Crypto analytics firm Chainalysis has suggested that the price of Ether (ETH) could decouple from other crypto assets post-Merge, with staking yields potentially driving strong institutional adoption. In a Sept. 7 report, Chainalysis explained that the upcoming Ethereum upgrade would introduce institutional investors to staking yields similar to certain instruments such as bonds and commodities, while also becoming much more eco-friendly. The report said ETH staking is expected to offer a 10-15% yield annually for stakers, therefore making ETH an “enticing bond alternative for institutional investors” considering that treasury bonds yields offer much less in comparison. “Ether’s price could decouple …

After trading near the $20,000 level for several days, Bitcoin (BTC) turned down sharply and dropped below $19,000 on Sept. 6. The fall was not limited to the cryptocurrency markets as the United States equities markets also closed lower on Sept. 6. Risky assets have been facing selling pressure in the past few days as investors are worried that the Federal Reserve could continue with its aggressive tightening policy. The CME FedWatch Tool shows that the probability for a 75 basis point rate hike in the September meeting has risen to 80% from 69% a week back. This extended the …

On Wednesday, the U.S. subsidiary of cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it would introduce an Ethereum (ETH) staking program with annual percentage yields of up to 6.0%. Unlike direct staking on the Ethereum network, which would require 32 ETH, only 0.001 ETH would be required under the new service introduced by Binance US. Regarding the development, Brian Shroder, CEO of Binance US, said: "ETH plays a critical role in the broader Web3 ecosystem. As the Ethereum network continues to transition towards The Merge, we are thrilled to offer ETH staking with some of the highest APY rewards in the industry." …

High transaction fees have been a long recurring issue for users on popular blockchain networks like Ethereum and Bitcoin during periods of increased demand. However, there are protocols, platforms and methods that help users to reduce costs. What are transaction fees? Transaction fees are fees that users pay to send a transaction or interact with a smart contract on a blockchain network. While gas fees can refer to transaction fees on any blockchain, the term is mainly used to describe the Ethereum network transaction fees. Transaction fees are paid in small fractions of the network’s native cryptocurrency. For example, with …

Digital asset-backed securities provider ETC Group will continue to rely on Ethereum’s original proof-of-work (PoW) consensus for its current Ethereum exchange-traded product (ETP). ETC Group officially announced on Wednesday the launch of a new Ethereum ETP in response to the upcoming Ethereum Merge. Scheduled to occur in mid-September, the Ethereum Merge is a long-awaited consensus upgrade that is set to move the Ethereum blockchain from mining-based PoW to mining-free proof-of-stake (PoS). ETC Group’s new Ethereum ETP will rely on a forked PoW Ethereum chain, representing a group of miners opposing Ethereum’s switch to PoS. The PoW chain will have a …

As the Ethereum network moves from proof-of-work (PoW) consensus to proof-of-stake (PoS), a digital asset platform initiated a service for institutions to dive into Ether (ETH) staking. In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Swiss digital asset banking platform SEBA Bank said that it has launched an Ethereum staking service for institutions that want to earn yields from staking on the Ethereum network. According to the firm, the move is a response to the growing institutional demand for decentralized finance (DeFi) services. According to Mathias Schütz, an executive at SEBA Bank, the firm believes that institutions can also play a role …

Samson Mow, a well-known Bitcoin proponent, recently took to social media to talk about the centralization aspects of the upcoming Merge, which he claimed isn’t widely known. Ethereum is in the countdown mode after the completion of the Bellatrix upgrade on Sept. 6 and is all set for the official transition between Sept.13-15, depending on the hashrate (computer power) input on the network. The Merge is slated to be triggered by a difficulty threshold called the Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) at a value of 58750000000000000000000. Mow claimed that while everyone thinks that the Merge will be triggered by pre-set threshold …

The growing number of speculators taking out Ether (ETH) loans to maximize their potential to earn forked Ether Proof-of-Work tokens (ETHPoW) has been causing headaches for decentralized finance protocols. The issue has been gaining traction over the past month or so, given that a significant number of Ether miners are expected to continue working on a forked PoW chain, or possibly even multiple chains post the long awaited Merge. In the event of a fork, on-chain ETH hodlers such as those using non-custodial wallets or those holding on exchanges that are supporting ETHPoW will be airdropped the equivalent amounts of …

The Bellatrix upgrade preparing Ethereum for the Merge was successfully completed on Sept. 6 - however concerns were raised over an almost one in ten missed block rate across the last 600 slots. The Bellatrix upgrade updated Ethereum consensus layer clients at epoch 144896 on the Beacon Chain prior to the upcoming Merge scheduled for sometime next week . However, 5% of the validators dropped offline during the hard fork, which contributed to the 9% missed block rate, according to Gnosis co-founder Martin Köppelmann. This led some observers to question the network’s readiness for the big switch to proof of …

Mainstream outlets are starting to pick up on the significance of next week’s Ethereum Merge, describing it as a “major overhaul” that could either accelerate crypto adoption or send disastrous shockwaves across the market should it fail. The Merge has been in the making since the original Ethereum white paper and involves moving from an electricity-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to an efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) without any significant disruptions to the blockchain. American business publication Forbes called the no-downtime upgrade akin to “[changing] the engine of a spaceship mid-flight,” and Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten made a similar comment to …

An $860 surprise price correction on Sept. 6 took Bitcoin (BTC) from $19,820 to $18,960 in less than two hours. The movement caused $74 million in Bitcoin futures liquidations at derivatives exchanges, the largest in almost three weeks. The current $18,733 level is the lowest since July 13 and it marks a 24% correction from the rally to $25,000 on Aug. 15. It is worth highlighting that a 2% pump toward $20,200 happened in the early hours of Sept. 6, but the move was quickly subdued and Bitcoin resumed trading near $19,800 within the hour. Ether’s (ETH) price action was …

Cryptocurrency miner Hive Blockchain has been working to replace the mining of Ether (ETH) with other coins in the event of Ethereum’s upcoming transition to Proof of Stake, or PoS. The Canadian crypto mining firm has been analyzing options for mining with its GPU stash ahead of the Ethereum Merge, Hive said in its latest production update on Tuesday. According to the update, Hive started implementing beta-testing of various GPU-mineable coins this week as the Ethereum Merge PoS is expected to occur in mid-September. Hive’s technical division is specifically implementing a strategy to optimize its Ethereum mining capacity, which amounts …