Ethereum’s Transition to Proof-of-Stake Yields Deflationary Results

February 20, 2023 Bitcoin.com

‘Ultra Sound’ Money — Simulation Shows Ethereum’s Inflation Rate Is Significantly Lower Using Proof-of-Stake

December 29, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Ascending channel pattern sets Polygon (MATIC) up for a potential 30% rally

January 13, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

A bullish technical analysis pattern and the potential approval of the EIP-1559 proposal could back MATIC’s attempt to rally to a new all-time high.

Polygon prices look poised to rise by at least 30% in the wake of a key Jan. 18 upgrade that would push a considerable portion of its native MATIC token out of circulation.

Dubbed EIP-1559, the improvement proposal originally came to light as part of Ethereum's so-called London Hard Fork upgrade on Aug. 5. The proposal effectively started destroying, or "burning," a part of the fees paid to miners via Ether (ETH).

Traders and investors raised their bids for Ether before and after the EIP-1559 upgrade, noting that it made Ether a deflationary asset for the first time in history. For example, a model created by Ethereum co-founder Justin Drake claimed that EIP-1559 would reduce Ether's annual supply by 1.6 million ETH.

MATIC looks for new record highs

Polygon, which acts as a layer-2 protocol built to scale Ethereum's prevailing scalability issues, rolled out a testing implementation of EIP-1559 on Dec. 14, 2021. After the test net launch, MATIC price rallied by almost 30% to $2.35, which includes a brief run-up to its record high near $3.

*MATIC/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

In theory, a lower supply against a rising demand would make the asset more valuable in the eyes of its bidder.

This classic economic reference has assisted in boosting demand for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) before. Issuance would be halved every four years against a limited supply cap of 21 million units. This begs the question, could the MATIC price rally in the same way? Mineplex co-founder Alexander Mamasidikov thinks yes.

Mamasidikov told Cointelegraph that EIP-1559 would impact MATIC price positively, adding that it could easily rally toward its current record high following the technical upgrade.

"In periods of price recovery, investors are often on the lookout for both technical and fundamental features to hang onto in order to back a coin, and Polygon brandishes both," he said, adding:

"While Polygon remains a better version of Ethereum in terms of lower transaction costs, it is also the delight of retail investors with respect to its low price at this time when compared with Ethereum or other smart contract networks."

What do Polygon's technicals say?

MATIC has been trending higher inside an ascending channel pattern since July 2021, confirmed by at least two reactive highs and two reactive lows.

The token recently retested the channel's lower trendline around $1.89 as support, a move that was followed up with a bullish retracement toward $2.50. It now acting as resistance and the $2.50 level also turned out to be near the 1.00 Fib line near $2.44.

*MATIC/USD daily price chart featuring ascending channel pattern. Source: TradingView*

That being said, MATIC may attempt a break above the $2.44-resistance around the EIP-1559 upgrade on Jan. 18. The move would set itself on a course to test its interim upside target near $3, which is approximately a 30% jump.

Meanwhile, if the EIP-1559 factor plays out any longer than anticipated, MATIC price may even attempt an extended run-up toward the 1.618 Fib line around $3.52. Conversely, a rejection at $2.44 could have Polygon retest the ascending channel support for a negative breakout.

Such a move would risk invalidating the bullish setup, as discussed above. All of this is in conjunction with exposing MATIC to a correction toward $1.77 or lower.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Ethereum ‘has to bounce’ as ETH bulls pin $5K rally hopes on critical support channel

November 12, 2021 Coin Telegraph

<div>Ethereum 'has to bounce' as ETH bulls pin K rally hopes on critical support channel</div>

Bitcoin

Many analysts agree that the "dynamic support" could boost accumulation sentiment in the Ethereum market.

Ethereum's native token Ether (ETH) could see yet another strong rebound in the sessions ahead as its price falls into a trading zone with a recent history of attracting buyers.

The rising trendline has been triggering ETH's price rebounds since the beginning of October 2021 and comes as a part of a broader Ascending Channel range.

