Ethereum has now surpassed Bank of America and Disney With $ 3,000 Per Ether

ETH has dropped around 30% in the last week. The cryptocurrency domains at least 16% of the current market.

Ether (ETH) has launched a new market hit. Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency raised $ 3,000 for the first time, and its actual capitalization of the situation ranks among the 30 most valued assets of the world, according to Bank of America and Disney.

With the price of the cryptocurrency on the 3,150 dollars and a total capitalization of one USD 365,000 million, ETH currently has the power 27 between the major mayors of the world, according to the CompaniesMarketCap records.

With the new point in its price, ETH also surpassed the market capitalization of Home Depot, Nestlé and Procter & Gamble. The cryptocurrency log ranks among the top 30 in capitalization after having passed to the PayPal payment gateway.

With less than a 5% increment in its price, Ethereum’s cryptocurrency will be one of the 25 most valuable assets in the world. Currently, there are more than 10,000 million dollars in the capitalization of the Nvidia graphics card maker and UnitedHealth insurer. Bitcoin, meanwhile, is in the top 10 with a superior capitalization of billions of dollars.

ETH came to a new maximum historical price almost a few days ago, with around an 8% increase in the last 24 hours. The cryptocurrency holds its record again. A week ago, ether dropped approximately 27%, ratifying its current market price, according to CoinMarketCap data.

ETH domains Over 15% of the Cryptocurrency Market

Due to its new hit of total capitalization, ETH has surpassed the 15% dominance of the cryptocurrency market in the last few days. This situation leads bitcoin to lose its authority and rise by 50% within the first time from 2018.

As a result of the current situation, ETH’s dominance shows a very high point, like the one recorded in 2017. According to CoinMarketCap’s historian, Ethereum’s cryptocurrency increased 31% of its dominance this year.

According to the Altcoin Season Index, an altcoin period seems to be hitting the market, with the majority of the top 50 cryptocurrencies beating the bitcoin yield in the last three months.

Vitalik Buterin and His Millions

According to Forkast, according to Vitalik Buterin’s revelation in October 2018, the young man now has more than a thousand million dollars in ETH on his main ticket.

Also, Ethereum’s price increase turned Buterin into the most prominent multimillionaire. Only Austin Russell, who founded Luminar Technologies in 2012, can match him. Russell currently has a net worth of $ 2.6 million, according to Forbes.

What is the value of Ethereum?

Some users describe The Ethereum blockchain as the potential vertebral column of the Future. The Ethereum protocol captures with efficiency the value of applications created on it. Three main factors stimulate the growing demand for Ethereum and ETH prices: decentralized finance (DeFi), the eye of the NFT market, and the need for stable coins.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The Upcoming Ethereum Hard Fork Aims to Fix the Ethereum Scalability Problems

This upgrade to the network will allow operators to conduct more transactions and pay lower fee costs for mining. The burning of the base fee amount will decrease the supply of ETH as well as miners’ income.

The community has been preparing for the launch of ETH 2.0, the new version of the Ethereum network. That update promises to fix the serious scalability problems that Ether (ETH) faces daily.

Since this process will occur in stages over several years, everything must be ready for the upcoming hard fork. Ethereum developers hope that it will reduce fee costs on the network.

This Ethereum Hard Fork Will Allow Going from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) Method to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Method

The Ethereum update is one of the few momentous changes in the history of the crypto world. This is not just a routine improvement to the cryptocurrency’s network but a fundamental change in its operation. It will make it possible to go from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) method, which Bitcoin also uses, to the more modern Proof-of-Stake (PoS) method.

This change seeks to end the Ethereum scalability problems, allowing validators to conduct more transactions. The decrease in bottlenecks on the Ethereum network will lead to faster transactions and lower mining fee costs.

However, this is a very radical change in what has been its operation to date. For that reason, the implementation of ETH 2.0 is happening in stages. At present, a parallel blockchain within Ethereum already works with PoS while the main chain still uses PoW. This is a relevant step in the merging process of both chains on July 14th with the upcoming Ethereum hard fork London.

The London Hard Fork Mainly Seeks to Attack High Transaction Fees

The London hard fork will be a crucial moment in the upgrade process of Ethereum. However, that event will not lead to the expected merger of ETH’s transaction validation methods and the use of the PoS method. This hard fork will make it possible to start attacking the main problem that Ethereum currently faces: high transaction fees.

Following the implementation of this hard fork, the management of fee costs on the Ethereum network will be available. This stage will include the establishment of a base fee amount, which will burn later. That will decrease the supply of ETH in the market, as well as the income of miners, prompting them to migrate to the PoS method as soon as possible.

London is not the only change proposed for the Ethereum network right now. For example, the EIP-3238 improvement proposal would delay the “difficulty bomb.” This is an increase of at least ten more months in mining difficulty to incentivize PoW miners to migrate to PoS. However, at the moment, none of these improvement proposals have received approval as London did.

The solution to the Ethereum scalability problems and the reduction in fee costs are the most important objectives of this hard fork. The community hopes that the transition from the PoW method to the PoS method will help them conduct more transactions.

