Lee stated that the hyper volatility of Bitcoin could help it reach USD 100,000 by the end of the year. He restated his prediction in May even though the cryptocurrency is in the penalty area.

In recent days, Tom Lee of Fundstrat made a new prediction on CNBC television. He restated that the price of Bitcoin could reach USD 100,000 by the end of 2021.

The executive discussed the current state of the markets and his advice on Bitcoin after it reached its highest level since mid-May.

Lee is the co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors, an independent research firm. Additionally, he is a Wall Street analyst known for his positive attitude towards Bitcoin. Due to his many years of experience in analyzing the stock market, his predictions are hugely popular.

According to the analyst, there is a new trading rule for Bitcoin. Therefore, the price is heading to USD 100,000.

Lee Predicts Bitcoin Will Hit USD 100,000

Tom Lee stated on CNBC that the hyper volatility of cryptocurrencies creates opportunities and rewards. In that regard, he expressed that he believed that Bitcoin could still reach USD 100,000 by the end of the year.

The co-founder of Fundstrat considers that Bitcoin has a USD 100,000 opportunity on every rally that sweeps the stock market.

In that sense, he said that the stock market could see a significant rebound by the end of 2021. That would be part of a rally of everything the drop in cases of the delta variant has caused to some extent.

Lee noted that hysteria about the steady rise of the delta variant continues to grow. However, he reported that the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) predicts COVID-19 infections will peak this week. He also stressed that the IHME does not expect a new wave of cases in the fall.

According to Lee, the risky atmosphere that could increase towards the end of the year will help drive various market segments. Bitcoin as one of those sectors encourages him to predict that the cryptocurrency will have a broad rally.

Forecast about Bitcoin that Fundstrat Previously Made

Curiously, Tom Lee reiterates his prediction in May even though Bitcoin is now in the penalty area. He said that he continues to think that its price may end the year above USD 100,000.

Other top analysts who have predicted the price of Bitcoin include Michael Saylor (USD 5,000,000), Paul T. Jones (USD 100,000), Dan Tapeiro (USD 387,000), Adam Back (USD 300,000), Tim Draper (USD 250,000), and Pomp (USD 1,000,000).

Despite the drastic drop in the value of Bitcoin from its recent highs, it continues to rise. The cryptocurrency is trading at around USD 45,000 and has grown by 9.2% in the last seven days, according to CoinGecko.

The relevance of Bitcoin in the world economy and the recent recovery in its price prove that it has not yet reached its maximum level. It is a matter of time before the predictions of the abovementioned analysts and Tom Lee come true.

By Alexander Salazar

The deposits in the Ethereum 2.0 smart contract are equivalent to USD 21 billion. These investments correspond to independent validator nodes and staking pools.

There is a total of 6,805,325 ETH in the Ethereum 2.0 smart contract, so its depositors are validators of this network. That amount is equivalent to USD 21 billion, which is larger than the reserves of around 120 countries.

According to data from the World Bank, those nations include several from Latin America, such as El Salvador, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Paraguay, Panama, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Guatemala. The reserves of these countries are between USD 3 billion (El Salvador) and USD 18 billion (Guatemala).

The deposit in Ethereum 2.0 also exceeds the reserves of other countries such as Somalia, Zimbabwe, San Marino, Fiji, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Iceland, and Jamaica. All of them have funds below USD 21 billion.

Almost 206 thousand addresses deposited those 6.8 million ETH, for which each of them had to lock 32 ETH in the smart contract. At least, they should keep the deposit until the merge between the current blockchain and version 2.0 of the network occurs.

According to data from CoinGecko, 32 ETH is equivalent to around USD 98,000. Those who deposit this amount in the Ethereum 2.0 smart contract receive interest in ETH as a reward that they can withdraw when the merger occurs.

The current annual return on investment is 6%, and many expect the figure to decline as new validators add their ETH. At the end of 2020, the yield in the first days of staking was 21.6% per year.

