While the price of Ether rose by more than 5% in 24 hours, the weekly advance exceeded 23%. The value of the cryptocurrency has yet to reach the all-time high of more than USD 4,000 that it had achieved in May.

The price of Ether (ETH), Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, recently exceeded USD 3,000, a value it had not reached since May.

According to data from CoinGecko, the price of Ether reached USD 3,159, rising by more than 5% in 24 hours. The average upward trend has achieved a weekly growth of more than 23%.

The increase in the price of the cryptocurrency has been steady since the activation of the London update. The new hard fork of the Ethereum network took place on August 5^th.

London has contributed to that rise in the price of the second crypto asset, but the general cryptocurrency is currently in the green.

The hard fork incorporated into the Ethereum network one of the most expected improvement proposals: EIP-1559. That solution allowed modifying the mechanism to pay miners by introducing tips and adding the burning of fees. The developers expect that this will cause the currency to become deflationary and lower the cost of those payments.

The benefits of EIP-1559 to users may occur in the long term. The Ethereum Foundation considers that wallets will contribute to the improvement proposal reducing the fees to pay on the network.

Due to the update, around 10,340 ETH in fees has burned since August 6^th. That amount is equivalent to about USD 31.5 million, according to data from Etherscan.

The Price of Ether Advances, But Still Not Above Its May All-Time High

The current price of Ether is still far from its all-time high of over USD 4,300 that it reached on May 11^th. However, it is the first time, in the last three months, that the value of the crypto asset has managed to exceed USD 3,000.

The cryptocurrency on the Ethereum network had been below that amount since May 19^th. On that date, the entire cryptocurrency market fell alongside Bitcoin in a downward trend that lasted until last week.

The main reason for the prolonged market crash was the decision of electric car company Tesla to stop accepting Bitcoin. Elon Musk released that information just seven weeks after announcing that they would begin processing those transactions.

Other factors that contributed to that collapse were the restrictions on miners and the obstacles to cryptocurrency trading in China. That situation has led big Chinese Bitcoin mining centers to start emigrating to settle in other countries. Since they are looking for a non-toxic environment for their business, the United States is the focus of attention as it offers stability.

That news caused both Bitcoin and Ethereum to lose more than 50% of their value. Both cryptocurrencies had exceeded several all-time highs during the first months of 2021. Ether is currently trading at around USD 3,157 and has grown by about 8.7% in the last 24 hours, according to Coingecko.

By Alexander Salazar

Whoever wins a medal will receive a cryptocurrency investment account at Bitbns. Prize values range from $ 675 to $ 2,700 in bitcoin and ether.

A group of athletes from India at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games could receive an extra reward if they win a medal. In addition to the gold, silver, or bronze medal, the winners will be awarded with a considerable prize in cryptocurrencies, more precisely bitcoin (BTC) or ether (ETH) from the Bitbns exchange.

The athletes from that country will have to add a step to the famous Olympic routine of the winners. The moment they arrive at the podium, they listen to their national anthem and receive the medal. They should also get their wallets ready to enter the world of investing in cryptocurrencies.

As announced in the official Twitter account, the cryptocurrency exchange Bitbns has opened SIP accounts (systematic investment plan) for the three medalists of the Asian country, and will also apply the same procedure to the next ones who manage to get on a podium in Tokyo.

These accounts are very famous in India, according to sites with expertise in the matter. These accounts represent an alternative to invest in a specific investment fund; they are tools for those people who do not have enough capital to achieve an investment. Instead, they choose to distribute the funds deposited in a certain period.

The gift accounts will have a starting amount of 200,000 rupees for gold medalists, 100,000 rupees for silver medal winners, and 50,000 rupees for third place holders, that is, a bronze medal. These amounts go in parallel with USD 2,695, 1,347, and 674, respectively. These figures go according to the currency exchange rate.

According to the Indian portal The Economical Times details, the money will be available automatically, and athletes will use it after completing the KYC. That is, after providing identity data. Also, the SIP will have a duration of at least 3 to 5 years, which Bitbns assures will permit the awarded athletes to earn a long-term fixed income with moderate exposure to digital assets.

The exchange has been very pleased to turn on the three accounts to award the Indian Olympic medalists. The current winners of this prize were Mirabai Chanu, who achieved a silver medal in the women’s Olympic lifting; Pusarla Sindhu, the bronze winner in women’s badminton and Loylina Borgohain, also ranking as a bronze medalist in women’s boxing in the welterweight games.

