The crypto community is patiently waiting for the highly anticipated Ethereum network upgrade from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) as The Merge is expected to happen 27 days from now. After Ethereum transitions from PoW to PoS, only two crypto assets in the top ten market cap rankings will be PoW tokens, which is a stark contrast to the top ten nine years ago.

This year, for the first time in crypto history, three stablecoins entered the top ten largest market cap positions. During the first week of May, Terras stablecoin UST made it into the top ten alongside USDT and USDC, but after USTs depegging incident, the token fell from the top ten coin rankings. After USTs implosion, the Binance Smart Chain-issued BUSD stablecoin joined the top coins by valuation and today, three stablecoins remain in the top ten.

That wasnt the case nine years ago, on August 18, 2013, as there were no stablecoins in the top ten, because the stablecoin trend was not prevalent at all back then. In 27 days, Ethereum will change from PoW to PoS after operating as a PoW chain for seven years, and when that happens, only two coins in the top ten will be PoW tokens. The last standing top two PoW crypto tokens in the top ten will be bitcoin (BTC) and dogecoin (DOGE). This trend was also not prevalent nine years ago in 2013, when the top ten crypto tokens were mostly PoW coins.

On August 18, 2013, bitcoin (BTC) was changing hands for $113 per unit and ethereum was nonexistent. In fact, the Ethereum blockchain did not launch for another 711 days after August 18, 2013, and litecoin (LTC) was the second-largest crypto token by market cap. Proof-of-stake crypto assets were conceptualized at the time, and in 2013 there were a number of hybrid proof-of-work and proof-of-stake tokens with peercoin (PPC) leading the charge. PPC was the first hybrid PoW/PoS blockchain introduced to the crypto community, and it was created by the pseudonymous developer Sunny King.

Nine years ago, the PoW and hybrid PoW coins in the top ten included bitcoin (BTC), litecoin (LTC), namecoin (NMC), peercoin (PPC), feathercoin (FTC), novacoin (NVC), primecoin (XPM), terracoin (TRC), and infinitecoin (IFC). At that time in 2013, the only non-PoW coin in the top ten standings was XRP, and XRP is still in the top ten crypto market cap rankings in 2022. Close to seven years ago on August 23, 2015, there were fewer PoW coins in the top ten, even with ethereum (ETH) joining the ranks as a PoW coin.

At that time, only six PoW coins existed in the top ten, including BTC, LTC, ETH, DASH, DOGE, and BCN. At the time in 2015, hybrid PoW/PoS coins were pushed down in value and pure PoS networks started to become more prevalent. On August 23, 2015, banx shares (BANX) and bitshares (BTS) were among the most valuable PoS assets. BTS still exists and is worth $0.010 per unit today while BANX is non-existent following significant controversy.

Two years later, six PoW coins still remained in the top ten on August 20, 2017. PoW coins included at that time were BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, DASH, and ETC. BCH, LTC, DASH, and ETC no longer appear in the top ten standings. Further, a few other coins that once held positions in the top ten like IOTA, NEM, and NEO have also dropped out of the top ten standings since then. That was close to five years ago and today, DOGE and BTC are the last PoW coins standing in the top ten.

Moreover, its worth noting that dogecoin (DOGE) is in the tenth position and is fairly close to polkadots (DOT) market cap in size. When The Merge takes place and Ethereum becomes a PoS chain, theres a chance DOGE may not be in the top ten if prices change. If DOGE is knocked out and The Merge is complete, BTC will be the only proof-of-work digital asset out of the top ten largest crypto market capitalizations.

