Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n\n- ETH is outperforming in the market. It touched $1,363 today following a 12% surge. <\/li>\n
- The latest rally comes days after the Ethereum Foundation set a tentative September 19 launch date for “the Merge.”<\/li>\n
- Ethereum’s Merge to Proof-of-Stake is the network’s most anticipated update in history. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n
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The rally comes two days after Tim Beiko suggested a tentative September 19 launch date for Ethereum\u2019s long-awaited Merge to Proof-of-Stake.<\/span><\/p>\nEthereum Rallies Amid Merge Hype\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n
Ethereum is breaking out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.cryptobriefing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/16132327\/Screenshot-2022-07-16-at-18.23.17-685x440.png\")
ETH\/USD (Source: CoinGecko<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe number two crypto put in a 12% rally Saturday, briefly touching $1,363 for the first time in a month. It\u2019s since posted a slight cool-off, currently trading at about $1,355.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe ETH rally has led to a bounce across the market, helping assets like Synthetix and Avalanche hit double-digit gains. Lido-staked ETH also jumped just about 12.6%, while LDO, the governance token for the Lido DAO, is up 22.8%. Interestingly, BTC gained around 3.2%, hinting that Ethereum is leading the current rally despite Bitcoin\u2019s dominance over the market.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhile the exact reason for the jump is unclear, improving sentiment surrounding Ethereum and its forthcoming \u201cMerge\u201d<\/a> to Proof-of-Stake may be one factor. On Thursday, the Ethereum Foundation held its latest <\/span>Consensus Layer Call<\/a> in which the Merge was discussed. Ethereum Foundation member Tim Beiko suggested a provisional launch date of September 19, dropping the strongest hint yet that the Merge could be just a few weeks away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBefore the Merge can take place on mainnet, Ethereum is set to go through one final test run<\/a> on the Goerli network in the next few weeks. The final launch will follow that, though Beiko has pointed out that the mid-September date is only tentative and could change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe Merge update involves merging Ethereum\u2019s execution layer and consensus layer to move the network away from Proof-of-Work and onto Proof-of-Stake. This is expected to reduce the network\u2019s energy consumption<\/a> by 99.95%, but the Merge has also widely been seen as a bullish catalyst for ETH as it\u2019s set to reduce the network\u2019s issuance by around 90%. In switching to Proof-of-Stake, the network will no longer pay miners and instead offer fees exclusively to validators. As Ethereum also burns a portion of its supply in gas fees via EIP-1559, it\u2019s estimated that ETH could become a deflationary asset following the update. According to ultrasound.money<\/a>, if the Merge ships on September 19, the ETH supply will peak at 120.2 million and slowly begin to deflate over time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWith the Merge narrative beginning to take hold following the latest Ethereum Foundation call, the market may now be pricing in the impact of the update despite the months-long slump that\u2019s hit ETH and other crypto assets this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDisclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\nShare this article<\/h4>\n<\/section>\n
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The rally comes two days after Tim Beiko suggested a tentative September 19 launch date for Ethereum\u2019s long-awaited Merge to Proof-of-Stake.<\/span><\/p>\n Ethereum is breaking out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The number two crypto put in a 12% rally Saturday, briefly touching $1,363 for the first time in a month. It\u2019s since posted a slight cool-off, currently trading at about $1,355.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The ETH rally has led to a bounce across the market, helping assets like Synthetix and Avalanche hit double-digit gains. Lido-staked ETH also jumped just about 12.6%, while LDO, the governance token for the Lido DAO, is up 22.8%. Interestingly, BTC gained around 3.2%, hinting that Ethereum is leading the current rally despite Bitcoin\u2019s dominance over the market.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While the exact reason for the jump is unclear, improving sentiment surrounding Ethereum and its forthcoming \u201cMerge\u201d<\/a> to Proof-of-Stake may be one factor. On Thursday, the Ethereum Foundation held its latest <\/span>Consensus Layer Call<\/a> in which the Merge was discussed. Ethereum Foundation member Tim Beiko suggested a provisional launch date of September 19, dropping the strongest hint yet that the Merge could be just a few weeks away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Before the Merge can take place on mainnet, Ethereum is set to go through one final test run<\/a> on the Goerli network in the next few weeks. The final launch will follow that, though Beiko has pointed out that the mid-September date is only tentative and could change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Merge update involves merging Ethereum\u2019s execution layer and consensus layer to move the network away from Proof-of-Work and onto Proof-of-Stake. This is expected to reduce the network\u2019s energy consumption<\/a> by 99.95%, but the Merge has also widely been seen as a bullish catalyst for ETH as it\u2019s set to reduce the network\u2019s issuance by around 90%. In switching to Proof-of-Stake, the network will no longer pay miners and instead offer fees exclusively to validators. As Ethereum also burns a portion of its supply in gas fees via EIP-1559, it\u2019s estimated that ETH could become a deflationary asset following the update. According to ultrasound.money<\/a>, if the Merge ships on September 19, the ETH supply will peak at 120.2 million and slowly begin to deflate over time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With the Merge narrative beginning to take hold following the latest Ethereum Foundation call, the market may now be pricing in the impact of the update despite the months-long slump that\u2019s hit ETH and other crypto assets this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nEthereum Rallies Amid Merge Hype\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n
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