Investments in the Ethereum 2.0 Staking

The 206 thousand addresses depositing in Ethereum 2.0 include those corresponding to staking pools. Those platforms offer the possibility of benefiting from the return on investment to those who do not have 32 ETH or do not want to run an Ethereum 2.0 validator node.

According to blockchain explorer Etherscan, the dominant staking pools in the market are Kraken (12.3%), Lido (11.1%), and Binance (8.89%). Both the amounts that belong to exchanges and those dedicated exclusively to staking account for 46.9% of the activity. The remaining 53% correspond to independent validators, which may be individuals or institutions.

Time to Withdraw the Investment from Ethereum 2.0

Nobody knows yet the date of the merger between blockchains when Ethereum will fully become proof of stake (PoS). However, some people have dared to make some estimates.

Developer Justin Drake, who is a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, conducted a survey. That consultation found that around 86% of the developers believe a minimal viable merger could occur by the end of 2021.

According to studies by the Gemini exchange, December 2023 is a tentative date for Ethereum 2.0 to work at its best. At that moment, investors could withdraw the amount of ETH locked along with the profits they have made.

Regarding the London hard fork, the community is witnessing an increase in the cost per transaction on the network. Although it only lasted a couple of hours, the fee burn rate has led to a deflationary supply.

By Willmen Blanco

Deflationary blocks appear when the amount of ETH burned exceeds the mining reward. A few days after the launch of the London hard fork, the transaction fee saw an increase for a short time.

An increase in transaction burn rate led the Ethereum supply to go deflationary for around two hours. Due to the heavy load on the network in recent days, much more gas has burned.

The ETH Burn Bot recently recorded a case where 545 ETH burned in one hour. For that reason, the crypto asset saw a deflation of -13 ETH during that short period.

A few hours later, the ETH Burn Bot detected further deflation in which 945 tokens burned in an hour. That resulted in a negative issuance of -417 ETH.

When the ETH burned exceeds the mining reward, deflationary blocks emerge, and supply temporarily decreases. According to the tracker of advisory company Carbono, there are currently 791 new deflationary blocks.

The Hard Fork London Is Making Its Mark

The implementation of the London hard fork on August 5^th introduced the long-awaited EIP-1559 update. That allowed adjusting the transaction fee calculation system, which seeks to enable the Ethereum improvement proposal.

The network has faced multiple problems ranging from gas rates to escalation in the past. However, that would help alleviate some of the pressure on the blockchain. Although EIP-1559 will not reduce transaction fees per se, it will make them more predictable. Besides, it could lead to reduced costs for users.

The long-awaited London hard fork is already making its mark. Within days of its launch, the community saw an increase in the transaction fee of the network. Although that only lasted a couple of hours, the rate-burning rate has created a deflationary supply.

According to the website ultrasound.money, 36,154 ETH have burned so far. That amount is equivalent to around USD 80 million in just under a week.

Some Expert Opinions on EIP-1559

Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, considers EIP-1559 to have been the best of Ethereum.

Mark Cuban predicted that EIP-1559 would change everything. He highlighted that what happens will impact how people perceive Ether as a store of value.

Former Zcash CEO Josh Cincinnati said that he thinks EIP-1559 is very good. However, he stated that anyone who predicts the supply of ETH thanks to EIP-1559 will always be wrong.

Van Ness thinks the EIP-1559 would make the network more secure, a point most analysts seem to miss. He specified that that implementation helps fight denial-of-service (DOS) attacks in the long term.

Ether is trading at around USD 3,120 and has grown by 10.6% in the last week, according to CoinGecko. That way, it shows signs that its price is in an upward trend.

Although this is a big rally for Ethereum, some analysts are skeptical about a massive bullish run. Of course, that does not mean that ETH will not see its price steadily increase in the long run.

By Alexander Salazar

Coinbase explains that it works alongside companies such as PNC Bank, SpaceX, and Tesla. A source also clarifies that in the upcoming months the bank will make its foray into bitcoin official.

One of the biggest US banks is worried because customers now demand more exposure to bitcoin (BTC) due to high traffic in the cryptocurrency market.

According to reports, the crypto-asset exchange Coinbase, PNC Bank, the fifth-largest bank in the United States of America in assets, has joined forces with the platform to access bitcoin.