*ETH/USD four-hour price chart featuring the Ascending Channel setup. Source: TradingView*

As a result, Ether's path of least resistance has been to the upside despite pullbacks at the Channel's upper trendline, with its quarter-to-date returns currently sitting at over 38%.

Most recently, the rising trendline was instrumental in limiting selloffs that followed the Ether price's rally to a new record high above $4,870. That prompted analysts to expect another strong price rebound in the future, with a "swing long" setup posted by FOREXN1 on TradingView calling for a bull run to $5,000.

*ETH/USD eight-hour price chart featuring "swing long" setup. Source: FOREXN1, TradingView*

MacroCRG, a Twitter-based independent market analyst, said Ether "has to bounce" as it manages to hold the rising trendline as support following the latest price pullback.

Meanwhile, another analyst Pentoshi also anticipated a rebound but discussed the prospects of corrections below the rising trendline. Excerpts from his Nov. 12 tweet:

"I would love a 20-30% wipeout on alts. Usual bull run dip. Just bc I want it doesn't mean it will happen. Greed to fear, please."

Pentoshi's downside target in the event of extended price correction was near $4,000, as shown in the chart below.

*ETH/USD four-hour price chart featuring Ascending Channel's bearish breakout target. Source: Pentoshi, TradingView*

Macro fundamentals support ETH bulls

Ethereum's ability to limit price corrections and — atop that — forming new highs appears to have more than just technical factors behind it.

Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Financial Pty, cited fears of high inflation as the common denominator that has boosted demand for potential hedging assets across the crypto market, leading to Ether's 500%-plus and Bitcoin's 130%-plus price rallies in 2021.

To investors, “crypto is where the fast money is at,” Weston said in a note.

Additionally, last week, Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Index, said he expects a $5,000 price for Ether, saying that investment "portfolios of some combination of gold and bonds appear increasingly naked without some Bitcoin and Ethereum joining the mix."

Three #Crypto Musketeers Driving $3 Trillion Market Cap - Representing a better way to transact, a strengthening ecosystem and here-to-stay asset class, #cryptodollars are the most significant advancing part of the digital-money revolution and the third leg of the crypto stool. pic.twitter.com/qhEOXttPW8
— Mike McGlone (@mikemcglone11) November 9, 2021

The analyst cited declining supply as a major bullish backstop for Ether.

Namely, Ethereum's software upgrade, dubbed "London Hard Fork," in August implemented a code-change that started burning a portion of gas fees paid to miners via ETH, effectively reducing the supply.

The upgrade has resulted in the removal of over 860,500 ETH tokens — now worth over $3.2 billion — since implementation, according to data provided by UltraSound.Money. At the current rate, the Ethereum network expects to burn 5.3 million ETH tokens every year versus 5.4 million issued.

*Ethereum fee burn. Source: UltraSound.Money*

McGlone noted that a declining supply rate would keep Ether on its bullish course against rising demand. Excerpts:

"Simply staying the course is the more likely outcome, as we see it. Ethereum has joined Bitcoin with a supply trajectory that is in decline by code. The first-born crypto is the store-of-value, and the No. 2 is the DeFi building block."

3 factors that can send Ethereum price to 100% gains in Q4

October 1, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

The three bullish indicators converge as Ethereum's native token Ether climbs over 9% Friday to cross $3,000, its psychological resistance level.

Ethereum's native token Ether (ETH) has the potential to double its market valuation in the coming months, thanks to a confluence of supportive technical and fundamental indicators.

Ether price soared by more than 9% Friday to hit nearly $3,300 for the first time in ten days. Its gains surfaced primarily in the wake of a price rebound across all the top cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), which gained 9.5% to hit $48,000, the highest level in 10 days.

Ether-Bitcoin correlation against rising U.S. inflation

Friday's crypto market boom coincided with the release of the U.S. Commerce Department's report on consumer spending.

