Ethereum is up nearly 50% in the past month, outperforming Bitcoin, up 15%. Investors are looking past the bankruptcies and instead focusing on the upcoming Merge…
What’s the big deal? We have a final timeline for the Merge — the highly anticipated upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain network.
- In July, Ethereum’s foundation member Tim Beiko suggested the week of September 19 as the Merge date — but has repeatedly noted that the date could change.
- Ethereum developers completed a test merge earlier this month — with one final test expected on August 11.
Whales have accumulated more Ethereum ahead of the Merge — bringing their balance to all-time highs. Here’s what Signum Managing Partner John Ng Pangilinan thinks (CoinDesk):
- Inflation and bankruptcies are priced in, and markets are focusing on the positives.
- He expects regulations to come for the industry — but doesn’t see it “dampening the markets.”
Mood killer: The stock market is still plagued by the interest rate and inflation story — seen as a barrier to a bigger rebound. The same issues are impacting the crypto market — except speculators are looking to the Merge to bring crypto prices out of their slump.
What happened in the last Ethereum upgrade?
- jumped 60% in the three weeks leading up to the more minor London hard fork upgrade last August.
- Prices dipped post-upgrade but continued making new highs before peaking in November.
Inflation’s direction will likely impact prices in the coming months — but positive news in the market (i.e., inflation falling) could help send crypto prices higher.