The document, released on August 10, explains in detail that many customers have selected Coinbase as their exclusive access source to cryptocurrencies. In recent months, Coinbase got to form alliances with industry leaders, including Elon Musk, PNC Bank, SpaceX, Tesla, Third Point LLC, and WisdomTree Investments.

Although the bank based in Pittsburgh has not yet confirmed the information, a source from the financial institution clarified that in the coming months the adoption of bitcoin will be official news, according to Coindesk.

According to what the source said, the intention of PNC Bank, which operates in 21 states, is to give more balanced access to cryptocurrency investments for its clients.

About the PNC Bank, it is worth considering that PNC Bank belongs to PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., a bank holding and a financial services corporation that also works with life insurance.

In that sense, the bank published a report last June called “Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in healthcare.” The letter explains in detail that cryptocurrencies and blockchains are bringing a new digital transformation and are becoming so popular that leaders in healthcare finance should pay closer attention and start learning about it.

PNC Bank Would Join the Big Banks that Receive Bitcoin

If PNC Bank’s exposure to bitcoin gets confirmed in the next few months, it will be part of the list of big banks in the United States of America that have embraced cryptocurrency to a lesser or greater extent.

Recently, JP Morgan Chase’s private banking unit started offering its wealthy clients a bitcoin fund. Last July, it also extended the service to trade bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to all its customers.

State Street, the second oldest active bank in the United States of America, will also support its private investment fund clients in the collection, standardization, processing, and reporting of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

For its part, Morgan Stanley, a renowned financial institution, became the first traditional bank to bring to its service stock the purchase of bitcoin to its customers.

According to information from CNBC, the bank prepared the launch of three investment funds that would allow the acquisition of bitcoin. The bank brought the announcement to its financial advisers on March 17, according to what the report specified at the time.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The transaction with the stablecoin Tether happened through the Binance exchange. The process received validation from a local real estate agency, which also appears in the public registry.

A  Venezuelan user used the stablecoin called Tether (USDT) to purchase a property for at least $ 12,000 and then gifted it to his mom. The transaction with the cryptocurrency for the sale of the property happened in the Anzoátegui state, which is about 217.48 miles west of Caracas.

The parties involved used the Binance exchange to send and receive the funds. Carlos Grau, operational manager of the real estate company Grau, informed the property is in the Ciudad Bahía residential complex in Barcelona.

Grau explained that an operation of this kind takes between eight and ten active days because the user has to send a letter announcing that the funds will reach their destination. However, when using cryptocurrencies the transaction happened immediately. Two phones were the tools that helped close the deal to avoid possible risks of fraud or scams. Every single user manages their own money.

The spokesperson also explained that the real estate market in eastern Venezuela is getting closer and closer to cryptocurrencies due to a handful of new benefits. In this case, it would be one of the first operations led by a real estate agency. Other properties such as land, sheds, or houses are also for sale with digital assets.

Although the operations for the sale of real estate are already beginning to happen with cryptocurrencies, it is vital to know that in the document addressed to the public registry, the amount of the transaction must be in bolivars. Another alternative would be to write the amount in Petros (PTR), but the registries are not allowing it that way.

Owners are also Friendly With Bitcoin Operations

Real estate brokers inform interested users about the possibility of using various cryptocurrencies. Those users who own bitcoin (BTC), can request information about payment methods. The request can happen through exchanges or direct transactions between wallets.

The advice offered by the promoters is to minimize the risks of volatility, use stable cryptocurrencies or stablecoins with parity 1: 1 with the United States of America dollar or with the euro. Binance is not the only option when it comes to trading. There is a bunch of possibilities to explore other options for buyers.

In some web pages specialized in the sale of real estate, it is possible to observe offers of properties that accept bitcoin as a form of payment. A handful of these homes are in various cities in Venezuela.

Other similar events are happening in other latitudes, the commercialization of real estate is also approaching cryptocurrencies. In Argentina, the offer of houses, apartments, and other properties in exchange for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is also increasing.

By: Jenson Nuñez