The data showed that the U.S. core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, rose by 0.3% in August and was 3.6% up year-over-year. Thus, the core inflation surged to its highest levels in 30 years.

Speculators tend to treat Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, which explains the benchmark cryptocurrency's latest response to the higher consumer prices in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Ether's 30-day average correlation with Bitcoin sits near 0.89, as per data provided by CryptoWatch, which prompted ETH to move almost in lockstep with BTC.

*BTC/USD versus ETH/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView.com*

A University of Michigan survey conducted between Aug. 25 and Sept. 27 found that the longer-term inflation expectations among U.S. consumers rose to 3%, the highest in a decade.

The outcome appeared in contrast with the Federal Reserve's Chairman Jerome Powell's views; he rubbished the rising inflation as "transitory" for months but admitted during a recent Senate hearing that the higher consumer prices might stay intact at least until the next year.

As a result, inflationary pressures gave crypto bulls the reason to pitch Bitcoin as an ultimate hedge, with MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor suggesting corporates convert their cash-based Treasury into BTC.

In the presence of rampant inflation, cash & credit become crumbling liabilities. Convert your balance sheet to #bitcoin to turn liabilities into assets. https://t.co/kzCEPDA4S2
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@michael_saylor) October 1, 2021

MicroStrategy holds about 0.5% of the total Bitcoin supply in circulation, currently worth over $6 billion.

Supply squeeze

Ethereum went through a network hard fork upgrade on Aug. 5 that further raised the bullish outlook for Ether, owing to the classic supply-demand law.

Dubbed London Hard Fork, the upgrade introduced an improvement protocol, EIP-1559, that started burning a portion of Ethereum's network fee, called Base Fee. So far, the EIP-1559's activation has removed 410,404 ETH (~$1.32 billion) out of active supply permanently, as per WatchTheBurn.com.

Ethereum is also preparing to switch its consensus mechanism from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). As a result, it has launched a staking pool that would allow users to earn rewards and grow their ETH holdings if they lock 32 ETH into their official PoS smart contract for a certain period.

So far, the amount of ETH deposited in the so-called Ethereum 2.0 staking contract has surged from around 11,500 in November 2020 to 7.82 million ETH today. That said, the transition has effectively removed 7.82 million ETH out of circulation temporarily.

*Total ETH stakes in Ethereum 2.0 smart contract. Source: CryptoQuant*

On the other hand, the total amount of Ether tokens held across all the crypto exchanges have dropped to their record lows. Data from CryptoQuant shows that exchanges now held only 18.1 million ETH compared to 23.73 million ETH an year ago.

*Ether reserves across all crypto exchanges. Source: CryptoQuant*

The declining ETH reserves show that traders may want to hold their Ether tokens than sell them for other assets. As a result, it creates a supply squeeze for investors looking to enter the Ethereum markets, thus making ETH more valuable.

With EIP 1559 #ethereum supply will likely peak around 120 million, after which it will go down and down and down, meanwhile demand will be rising. Pretty sure that means the number will go up.
— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) September 24, 2021

Cup and handle

A mix of lower supply and higher demand serves as a bullish backstop for the Ether price. Meanwhile, more evidence for an upside breakout comes from a cup and handle pattern on Ether's longer-timeframe charts.

The Cup and Handle is a bullish continuation pattern, comprising a rounding bottom and a descending channel setup, as shown in the chart below. The structure's profit target is typically at length equal to the Cup's maximum height.

*ETH/USD daily price chart featuring cup and handle pattern. Source: TradingView.com*

Considering the Cup's resistance level is at near $4,000, a breakout from there expects to send the ETH price to above $6,000, almost double its current rate.

Ethereum miners are hoarding a record $70B in ETH following EIP-1559 activation

September 30, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Ethereum miners are hoarding a record B in ETH following EIP-1559 activation

Coin Telegraph

The Ethereum block producers accumulated $6.1 billion worth of ETH tokens after the Aug. 5 network upgrade.