By Alexander Salazar

By Securing and Validating Online Transactions, Bitcoin Miners Are Generating USD 2 Million per Hour

Profits on the network are reaching new levels thanks to the rise in the price of Bitcoin. Amid rising prices, miners prefer to accumulate rather than sell.

Currently, Bitcoin (BTC) miners are generating significant revenue from securing and validating transactions on the network. This year alone, they have earned USD 6.059 million in rewards for the issuance of new coins and the payment of fees.

It is possible to calculate the average of what miners have earned daily by dividing the total amount between the days elapsed in 2021. They are generating almost USD 50 million per day, equivalent to about USD 2 million per hour.

March Was the Most Profitable Month for Bitcoin Miners

During March and April, the Bitcoin network had its highest amount of revenue from mining. In the third month of the year, there was an income of USD 1.75 billion, being the most profitable month for Bitcoin miners. Of that amount, USD 1,583 million comes from the issuance of BTC and another USD 167 million from transaction fees.

In April, the figure that miners earned was similar but slightly lower, according to data from CoinGecko. In the fourth month of the year, there was a total income of USD 1.7 billion, at a rate of USD 1.46 billion in rewards and USD 247 million in fees.

The boost in revenue growth started in January when miners generated USD 1.12 billion. This was a representative figure as the network had not exceeded USD 1 billion per month since January 2018. At that time, revenues reached a total amount of USD 1.02 billion.

In February, there was revenue generation growth of USD 1.36 billion, the third-best for Bitcoin miners. So far in May, there have already been revenues of USD 126 million, totaling USD 6,059 million.

The bullish cycle that the market of cryptocurrencies experiences, leading many to reach all-time highs, is driving the figures higher. Regarding Bitcoin, the main cryptocurrency on the market was trading at USD 64,671 in mid-April.

Miners Prefer To Accumulate (“Hodl”) Bitcoins Rather Than Sell Them on the Market

Bitcoin miners are generating significant figures for their contributions to the network. However, that does not necessarily mean that they are spending their coins. On the contrary, miners are selling less Bitcoin amid the bullish market, according to Glassnode metrics.

That report indicates that the average amount of Bitcoin that miners transferred to exchanges in seven days in April dropped to 152.77 BTC. That was a figure not seen since October of last year.

In late February, Bitcoin sales among miners began to decline. That trend could be influencing the increase in the price of the pioneering cryptocurrency. That is due to the lower supply of coins in the market while the demand remains.

There is little evidence of the role that miners play in the declines in Bitcoin’s price, according to a study by Coin Metrics. The truth is that, when there are not enough coins available in the market, its price will grow as a result of demand.

By Alexander Salazar

The Government of China Tightens Measures to Combat Fraud Involving Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies

China recently issued new anti-fraud rules to combat financial scams involving cryptocurrencies. Fake P2P lending platforms continue to thrive even though the country has closed around 6,000 of them.

In recent days, the State Council of China issued new rules to stop scammers from illegally raising funds. The new anti-fraud regulations are aimed at ending financial scams, as well as activities related to investment in cryptocurrencies.

The Chinese banking regulator noted that financial fraud is becoming more complex and expanding. That has led the entity to request officials to pay greater attention to the fraud hiding behind the cryptocurrency ecosystem. They also warn about wealth management, loan platforms, and real estate, among others, according to local digital media.

The new measures seek to detect crime early, give a legal response when the illicit act takes place, and “prevent” the illegal raising of funds.

Fake P2P Lending Platforms Operate on Behalf of Investment and Finance Management

To start with, the measures make it possible to identify illegal fundraising and fraud operating in the name of financial and investment management. Many scammers launch fake P2P lending platforms to lure in victims with misleading quick-win offers.

The Chinese government has closed around 6,000 fraudulent platforms in recent years. However, a regulator told Reuters that they continue to thrive alongside other forms of financial scams.

Under the new rules, local officials have a responsibility to end investment scams at an early stage. “Previously, victims had to go to court, but now they can take officials to court for negligence,” the publication adds.

The governments of the regions are also receiving the cooperation of banks to identify suspected illegal investment schemes involving cryptocurrencies. A source reported to Reuters that there might even be a blacklist of bank accounts associated with scams.

The Number of Scams Involving Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Multiply

In 2020, the number of cryptocurrency-related scams around the world increased by 40%, compared to the previous year. At that time, the Chinese government launched a campaign to address the proliferation of scams involving blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

In 2019, scammers promoted 32 thousand projects that claimed to use blockchain networks in the Chinese territory. Official Wu Zhen noted that many of these companies were taking advantage of the blockchain technology boom to gain momentum. However, less than 10% of those firms actually used or worked with this technology.

Scams involving cryptocurrencies proliferate as the prices of these assets rise and interest in this market grows. In 2020 alone, more than 400,000 emerged, and crypto-asset crime may increase by 75% by the end of 2021.

The prices of cryptocurrencies have reached all-time highs that have generated significant gains for their holders. Scammers are aware of such a situation, so they have created fake platforms to make misleading offers to unsuspecting users. However, several studies indicate that the illegal use of Bitcoin hardly represents less than 1% of the market.