What do you think about the top ten coins losing proof-of-work dominance over the last nine years? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,700 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Top 10 PoW Dominance Evaporates 9 Years Later, Only Two Proof-of-Work Coins Will Remain After The Merge Blockchain Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

It was around 3 a.m. the first time they arrived. An unmarked, nondescript government-issued vehicle pulled up to the towering brown brick and blue glass building in downtown Manhattan known simply by its address: 75 Wall Street. The city that never sleeps was in that rare moment when the ostinato of car horns and rattling subway cars had been replaced by a deep, albeit brief, slumber. The agents stepped out of their vehicle and walked through the revolving doors of the 42-story building, crossing the shiny white oak floors of the lobby to reach the doorman on duty that night. It was 2021, in the midst of the second wave of the COVID pandemic, and the bottom 18 floors of 75, which had originally opened as the Andaz Hotel, had shuttered because of the virus. Seeing anyone at this hour was rare for the doorman, but seeing a group of federal agents was an utter anomaly.

Were picking up signals that someone in this building is trafficking child pornography, one of the agents said to the doorman. We need to go up to the roof to see if we can track where the signal is coming from. The doorman, though slightly taken aback, obliged and pointed the way to the elevators.

As the agents stepped in one of the buildings four elevators, the doorman wondered which resident of the 346-unit building, where condos can cost as much as $7 million, could be trafficking child porn. After a while, the agents came back to the lobby and left the building.

A couple of weeks went by and the feds returned. And again a few weeks after that. At one point, the night doorman offered them a little investigative advice. You sure youre in the right building? he said. Seems more like something youd find at 95 Wall Street? Indeed, 95 was far more malefic than 75. Over that same summer of 2021, the shiny glass building across the street had been the site of a series of drug busts by the NYPD; reviews of the building online had called it a haven for coke dealers, gangsters, and all-night Airbnb parties. Most recently, a high-end escort had been killed there, stuffed into a 55-gallon drum and wheeled out the back door before being dumped in New Jersey.

Nope, the agents said. Definitely this building. And off they went to the roof again. Then, one evening, the pattern changed. The agents showed an interest in one specific floor. The signal they were after, it seemed, was getting stronger.

In reality, the agents were not at 75 because of child pornography. The crime they tracked there had originally taken place in Hong Kong in the summer of 2016, when someone had found a flaw in the code of the Bitfinex crypto exchange and stolen 119,754 Bitcoin, worth around $72 million at the time. Its value had since grown 70-fold and was now in the billions. After a half decade tracking and tracing, climbing on roofs and skulking through the dead of night, the feds had finallyfinally!found the people who had somehow gotten their hands on that stolen Bitcoin. A married couple in their early 30s, with a wild online presence and a Bengal cat named Clarissa (who had her own Instagram account). The husband, Ilya Dutch Lichtenstein, a Russian-born migr, was an investor and part-time mentalist magician. His wife, Heather Razzlekhan Morgan, who was from the U.S., was an entrepreneur, journalist, and rapper.

That was just the beginning, as I discovered in more than 50 interviews with friends and former colleagues of the couple, investigators close to the case, and employees and residents of 75 Wall Street. As the feds were about to find out, this would prove to be one of the strangest cases in the ever-evolving world of crypto crimeand the first clue of just how bizarre this case would become was sitting right there on the couples social media accounts.

Ah, Bitcoin, a new era of money. That invention-slash-ideology that promised to usher in an era of glittering, sparkling, frolicking financial technotopia. Our generations fiscal Woodstock! And by God, did the internet need it. Back at the turn of the aughts, when this bizarre Bitcoin thing was slowly being squeezed from the birth canals of the webs most arcane forums, financial anonymity simply didnt exist online. You bought something digitally, and a database somewhere was tattooed with every microscopic detail about you.

Bitcoin, which made its hushed debut in 2009, promised to change that. It went on to upend the global financial landscape in ways that no one could have ever believed possible (anyone who tells you they foresaw the world we live in today is either a liar or a Bitcoin billionaire). Crypto now makes up $3 trillion in wealth, and the worlds largest financial institutions, including Chase and the Bank of England, cite digital currencies as the future of finance, although a major collapse in value this year has even some true believers wondering if that prediction will pan out.