An on-chain study released by Kraken Intelligence highlighted strong accumulation behavior among Ethereum miners even as they faced the prospects of generating lower revenue following a major network upgrade on Aug. 5, 2021.

Ethereum miners accumulated an additional 2 million Ether (ETH) worth $6.1 billion after the so-called London Hard Fork's activation. The latest bout of accumulation caused miners' net Ether holdings to hit an all-time high of 22.3 million ETH (worth nearly $70 billion), which is almost 19% of the total Ether supply.

"ETH accumulation was stagnant for most of the summer before picking up speed in July in spite of ETH price trending lower," the Kraken report read.

"However, ETH accumulation amongst miners really took off after EIP-1559 as they likely saw the disinflationary effects of the upgrade to drive up price."

*Ethereum miner supply. Source: Kraken Intelligence, Coin Metrics*

Miners snub EIP-1559 FUD

EIP-1559, which went live alongside the London Hard Fork on Aug. 5, divided transaction fees (chargeable via native token ETH) into two parts: Base Fee and Priority Fee.

The network started charging base fees to add transactions to the Ethereum blocks. Meanwhile, it introduced priority fees—or voluntary tips—that Ethereum users pay to miners to speed up transactions.

But EIP-1559 changed the way Ethereum's token economy works by introducing a fee-burning mechanism. In doing so, the improvement proposal started burning the base fee, thereby making ETH a disinflationary asset by permanently removing a part of its supply out of circulation.

Burning a portion of total fee collection would also mean a drop in revenue for Ethereum miners. As a result, EIP-1559's launch sparked warnings about lower mining profitability, with one study finding that miners' revenue dropped by 15% right after EIP-1559 went live.

But that didn't deter the miners from raising their exposure in the Ethereum market, insofar that ETH's hash rate reached a record high of 736.67 terra-hash per second (TH/s) on Sept. 23.

*Ethereum network hashrate performance in the last 12 months. Source: YCharts*

That is despite a drop in Ethereum mining activity following China's crypto crackdown in May, which later led the hash rate to a three-month low of 477.54 TH/s. Kraken wrote:

"This tells us that not only was the reaction to the China crackdown exaggerated, but miners also view the latest upgrade as an overall boon for ETH that outweighed the con of its miner reward reduction."

NFT boom, staking sentiment behind the mining boom

Ethereum miners survived the EIP-1559 FUD primarily due to rising ETH prices and high network demand led by a boom in the nonfungible token (NFT) space.

Kraken noted that miner revenue reached a near four-month high of $70 million on Sept. 7, rising 27% a month after the Aug. 5 upgrade as "NFT activity in projects such as PALS, Loot, and Junkies likely pushed priority fees higher."

*Ethereum miner revenue. Source: Kraken Intelligence, Coin Metrics*

But a recent slump in the NFT sector, led by strong corrections in the number of its daily active users (-23%), trading volume (83%), and transaction count (-31%), also pushed the miner revenue down.

Nonetheless, the amount of ETH held by miners surged to its highest level to date, prompting Kraken to deduce that they were accumulating and mining Ether tokens to become validators on the upcoming Ethereum proof-of-stake chain, dubbed Ethereum 2.0.

Users need to stake 32 ETH into Ethereum 2.0 smart contracts to become validators on its network. In response, they may earn up to a 5% annual percentage rate. As of Sept. 29, ETH 2.0 had attracted 7.813 million ETH worth $2.85 billion by 48,780 unique depositors, as per data provided by CryptoQuant.

Meanwhile, as more Ether tokens go out of actively supply due to staking and EIP-1559 activation, the prospect of holding ETH might appear profitable for miners due to classic supply-demand model.

With EIP 1559 #ethereum supply will likely peak around 120 million, after which it will go down and down and down, meanwhile demand will be rising. Pretty sure that means the number will go up.
— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) September 24, 2021

Ether was trading at $3,006 at the time of writing, up more than 300% year-to-date.

Ethereum supply shock: Exchange ETH reserves continue to fall after a 26% drop in 2021

August 25, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

To date, 92,595 ETH have been burned following Ethereum's London hard fork upgrade.