The Olympics, Walking Side by Side with Cryptocurrencies

This event is not the first contact between the world’s greatest sporting event and cryptocurrencies. The International Olympic Committee joined forces with the video game developer company nWay and launched a series of collectible pins related to the Olympic Games in NFT format.

About the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the Government of China communicated its intention that all athletes handle the digital yuan during their stay for the Olympic event. With that goal set, they rushed the tests so that the digital version of the national currency ends up being available in less than a year.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies operate without a central bank to regulate their value, keeping pace with supply and demand. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor have influenced that market with their posts on Twitter.

For years, trends and events on Twitter have had an impact on cryptocurrency prices. Saylor’s 1.3 million followers and Musk’s 57.6 million followers show that their tweets have a large audience.

When the owner of Tesla added the word “Bitcoin” to his Twitter bio, the price jumped by more than 20% in a matter of hours. Provider of information services on crypto assets The TIE and trading platform eToro released a report. That study analyzes how Elon Musk and Michael Saylor’s tweets influence the price of Bitcoin and Dogecoin.

Elon Musk’s Influence on the Price of Bitcoin

The analysis indicates that most of Elon Musk’s tweets in recent months have caused the price of Bitcoin to drop from USD 60,000 to USD 40,000. There has been a positive impact on investor trust (23.5%) and the volume of tweets (44.4%). However, Elon Musk’s posts have impacted the value of the cryptocurrency by around -1.6% daily.

Musk’s influence began when he announced that Tesla would start accepting Bitcoin payments for its electric vehicles. The price of the cryptocurrency immediately increased, yielding a maximum return of 4.3% in 7 hours. According to the study, investor sentiment turned increasingly positive, rising by around 87%.

That situation changed when Tesla suspended payments with Bitcoin after Musk criticized the use of energy by miners. That tweet led the price of Bitcoin to drop by 13% in a matter of hours. At the same time, investor sentiment declined from 43% to 21% in 24 hours.

In a more recent tweet, the entrepreneur announced that Tesla would resume accepting payments with Bitcoin. He said that the condition for this would be that miners use 50% clean energy, which positively impacted the market. While investor sentiment remained positive, the price of the crypto asset rose by 5%.

Incidence of Michael Saylor’s Posts on Bitcoin

The report also reviews MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor’s Twitter posts. It notes that most of the executive’s tweets occurred when the price of Bitcoin went from USD 11,000 to USD 60,000. In his usually positive messages, he has announced new purchases of the crypto asset by MicroStrategy or has promoted it.

Following Michael Saylor’s tweets, Bitcoin has shown a return of about 2.2% over 24 hours. The study also notes that such posts often affect investor sentiment positively.

One of the tweets was about the meeting of both entrepreneurs with Bitcoin miners to discuss the use of green energy. While investor sentiment dropped, the price of the crypto asset fell by about 13%. That happened due to a Mining Council that the tycoons led but that the bitcoiners did not welcome.

Data from the report suggests that influencers in the cryptocurrency market have taken advantage of these lucrative opportunities. Even hacker group Anonymous has stated that Elon Musk manipulates that market, highlighting that he has destroyed lives.

By Alexander Salazar

The application of the new monetary conversion in Venezuela will take effect as of October 1^st. The BCV explained that the value of the physical bolivar would not differ from that of its digital form.

The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) recently confirmed the application of its new currency conversion in the country. That would be the third since 2008, when Venezuela slashed three zeros from the national fiat currency. The body governing monetary policies will remove six zeros from the bolivar, now called the digital bolivar.

The measure will take effect from October 1^st, the BCV announced in a statement. People must now divide all the amounts of money expressed in bolivars by 1,000,000. For example, VES 5,000,000 will be five digital bolivars starting next month.

When formalizing its decision, the issuing entity explained that the digital bolivar does not affect the value of the Venezuelan fiat currency. The bolivar will not be worth more or less but is moving to a simpler monetary scale to facilitate its use.

That measure could lead to the elimination of the physical version of the bolivar. However, the BCV said that it would continue to address the issuance of banknotes and possible coins. The entity said that both the physical bolivar and the digital bolivar would coexist to rescue its strength.