It was as if Lichtenstein and Morgan HAD A STOLEN Ferrari and as they were TRYING TO HIDE IT in their garage, it turned into a sparkling diamond-encrusted jumbo jet with GOLDEN toilet seats.

The rise of cryptocurrencies also brought with it a new era of crime unlike anything weve ever seen before. Sites soon popped up on the dark web that made it easy to buy drugs, guns, murder, fake diplomas, ricin, body parts, bombs, rocket launchers, and even uranium, all using Bitcoin. And a few years later, because of that promise of financial anonymity, came the rise of a relatively obscure crime called the ransomware attack, where a companys or persons computer system is taken hostage and the only way to unlock it is by paying a fee inyou guessed itcrypto. While this kind of computer hijacking dates to the early 90s, payment was often made by cash or credit card, and as such, was few and far between. Last year, the FBI released a report saying there are now 4,000 ransomware attacks every day (compared to seven bank robberies a day), and that online perpetrators stole $14 billion in Bitcoin in 2021 alone (traditional bank robbers, by comparison, only got away with a couple hundred million). Because of the ease of crypto, hospitals are now taken hostage and held at financial gunpoint. Banks and hedge funds grind to a halt. Even a meatpacking plant was recently forced to pay $11 million in Bitcoin to get access to its beef patties, chicken cutlets, and pork sausages.

Then there are the other crimes, where new waves of hackers phish, spoof, rootkit, worm, cloak, and brute-force their way into stealing all sorts of digital assets, from NFTs to literally (and sometimes figuratively) making off with millions in digital gold.

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The Ballad of Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, Bitcoins Bonnie and Clyde - Vanity Fair

This is an opinion editorial by Jeremy, an advisor to Escape to El Salvador which is a community of professionals who assist expats in gaining residency and citizenship in El Salvador.

Over the last few years, a lot of fuss has been made about so-called crypto-colonizers moving to the developing world and taking advantage of affordable housing and other amenities provided by disadvantaged locals. The Washington Post, Business Insider and even the New York Times reported from Puerto Rico, throwing around terms like gentrification, and associating this new class of wealthy, globe-trotting entrepreneurs with words like utopian, idealist, and the slimier evangelist.

Now, Im not here to defend any particular individual or how they made their money, or even what they plan to do with it. Instead, I want to drill into one, very specific foundation for these types of accusations: that the rise in prices is due to demand. Superficially, thats partly true. As anyone who has taken an intro to economics course can tell you, prices are set by the law of supply and demand. Each of these, in turn, can be influenced by a variety of factors. For the purposes of this article, I want to focus completely on real estate.

Real estate has a supply problem: They arent making any more land and all of it is already spoken for. Outside of a few eccentric efforts to raise islands from the sea, if you want a place to live, you have to buy it or rent it from someone. The seller is going to decide how much they are willing to accept for it based on a variety of factors: primarily its location, but also its use and the quality of its improvements. You can break this down even further and consider the view, the legal jurisdiction, the applicable tax regime, the soil quality of the land, its ease of access, perhaps whether it contains rare or useful minerals or other natural resources and finally, whether there may be a conservation or historical element to its valuation.

On the demand side of the equation, there are just as many nuances. A buyer will decide how much they are willing to pay by considering all of the above, plus one additional truth: You gotta live somewhere. Not choosing a place isnt a realistic strategy unless the ambiance of a highway overpass or the unique aroma of the dry patch behind the dumpster in the alley downtown really speaks to you. There is one additional factor that weighs heavily on the minds of both buyer and seller that has caused real estate prices to rise more than any other: financialization.

As a thought experiment, imagine what the cost of a house would be if its value were completely dependent on its utility as a house. In other words, how much would you be willing to pay to keep the rain from dripping on your head when you sleep, or for having a safe place to raise a family? How much do the materials of its construction contribute to its price? Size is important, as well as aesthetics and so on, but surely youll agree that the price requested for most homes greatly exceeds its utility value solely as a house. The remainder of its price has more to do with its utility as a financial asset. In fact, that might be the primary driver of price in most real estate markets today. So how did we get here?