The amount of Ether (ETH) held by all cryptocurrency exchanges has declined dramatically in the previous 12 months.

Blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant reported that Ethereum reserves on trading platforms dropped 26.29 million ETH to 19.22 million ETH year-on-year (YoY), indicating that traders' preference to hold their tokens increased.

At least the Ether price performance in the same period indicates the same. Between August 25, 2020, and press time, the ETH/USD exchange rate exploded by a little over 730%— from $407 to $3,190, signaling an erratic inverse correlation between the Ethereum token prices and its reserves across all exchanges.

*Ethereum reserves versus ETH/USD price performance YoY. Source: CryptoQuant*

In detail, traders typically prefer to keep their crypto assets on exchange wallets when they wish to trade them in the near term. Otherwise, they move those assets to private wallets to control their own keys, a strategy that stems from the fears of losing funds to hacks and similar security breaches at crypto exchanges.

Ether deposits plunge

Another on-chain indicator, built by CoinMetrics to track the total number of Ether deposits to exchanges, also alerted holding sentiment among Ethereum traders. It noted that traders' ETH deposits across all the trading platforms had plunged 21.11% YoY, from 413,772 ETH to 326,408.

*Ethereum deposits on exchanges. Source:* *CoinMetrics, Messari*

But in the last 30 days, the ETH deposits have dropped dramatically by 47.81%, signaling that many investors are expecting higher prices in the long term.

Meanwhile, the sum count of unique addresses holding any amount of Ether in the last 30 days has jumped 1.67%, coinciding with a 42% ETH/USD rally in the same period. On a YoY timeframe, the unique address count has jumped 30.87%.

*Ethereum address count. Source: CoinMetrics, Messari*

Supply Squeeze

The Ether holding sentiment has picked momentum in days leading up to and after a landmark Ethereum network upgrade on August 5, 2021. Dubbed as the London Hard Fork, the software update implemented a proposal called EIP-1559 that enabled gas fee burning on the Ethereum network.

This has added deflationary pressure as a result. In the first 20 days after EIP-1559 went live, the network has burned almost 92,595 ETH worth around $295.85 million, according to WatchTheBurn.com.

More Ether went out of active supply as Ethereum invited participants to deposit 32 ETH to become validator on its upcoming proof-of-stake blockchain. Beacon Chain reports that the so-called Ethereum 2.0 smart contract has attracted a little over 6.9 million ETH worth around $22 billion.

*Staked Ether in Ethereum 2.0 smart contract. Source: BeconCha.in*

Additionally, demand for Ether continues to grow owing to Ethereum's expanding ecosystem, containing projects from the booming decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible token sectors.

Last week, Lyn Alden, the founder Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, called the London upgrade a "tactically bullish" event, noting that it could easily push ETH/USD rates to over $5,000.

Ethereum price soars above $3K into ‘red zone’ triggering sell-off fears

August 7, 2021 Coin Telegraph

<div>Ethereum price soars above K into 'red zone' triggering sell-off fears</div>

Coin Telegraph

An on-chain indicator, notorious for accurately predicting Ether tops, returns amid the ongoing price rally.

Ethereum's native asset Ether (ETH) crossed above $3,000 in an extended upside rally on Aug. 7, hitting a three-month high. Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency's incredible move upside also boosted its possibilities of facing a bearish backlash.

An on-chain indicator that tracks the total percent of Ethereum addresses in profits predicted the said downside outlook. In detail, the so-called "Ethereum: Percent of Addresses in Profits" indicator by Glassnode reached 96.4% amid the ETH/USD price rally.

Lex Moskovski, chief investment officer at Moskovski Capital, highlighted the metric's capability of predicting Ethereum top. In hindsight, whenever the Glassnode indicator crossed the 90%-threshold, it resulted in profit-taking among Ether investors.

