into the $1 trillion dollar mark in total value, after being down for most of 2022. The value of ETH was just below $1,040 at the beginning of July, and even reached as low as $1,027 as recently as July 13, just before news of the merger date was announced. At the current time of writing ETH sits just below its most recent high of $1,730, reached just earlier today.
A similar, yet not as monumental change was seen in the price of BTC, and throughout the Bitcoin community. This certainly served as a great sign for Bitcoin and all of crypto, as SEC chair Gary Gensler made it a point to reiterate his opinion that Bitcoin is most likely a commodity in the still newly developing and highly speculative digital asset class. The altcoin market capitalization has also seen elevations throughout July, making it a positive month overall for the entire digital assets market.