Our current global economy is designed around a simple idea: By slowing eroding the value of money through inflation, you stimulate investment and growth. Sounds easy, right? The problem is that most people arent savvy enough to invest in a complex marketplace, so investing in real estate becomes a proxy for a long-term store of wealth. This kind of system is inherently unstable given the fate of every fiat currency that has ever been tried. Ultimately, every issuer of currency succumbs to the desire to print ever-expanding amounts, leading to hyperinflation. Asset prices rise in accordance with the supply of money and everything ends up being too expensive to buy toward the end of the cycle.

If it werent obvious, were at the end of the cycle. Prices of everything are setting records and it is human nature to want to assign the blame for the fact that home ownership, which once seemed to be a reachable goal, is now a distant fantasy. If you look around and the only folks that seem to be able to afford the home you wish you had are the nouveau riche, then they can seem convenient to blame even more so if they are flagrantly terrible people. But, and this is the important part: They arent to blame for the rising prices. Blaming them for the unaffordability in the market is like blaming a baby for its pregnancy. Scammers arent the disease, theyre a symptom.

So now that youre thoroughly depressed, you may be asking, What can we do about it? The answer is simple, although to those disadvantaged locals it may seem counterintuitive. The answer is to adopt bitcoin as quickly as you can. Switch yourself, your family, your neighborhood, and your country over to a bitcoin standard without delay. Only by taking the ability to print money out of the hands of the ruling class, can we put an end to the hyperinflationary death spiral we are now experiencing. If you are in a developing country, one of the best ways you can get started with this is to reach out to that bitcoin immigrant you might have been quick to blame. Realize that if they spend bitcoin on a house in your community, for example, thats a great way to get bitcoin flowing through the local economy, and thats what adoption looks like.

There is no shortcut here and the transition will be bumpy. But unless we switch to a deflationary currency that doesnt create the incentive to financialize assets like real estate, the situation will get worse.

This is a guest post by Jeremy. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.

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The Financialization Of Real Estate Is The Problem, Bitcoin Is The Solution - Bitcoin Magazine

A top executive at financial services giant Fidelity Investments believes that Bitcoin (BTC) is currently a bargain.

Fidelitys director of global macro Jurrien Timmer says that based on the thesis that Bitcoin price will rise as its network grows, the flagship crypto asset is looking cheap.

If you believe in Bitcoins adoption-curve thesis (i.e. that the network will continue to expand in line with previous S-curves), then its reasonable to view Bitcoin as cheap at these levels.

According to the macro expert, the price of Bitcoin is below the actual and projected growth of its network.

For me, the main nuance is the slope of the adoption curve. Whether we use the mobile-phone curve or internet curve as proxies, Bitcoins price is below its actual and projected network-growth curve. That curve provides a fundamental anchor for Bitcoins price.

Timmer has previously explained that Bitcoins adoption rate is likely to mirror that of mobile phones or internet technology.

Using the analogy of Bitcoin as digital gold, Timmer says that the king crypto was massively oversold during the recent market downturn and has deviated from the trend when the two are compared side by side.

If Bitcoin is golds precocious younger sibling, it makes sense to look at Bitcoin priced in gold (i.e., Bitcoins beta to gold). Technically, the recent sell-off produced the biggest oversold condition in years (measured as the number of standard deviations from trend).

The macro expert also says that amid the crypto downturn, the percentage of Bitcoin held for less than three months (short-term holders) remains relatively unchanged while the percentage of Bitcoin held for over 10 years (long-term holders) is rising.

Who is buying Bitcoin these days? Apparently not the tourists (i.e., short-term holders). The percentage of Bitcoins held less than three months has barely budged lately.