*Ethereum percentage of profit-making addresses enters sell-off zone. Source: Glassnode*

"We are back to the red zone, historically associated with local tops," said Moskovski as he referred to the Glassnode chart above. Nonetheless, he added that the price might stay near its current highs—above $3,000—for a while.

Supply squeeze meets HOLDing sentiment

Moskovski's outlook pointed at traders' intention to hold Ether, majorly due to the euphoria surrounding a software upgrade that has added deflationary pressure to ETH.

The optimism around the London hard fork stems from the increasing scarcity that should make this digital asset more valuable in the long run, specifically against a booming demand.

The London upgrade will divide almost 13,000 new Ether tokens issued to pay for miners' gas fees into three parts. One of them is the base fee that users pay to conduct ETH transactions, which the upgraded Ethereum protocol will now burn.

2. Before the upgrade, miner fees accounted for approximately 30.68% of the total earnings (this is the average data for the 7 days before the upgrade).
— Poolin (@officialpoolin) August 6, 2021

In addition, Ethereum's ongoing transition from an energy-intensive proof-of-stake mechanism to a faster and cheaper proof-of-stake (PoS) also reduces active Ether supply out of the market.

In detail, the PoS mechanism prompts network operators to deposit 32 ETH into a smart contract as a stake to run the blockchain. In return, the protocol rewards depositors with annual yields.

*26% of Ethereum supply is locked in smart contracts. Source: Glassnode*

Moskovski hinted that traders could find holding Ether more appealing than secure interim profits as ETH/USD now trades 79.82% above its July 20 bottom of $1,718. Nonetheless, technical indicators also pointed at higher sell-off probabilities in the short-term.

That RSI

Ether's latest run-up above $3,000 also pushed its daily relative strength index (RSI) into an overbought area.

RSI enables traders to measure an asset's trend momentum to evaluate its overbought and oversold condition. In simple terms, traders interpret a reading above 70 as overbought—a cue to sell the asset. Conversely, an RSI below 30 poses buying opportunity due to the asset's oversold conditions.

Ether's daily RSI reading currently sits near 79, as shown in the chart below.

*Ether RSI is above 70, indicating excessive valuations. Source: TradingView.com*

Meanwhile, a falling wedge breakout setup brewing on the daily ETH chart envisions its profit target near $3,250. Falling Wedge breakouts typically last by as much as the total height between the Wedge's upper and lower trendline.

Ethereum approaches $3K resistance as Bitcoin price rebounds toward $40K

August 5, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

A sudden change of sentiment on lower timeframes gives bulls something to smile about after a downtrend is swiftly cancelled out.

Ethereum’s Ether token (ETH) enjoyed a "massive" rebound towards $3,000 on Aug. 5 as optimism flowed in after its London hard fork went live.

*ETH/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView*

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed ETH/USD climbing swiftly to local highs of $2,820 on Bitstamp Thursday.

The sudden burst of enthusiasm countered a downtrend which had set in after the initial uptick following London's successful deployment the day before.

After a wick down to as low as $2,530, Ethereum outperformed many altcoins on hourly timeframes, setting its sights on resistance nearer to the $3,000 mark.

Out of the past 16 Daily candles for $ETH...

15 of them were green#Crypto #Ethereum
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) August 5, 2021

For Cointelegraph contributor Michael van de Poppe, the incoming resistance was nonetheless essential to break in order to secure bullish continuation.

"Ethereum makes a massive bounce upwards here from the critical level at $2,535," he summarized to Twitter followers.

"However, didn't crack and flip the resistance at $2,850-2,925 yet. That's required to flip in order to continue toward ATH's."

The move came as trader and analyst Rekt Capital noted that investors were reawakening their interest in altcoin markets more broadly following last week's significant Bitcoin (BTC) price pump.

"BTC is consolidating at highs, trying to perform an all-important retest of the top of the Weekly range it broke out from last week," he tweeted on the day.

"Meanwhile, some of the capital that drove the $BTC move to ~$42000 last week is now flowing into some Altcoins."