The bank also discussed the exchange rate with other national currencies such as the US dollar and the euro. They indicated that the rates would continue to align with the Venezuelan Exchange Market System. According to the financial institution, the exchange desks of banking entities serve to calculate the variations of the bolivar against other currencies.

The Bolivar Has a New Name, But It Is Still the Same Currency

The BCV stated that the digital bolivar would be the same traditional bolivar already in circulation in Venezuela. It would not be a new currency based on Bitcoin technology or related to a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

In this scenario, the BCV also does not mention the status of Petro (PTR), a cryptocurrency project that Nicolás Maduro promoted. What the bank does say is that the digital bolivar will facilitate interbank transactions.

Currently, Venezuelan users must wait several hours or days for the funds they transfer between different banks to become available. According to the bank, the entry into force of the digital bolivar will allow these transactions to be almost immediate.

Concerning the two previous currency conversion processes, Venezuela has slashed fourteen zeros from the bolivar. In other words, one unit of the digital bolivar is equivalent to 100,000,000,000,000 bolivars from before 2008.

In addition to the Venezuelan fiat currency, the inhabitants of the South American country use the US dollar. Likewise, a growing number of people are now using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to purchase essential goods. Venezuela is the third country that has adopted cryptocurrencies worldwide, according to a 2020 Chainalysis report.

Venezuelan inflation is the highest worldwide, evident in the continued devaluation of its national fiat currency. The Central Bank of Venezuela hopes that the implementation of the digital bolivar will help control this situation.

By Alexander Salazar

EIP-1559 introduces the concept of tips and adds a fee-burning mechanism on Ethereum. An hour after the London hard fork occurred, around 200 ETH burned.

The London hard fork occurred at Ethereum block height 12,965,000, incorporating the long-awaited Ethereum EIP-1559 upgrade. That changes the way miners receive their income by introducing tips and adding the burning of fees.

The amounts burned range from 0.03 ETH to 1.4 ETH per block, according to Etherscan. Almost an hour after the hard fork happened, around 200 ETH burned.

This implementation has brought to the Ethereum community optimism about the changes. However, it is necessary to understand that the developers expect them to make the improvements visible in the long term.

In recent months, people have heard and read that the activation of EIP-1559 causes Ether to become a deflationary asset.

Investors are particularly interested in this feature, as it would incorporate the concept of growing scarcity. For that reason, several users refer to Ether as ultrasonic money, seeking to show its supposed superiority over Bitcoin (BTC). They often call it solid money because of its limited supply of a maximum of 21 million units.

This Will Allow Ethereum to Become Deflationary

Consensys founder Joseph Lubin said there is a fixed amount of gold on the planet. Furthermore, he noted that the fixed supply of Bitcoin represents solid money for some people. There is USD 13 billion worth of ETH in the Ethereum 2.0 contract and USD 70 billion in decentralized finance. While the demand for Ether is high, the introduction of the London hard fork incorporates the burning of ETH.

Although Lubin is right, people must understand what he says over a long period. For Ether to be a deflationary asset, more ETH than issued needs to burn.

According to Bitrates, miners extract about 18 million ETH every year, so there could be nearly 49,000 new ETH.

A total of 4,800 ETH would cease to exist each day if the trend of 200 ETH that burn per hour continues. This figure is almost ten times less than that issued in the same period. For that reason, Ethereum is not yet a deflationary monetary system.

Timing of the Ethereum Cryptocurrency to Become Deflationary

Ether could be deflationary after the network goes through proof of stake (PoS) with the full implementation of Ethereum 2.0.

Developer Justin Drake is serving as a researcher for the Ethereum Foundation. He explained that the peak of supply would happen through the merge of the current blockchain with that of version 2.0. After that, there would be a reduction in the number of tokens in circulation through their burning.

According to Drake’s calculations, the supply would be around 120 million ETH for the merger to occur.

There is a total of 117 million ETH in circulation out of around 117 million. However, there is no single mechanism to calculate the supply on Ethereum, unlike that on Bitcoin.

No one knows yet when the expected merge will occur. However, some people expect the execution of a minimum viable merge by the end of this year or early next year.

Ethereum 2.0 could be fully operational in December 2023, but the developers could adjust that date as their research progresses.

By Alexander Salazar