But the number of HODLers keeps growing. The percentage of Bitcoin held for at least 10 years is now 13%.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Maria Starus

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Bitcoin Is Currently Cheap Amid Biggest Oversold Condition in Years, Says Fidelity Macro Expert H... - The Daily Hodl

This is an opinion editorial by Robert Hall, a content creator and small business owner.

Do you dream of retiring someday? You work all day and put in the hard work to grow your business or to do an excellent job for your employer so you can get a promotion and make more money. What are we supposed to do with our paychecks after the bills are paid, food is put on the table and the kids are taken care of?

Conventional wisdom tells us that we should save for retirement to enjoy our "golden years." This isn't bad advice per se as we can't keep working forever. Having money to rely on after you stop working is prudent financial planning. As you know, a whole industry is dedicated to planning for your future self.

Most financial advisors will tell you to invest your money in a 401(k) and let it grow over time. This has worked out for millions of Americans. For example, the S&P 500 10-year annualized return was 14.25%. This isn't bad when you take it at face value, but once you factor in inflation, this number becomes much lower. Instead of reaping the entire 14% gain, your purchasing power adjusted for inflation is more like 12% after you factor in the Federal Reserve target of 2% inflation target every year. If inflation continues the way it has this year for an extended period, your retirement savings could look much smaller than you thought. This 2% loss also compounds year over year the same as your gains; keep that in mind.

This isn't right! Why should we suffer because of the monetary policies set by the Fed? Mind you, we never voted for any of these jokers causing so much hardship for us and the rest of the world. The Federal Reserve's policy of printing trillions of dollars and buying up government treasuries is creating an unsustainable situation that could lead to the monetary collapse of the dollar.

Everyone thinks that it can't happen here, but it can. No one is immune to stupidity and hubris. Jerome Powell and the rest of the Federal Reserve have come down with a bad case of it. Do they honestly think they can control the economic lives of millions of people? How crazy do you have to be to believe this? Once people lose faith in the dollar, it's all over, folks, and that day is coming sooner than you think. Inflation raging at a 7% clip is a good way to scare people away from the dollar. I'm not saying it is imminent, but the overall trend is not good for the U.S.

So with all of this economic turmoil, how do you effectively save for retirement?

Bitcoin is the perfect vehicle for retirement for a variety of reasons. The first is that it is designed to appreciate into perpetuity. There are only 21 million coins that will ever be produced. This is called an inelastic supply. This means that as demand for bitcoin goes up, the price of bitcoin will also go up due to the scarcity of the supply. Did you know that there have been an estimated three million coins lost, so the total supply will be closer to 18 million by the time the last coin is produced in the year 2140?

The inelastic supply of Bitcoin is exactly what you want to see in a retirement fund asset. Investing your retirement savings in Bitcoin will secure your future retirement needs to the point where you can live comfortably.

Bitcoin is the perfect retirement vehicle because you are in control of your assets and not the bank or some assets manager. Believe it or not, neither of these actors have your financial interests at heart. Banks and asset managers are in the business of making money for their business and themselves. This means there are a bunch of hidden fees that you have to pay them to manage your money. This hides the actual cost of saving your money with a bank, and they will go to great lengths to ensure you don't fully understand all the fees. These entities want to take your money and for you to shut up.

When you compare this experience to buying and holding bitcoin, the experience couldn't be more different. The price of bitcoin is transparent and fees associated with buying, selling and sending to a non-custodial wallet are not hidden. This price transparency gives you a better picture of how much you are spending on fees. The cost of holding your bitcoin long term is meager. Buy a hardware wallet for cold storage and you are good to go. There is no ongoing cost to store your bitcoin wealth. The money you save on fees alone by investing in bitcoin instead of a 401(k) or IRA will add up over the years.

What can't be understated is the fact that you control your wealth and not your retirement administrator. The economy is not exactly excellent right now, and with inflation surging to 7% having easy access to your wealth in times of crisis will make all the difference. Can you imagine a bank run during which you cannot withdraw cash? Can you imagine your stock portfolio going to zero? This can happen to all of us. Lebanon is a good example of what can happen when the debt bomb explodes and everything becomes unaffordable. You are going to wish you had bitcoin! Luckily for you, it doesn't have to end up this way if you buy bitcoin now.