In a further triumph, ETH/BTC also looked set to reclaim important resistance at 0.07, a level in place for several weeks.

*ETH/BTC 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView*

Bitcoin plays catch-up

At the time of writing, ETH/USD circled $2,800, while BTC/USD was approaching $39,000 in a comeback of its own.

*BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView*

The largest cryptocurrency had dipped to $37,290 earlier Thursday, having previously failed to clinch $40,000 even briefly overnight.

Buyer support on major exchange Binance remained firm at $36,000 and upwards, while sellers were lined up at $41,500.

*BTC/USD buy and sell levels (Binance) as of Aug. 5. Source: Material Indicators/ Twitter*

Ethereum is becoming ultrasound money, ConsenSys founder says

August 5, 2021 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin maximalist

“With $13 billion worth of Ether locked up in Ethereum 2.0 and $70 billion locked up in decentralized finance, we have enormous demand for the Ether token,” said ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin.

ConsenSys founder and Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Joseph Lubin has implied that Ethereum is transitioning to “ultrasound money” status ahead of the London hard fork slated to activate around 12:30 pm UTC Aug. 5.

During an interview with Bloomberg TV, Lubin was questioned on the imminent EIP-1559 upgrade, which will see Ethereum transition away from a bidding-based fee market to a fixed price and burn mechanism.

Lubin stated that the London hard fork is part of a broader global movement in which the first step is the “democratization of the Earth,” and the second step is the democratization of the decentralized finance (DeFi) system and the introduction of ultrasound money:

“The second step that's in full play right now is the democratization of the global decentralized finance system. And this step is the introduction of something that people are calling ultrasound money.”

The term ultrasound money has been a long-running meme held in Ethereum based communities that mocks Bitcoiners who describe BTC as “sound money” due to its capped supply of 21 million.

The meme refers to the EIP-1559 proposal’s burn mechanism that could result in Ethereum’s supply becoming deflationary after more Ether is destroyed than created. Each transaction will burn a base fee, resulting in a decreasing supply of the asset from now on. Some believe that it will give ETH a stronger value proposition than Bitcoin (BTC) as “ultrasound money.

“So we're a fixed amount of gold on the planet. And the fixed supply of Bitcoin represents sound money to certain people. With $13 billion worth of Ether locked up in Ethereum 2.0 and $70 billion locked up in decentralized finance, we have enormous demand for the Ether token,” Lubin said.

“And now we're burning the Ether token with the introduction of the London hard fork,” he added.

ETH seems unlikely to become deflationary soon after the London hard fork, and the upgrade doesn’t ensure this by default. Twitter user “korpi” highlighted on Aug. 2 that this “doesn't mean that ETH immediately becomes a deflationary asset. For that to happen, ETH burned must be higher than ETH issued in block rewards.” This is more likely after the move to proof-of-stake.

Bitcoin maxi Peter McCormack appeared unhappy with Lubin’s interview and discussions of ultrasound money, noting on Twitter that:

“Ultra-sound money is a disingenuous use of language. It implies that Ethereum is better money than Bitcoin. While directionally centralizing and operating with a flexible monetary policy.”

User “bobMull12314085” found the funny side however, stating that “you maxi’s are so sensitive.”

The Bitcoin community has gotten so pathetic that they actively beg regulators to classify ETH as a security. This has been going on for years.

Some examples of many just from today… pic.twitter.com/9I2k96bLma
— eric.eth (@econoar) August 5, 2021

The London hard fork is a major milestone in the journey to Ethereum 2.0, which will change the network's consensus algorithm from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake or PoS.

London Hard Fork

MATIC looks for new record highs

What do Polygon's technicals say?

Macro fundamentals support ETH bulls

Ether-Bitcoin correlation against rising U.S. inflation

Supply squeeze

Cup and handle

Miners snub EIP-1559 FUD

NFT boom, staking sentiment behind the mining boom

Ether deposits plunge

Supply Squeeze

Supply squeeze meets HOLDing sentiment

That RSI

Bitcoin plays catch-up

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