By Alexander Salazar

Two Men Who Sold Drugs from Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia for Bitcoin Receive a Prison Sentence

In two years, the drug traffickers made around USD 5 million worth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The judge said that the men were selling class A drugs that they bought in South America.

In recent days, a UK court sentenced two men to 13 and 10 years’ imprisonment, respectively. They were selling large amounts of cocaine that they bought in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia for Bitcoin on the dark web. The judge found the alleged leader of the operation Jehanzeb Amar and his partner Salahydin Warsame guilty of drug trafficking in England.

The drug traffickers made around USD 5 million worth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for their activities over two years. They used the dark web sites LetsWork and TheOnlyLw for their wholesale and retail commercial operations. Buyers had to make payments using cryptocurrencies, according to digital media from the UK.

Undercover Police Officers Arrest Men Who Were Selling Drugs for Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies

Undercover police officers arrested the two men, both 29, who were in possession of large amounts of drugs. The officers recovered heroin, thousands of LSD pills, and GBP 30,000 in cash (equivalent to USD 41,500).

One year ago, a police officer detected pictures of drugs for sale, which led to the beginning of the undercover operations. After that, the police managed to detect that a reference to “new Boly” (cocaine from Bolivia) appeared on one of the websites. Likewise, they found other posts promoting “class A” drugs from Colombia and Peru.

Warsame’s arrest occurred on July 20th, 2020 when he was in his Volkswagen Caddy. At the time, he was heading to the post office with 61 packages, which he intended to send to customers in England and Wales. In Amar’s case, his arrest occurred during a raid on a place that served as a “factory to prepare drugs for sale.”

No one yet has information on the seizure of the bitcoins, and other cryptocurrencies involved in the illegal activity. Several studies have shown that the use of Bitcoin in illegal activities is not as extensive as many think. In fact, it hardly represents less than 1% of the total flow in the market.

When a Big Market on the Dark Web Dies, Several Smaller Ones Are Born

According to an investigation, when a market on the dark web closes, most of its users migrate to the market that follows in terms of the trading volume. That shows that demand is what keeps these dark markets alive.

Last January, Europol closed the illegal market classified as the largest on the dark web. The authorities disconnected their servers after arresting an Australian who was allegedly trading drugs, malware and other illegal goods through the platform.

The transactions conducted in this black market generated a total amount that exceeded USD 150 million worth of Bitcoin and Monero. However, while authorities have closed the largest websites in terms of trading volume, hundreds serving smaller markets have emerged.

By Alexander Salazar

Regulations to Control Bitcoin Exchanges in Turkey Are Becoming Tighter

The Turkish authorities will require these platforms to request their customers for their proof of residency and KYC documents. According to a government decree, the new measure took effect on May 1st.

The Turkish government recently issued a decree, effective as of May 1st, on exchanges of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. The document establishes that these companies must comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) regulations.

Besides, the authorities hold “crypto-asset service providers” responsible for ensuring the legal use of the assets that they manage. Therefore, the latter must comply with a series of regulations to control these types of assets.

These platforms “were not under any regulatory and supervisory mechanism or a central regulatory authority.” For that reason, the Turkish monetary authorities considered it appropriate to implement the measure.

The 32 exchanges in the Turkish market will now have to follow strict regulations from MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board). Among other rules, the exchanges must require their customers to provide proof of residency and know-your-client (KYC) identity documents.

Likewise, crypto-asset trading companies must block customers who are on the list of infringers. Additionally, they have to report to the government suspicious business activities and the services that they provide to institutional customers.

These would be only the first rules of the game that Turkey imposes as there may be more regulations shortly.

This occurred after the ban on the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to pay for products and services. The regulatory authorities announced it on April 16th, and it went into effect on April 30th.

Nobody knows the implications of these government decisions on the Turkish economy as the Eurasian country has given great importance to Bitcoin. Many people have used it as a store of value in the face of the devaluation of the local fiat currency.

In the last 6 years, the Turkish lira has been losing value, reaching 16% so far in 2021 alone. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has appreciated by more than 1,200% in the last 12 months.

Two Turkish Cryptocurrency Exchanges Close Abruptly

The new demands on exchanges come after the closure of two major Turkish cryptocurrency exchanges: Thodex and Vebitcoin.

Local prosecutors opened an investigation on the first of them for an alleged case of collective fraud. The founder and CEO of the exchange, Faruk Fatih Ozer, left the country for Albania. The authorities accused him of allegedly appropriating hundreds of millions of US dollars worth of cryptocurrencies.

According to preliminary estimates, the stoppage would affect almost 400,000 users, who cannot withdraw or deposit cryptocurrencies.

For that reason, the Turkish security forces arrested more than 80 people. Among them are Ozer’s brother and sister, as well as top executives from the company.

The Thodex platform preceded Vebitcoin, which notified its users that it would cease all activities. In a brief statement on their website, they said that they were facing financial stress.

“We regret to say that this situation has led us to a very difficult process in the financial field. We decided to stop our activities to comply with all regulations and claims,” Vebitcoin executives wrote.

By Willmen Blanco