Forgoing a 401(k) or IRA may seem like a radical idea but have you stopped to think about why you invested in a 401(k) in the first place? What benefit do you get out of it other than having money when you retire? The most obvious reason beyond having savings for the future is the tax breaks you get from investing your money in the stock market.

I get it; it becomes very attractive when you can deduct your retirement contributions from your tax liability. You are being coerced into doing that if you think about it though. The government is telling you that we will take more of your money away if you don't invest your money in the stock market. Retirement investing is not entirely a free will choice.

If there were no tax breaks, would you save for retirement? Would retirement even be a concept? That's for another article, but you get my drift.

Saving for retirement with self-custodied bitcoin won't reap you any tax write-offs at the end of the year, but you get the security of knowing that your wealth is entirely secure and appreciating. I would gladly take that trade-off any day of the week. Who would you rather be in control of your wealth? Big banks or yourself? What do you trust more, Bitcoin or stocks? This is the choice we all have to make.

This is a guest post by Robert Hall. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.

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Bitcoin Is The New Retirement Strategy - Bitcoin Magazine

The start of this wasnt that favorable towards the crypto market as it began on a bearish note. The market is still signaling red, hence might end the week on a bearish note. The overall crypto has plunged by 3.02% in the last 24hrs and is now positioned at $1.09 trillion.

While the volatility continues since May, its becoming extremely difficult for traders and investors to make their decisions. Though there was some bull run seen last month, currently Bitcoin price is trading downwards. The flagship currency has lost its $23,000 mark and is currently trading at $22,807 with a fall of 2.86% over the last 24hrs.

Meanwhile, cryptoquant cryptoquant On-Chain Followers : 0 View profile , an analytic firm claims that the current phase is nothing like earlier bear cycles. The present bearish market is comparatively mild when looking at the 2014 and 2018 cycles.

It all started in November 2021 when the overall market began sliding down along with Bitcoin declining. Also, negative macroeconomic events have played a major role in bringing down the market.

As per the survey, considering the previous bear market performance, Bitcoin might find itself positioned at the $15,000 area in a few months. The analytic firm states that if the King currency decides to repeat the earlier bear cycles, then by the end of the year the pressure will see its heights.

As a result, as the year 2023 approaches, the market may be in for a long-term crypto rally. If Bitcoin begins to fall in price in the coming months, it may well continue until the end of the year.

On the other hand, Bitcoin price is also predicted to trade around the short-term target ranging between $21,000 and $20,000. This is likely to happen if there is short-term selling pressure on BTC.

Overall, If the current movement repeats, the king coin can see maximum pressure at the end of the year, starting in October trading range between $10,000 $14,500.

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How Will Bitcoin (BTC) Price Perform In the Last 4 Months of 2022? - Coinpedia Fintech News

This is a transcribed excerpt of the Bitcoin Magazine Podcast, hosted by P and Q. In this episode, they are joined by Nate of Voltage to talk about how the Lightning Network can transfer value instantly between two parties without having to involve an intermediary. The Lightning Network will allow the Bitcoin network to scale exponentially into the payments world.

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Q: What does Layer 2 mean? Could we equate it and give examples back to the current internet infrastructure and how we interact with that to make it digestible? I found that explanation is most helpful.

Nate: So the internet is decentralized information. Bitcoin is decentralized money. When the internet was first being put together by geniuses 40-50 years ago, they [engineers] were just excited to pass bits and bytes to different college campuses. None of them had any idea of music streaming, video streaming, what we're doing right now, none of that was possible.

Different protocol layers had to be built on the internet on the TCP/IP protocol. I'm not an expert on it, but what we're doing right now is interacting with five or six layers of that base internet protocol. That increases things like throughput, bandwidth and quality, all that kind of stuff.

