‘Next Bull Roll’—Ethereum Founder Issues Bullish Prediction After ‘Game Change’ Upgrade Helps Bitcoin Price Rally
04/16 update below. This post was originally published on April 14
BitcoinBTC and ethereum have surged higher this week after a surprise bitcoin easter egg fueled a wild Satoshi Nakamoto identity theory.
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Bitcoin price has topped $30,000 per bitcoin for the first time since June last year while ethereum price has crossed the $2,000 per ether level, helped by ethereum’s long-awaited Shanghai upgrade and Coinbase’s CEO revealing an exciting bitcoin upgrade .
Now, ethereum’s co-founder and the project’s spiritual leader Vitalik Buterin has said that the network needs to focus on solving its scaling problems immediately before the next bitcoin, ethereum and cryptocurrency exchange rate.
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“If we don’t fix scaling before the next bull run, people are going to be stuck paying $500 transaction fees,” Buterin said in a live stream reported by The Defiant ahead of the network’s closely watched upgrade which has been branded Shapella – a combination of Shanghai and Capella.
Buterin warned that if ethereum doesn’t resolve its scaling issues before the next crypto bull run, an increase in activity on the chain could result in ethereum users being hit with sky-high transaction fees – as happened in previous bitcoin, ethereum and crypto price bull runs.
“The Shapella upgrade closes the loop on some things that are part of PoS [proof-of-stake] transition, but didn’t make it in time for the merge, withdrawals are obviously very important,” Buterin said during the Ethereum Foundation live stream. “The immediate next focus after this … is going to be scaling.”
Ethereum’s “merger” into a proof-of-stake from bitcoin’s more energy-intensive proof-of-work last year saw miners replaced with “validators” who can stake ethereum to the network in return for “returns.” This week’s Shanghai upgrade means that those who had already staked ethereum to the blockchain can now withdraw it.
04/16 update: The ethereum blockchain currently has just over $2 billion waiting to be withdrawn after topping $3 billion on Friday.
Some fear the looming wall of withdrawals that could be unloaded on the market will put pressure on the ethereum price. However, this has not happened so far, with the ethereum price increasing by over 10% this week topping $2,000 per ether for the first time since last summer.
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The upgrade has also raised hopes that Wall Street and institutional investors may be piling into the market.
“The highly anticipated ethereum Shanghai upgrade is potentially game-changing and could be the catalyst towards digital assets becoming mainstream in most funds,” Mona El Isa, CEO of crypto-focused asset management firm Avantgarde Finance, said in an emailed comment. , adding Avantgarde has “seen increased interest from institutional investors” looking to get into bitcoin, ethereum and crypto.
“This newfound liquidity will be seen as a move to de-risk digital asset allocations by institutional investors, who have previously been put off by Ethereum’s old version that locked money in. With the removal of a major barrier, we would expect to see a rapid movement towards investors betting ethereum, which could prove positive for the price of the asset in the long term.”
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