So the internet is this layered cake that you can visualize. You could Google internet protocol layers, and I'm pretty sure theres some cool graphics for that. And Bitcoin is only a little over 12 years old now or something? Layer 1 is great. It's very secure. It's immutable, censorship resistant, all these really cool features. But the throughput has a problem if you impose global finance on top of it.

Layer 2 is this idea where you could do bitcoin transactions without having to fill the blocks or jam up the pipes of the base layer. We could still have that security apparatus in a way, but also get the instant settlement and finality without having to interact with that [base layer]. Lightning Network is one proposal of that block.

Blockstream has something called the Liquid Network where you basically just transfer bitcoin off of the Bitcoin base layer you're not actually doing that, but that helps you visualize it. Lightning is similar, but different because Lightning has this sort of node gossip network system. It's just about taking the same concept that worked for the internet and applying it to this new money because bitcoin is the money of the internet, but it's also the internet of money in that respect.

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JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington says digital currency exchanges like Coinbase will end up being a meaningful beneficiary of Ethereums long-awaited transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoW). Based on $2K ethereum prices and a 5% ethereum yield, Worthington explained that The Merge could boost Coinbases annual income by $80 to $100 million from staking services.

In 29 days, the Ethereum network is expected to implement The Merge on or around September 15, 2022. It will be a very big deal for the chain that has operated as a PoW blockchain for seven years. Thats because the network will fully transition into a PoS distributed ledger system. Four days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), strategists saying Ethereum Classic (ETC) could benefit from The Merge, as ether miners will be forced to mine another Ethash-based cryptocurrency.

This week, JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington explained in a note to investors that the crypto exchange Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN) could be a meaningful beneficiary of The Merge. The investment banks analyst also noted that staking revenue could bolster exchanges like FTX, Binance, and Gemini as well.

We see the staking revenue opportunity bigger (proportionally) than the income opportunity given we expect institutional staking clients will contribute meaningfully to [ether] staking revenue, but much less so for institutional customers, Worthington said. The vast majority of the economics remains with retail, the JPMorgan analyst added. In order to be a validator 32 ether is required to stake on your own, but a number of exchanges offer ethereum staking services with negligible threshold requirements to earn from staked assets.

At the time of writing, Coinbase is one of the largest ETH holders in terms of validators, according to the ETH Staking dashboard hosted on Dune Analytics. Out of the 13,326,533 ether deposited into the Ethereum 2.0 contract, Coinbase commands 14.7% or 1,966,080 ETH. Crypto firms like Kraken, Binance, Bitcoin Suisse, and Bitstamp also have significant staking positions, but Coinbase and the liquid staking service Lido have the largest. JPMorgans Worthington expects Coinbase to benefit significantly from the staking rewards.

We estimate Coinbase incremental annual staking revenue from the Ethereum Merge of $650 million based on $2,000 [ether] and 5% [ethereum] yield. We see [an] incremental annual income of $80-$100 million of staking income, Worthingtons note detailed.

Year-to-date, COIN is down 65.04% with a $357 per share high this year, but the current $85.44 is up from the $47 low share prices saw on June 30. Furthermore, on August 16, Coinbase summarized in a blog post what customers need to know about the upcoming PoW to PoS transition. During The Merge, Coinbase will briefly pause ethereum transactions and it will not process withdrawals and deposits during the change. The Coinbase pause rule further applies to ERC20-based tokens built on top of the Ethereum network.

On August 14, Coinbase and a number of exchanges were asked: If regulators ask you to censor at the ethereum protocol level with your validators will you: (A) Comply and censor at [the] protocol level (B) Shut down the staking service and preserve network integrity. Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong responded to the question on Twitter three days later, on August 17.

Its a hypothetical we hopefully wont actually face, Armstrong wrote on Thursday. But if we did wed go with (B), I think. Got to focus on the bigger picture. There may be some better option (C) or a legal challenge as well that could help reach a better outcome.

What do you think about the commentary from JPMorgans analyst Kenneth Worthington? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,700 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Coinbase Could Be a Material 'Beneficiary' of Ethereum's Merge Transition, JPMorgan Analyst Says Finance Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

See Kevin OLeary at Benzingas Future of Crypto event in December. Reserve a seat now!

Kevin OLeary said on Twitter earlier this year that "NFTs will be bigger than Bitcoin."

The "Shark Tank" investor added his reason why: the ability for NFTs to record ownership.

At an estimated market capitalization of around $40 billion, the non-fungible token market will need to grow by over 1,000% to surpass Bitcoins market capitalization.

Yet given the vast applications for NFTs, this prediction is actually fairly reasonable. While Bitcoin is primarily used as a store of value as well as a currency in some instances NFTs can be used for intellectual property, art, gaming, identityand more.

The shark, investorand crypto bull has long supported cryptocurrency, DeFiand NFTs.

Amid the market downturn, OLeary stated hes doubling down on crypto, as there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of in a bear market. Alongside Bitcoin, OLeary has also invested in Ethereum ETH/USD, Algorand ALGO/USD, Solana SOL/USD, Polygon MATIC/USDand many others.

To get more personal insights from Mr. Wonderful, were hosting our inaugural cryptocurrency conference in Manhattan in December.

Join us to meet the founders and investors building the future of crypto, NFTs, DeFi, and more at Benzingas Future of Crypto conference. Tickets just went live, so be sure to reserve a seat before prices increase.

Photo via Shutterstock.

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Kevin O'Leary Says 'NFTs Will Be Bigger Than Bitcoin': What Else Does Mr. Wonderful Think About The Futur - Benzinga

In the last two years, Shiba Inu remained in the top 10 list of the most discussed cryptocurrencies on social media. While Dogecoin dominated Twitter during the first half of 2021, SHIB took over the reins in the second half of the year. On Monday, the number of Twitter followers for Shiba Inu breached that of Dogecoin indicating that SHIB commands a larger-than-life following.

Both SHIB and Doges followers stand at 3.4 million with Shiba Inus follower count much ahead at around 10,000. SHIB is now the third most followed crypto on Twitter and only behind Binance at 9.32 million and Bitcoin at 5.47 million.

Also Read: Why is the Cryptocurrency Market Crashing Today?

While Shiba Inus Twitter followers currently stand at 3.4 million, Bitcoins follower count is 5.47 million. Theres a huge gap of nearly 2.1 million followers between the two most popular cryptos. However, while Bitcoin joined Twitter in August 2021, SHIB joined the social media platform a decade later in February 2021.

SHIB crossed leading cryptos such as Solana, Ripple, Ethereum, and Dogecoin to claim the third spot in just two years. Considering how quickly the dog-themed token attracted followers, its numbers could surpass that of Bitcoin in the coming years. However, it might most likely not surpass Bitcoins followers in 2022, but 2023 might see possibilities.

Also Read: Shiba Inus Bone Doubles in Price: Breaches $1 From $0.50 in 30 Days

First and foremost, Shiba Inu is affordable to new investors and is considered to be a low-hanging fruit thats up for grabs. On the other hand, Bitcoin is unaffordable to the average Joe, so the excitement of following goes for a toss. Also, Shiba Inu constantly makes its rounds in news cycles and attracts new and first-time investors into its fold.

Therefore, as and when new investors enter the crypto markets, SHIB gains followers. Moreover, investors feel excited about SHIB as the token has entered the gaming, fashion, and food segment. Apart from seeing crypto as an investment, investors also consider the dog-themed token as part of their entertainment.

In conclusion, Shiba Inu beating Bitcoin in the number of Twitter followers is only a matter of time.

Also Read: Shiba Inu: Heres What to Expect From the Upcoming SHIB Mobile App

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Will Shiba Inu Beat Bitcoin in the Number of Twitter Followers? - Watcher Guru