Digital Assets Report 84
- Ethereum Foundation Announces Official Date for the Merge which should occur at 11:34:47 AM UTC on September 6, 2022.
- Fed Chair Jay Powell said, “Restoring price stability will likely require maintaining a restrictive policy stance for some time. The historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy”. After this 8 min speech, stocks sinked (-3%), Bitcoin & Ethereum also (-10 %).
- Cloud provider Hetzner reveals the price of centralizing Ethereum nodes. Hetzner is powering 10% of Ethereum nodes and is banning crypto mining and also staking, the approach of Ethereum 2.0. Markets reacted as a threat to decentralization.
- Singapore considers tightening cryptocurrency trading by retail investors after the collapse of 3 Arrows Capital, Vauld and Hodlnaut.
- SEC seeks info from Grayscale about three crypto trusts.
- Tether Audit, Promised for 5 Years, Still Months Away, CTO Says.
Business
The Ethereum Merge Has an Official Kick-Off Date
The Bellatrix upgrade, which begins the final countdown, is set to activate on Sept. 6. The Merge itself will be completed at some point Sept. 10-20.
Margaux Nijkerk
Ethereum Nodes Largely Run on Cloud Services—This Host Says They’re Banned - Decrypt
Popular cloud service provider Hetzner hosts over 10% of all Ethereum nodes—but this is technically not allowed, the company says.
Mat Di Salvo
Co-CEO of Crypto Trading Firm Alameda Research Sam Trabucco Steps Down
Trabucco will stay on as an adviser, while Caroline Ellison will become the company’s sole CEO.
Nelson Wang
Chipmaker Nvidia’s Crypto Mining Chip Revenue Continues to Fall
Sales of Nvidia’s cryptocurrency mining processor were deemed “nominal” for the second straight quarter.
Nelson Wang
Looks bare: OpenSea turns into NFT ghost-town after volume plunges 99% in 90 days
An ongoing debt crisis at lending platform BendDAO is also increasing the risks of the NFT bubble going bust.
Yashu Gola
Markets
Crypto Chart 78
Bitcoin Last time we said: “Given the wave count I think it is just a matter of time with a new low expected below 20k. A break below 17600 call for a much lower in BTC”. This morning we saw a low of 19526 just shy of the 76.34%
- Monthly adjusted on-chain volume for stablecoins increases after two months of falling.
More Than Half Of All Bitcoin Trades Are Fake
A new Forbes analysis of 157 crypto exchanges finds that 51% of the daily bitcoin trading volume being reported is likely bogus.
Javier Paz
Regulations
Tether Pushes Back Timeline on Audit: Report - Blockworks
Tether has promised a full review of its books for more than five years, ever since questions of its reserves began to circulate
Sebastian Sinclair
SEC seeks info from Grayscale about three crypto trusts: CoinDesk
Grayscale Investments said in recent regulatory filings that it is responding to questions from the SEC about three of its cryptocurrency trusts.
Singapore considers tightening cryptocurrency trading by retail investors
The chief of Singapore’s central bank said the city-state is considering tightening cryptocurrency trading by retail investors.
Reading / podcasts
The Merge Won’t Drive Big Scalability Gains For Ethereum, But EIP-4844 Might - The Defiant
Proto-Danksharding Could Boost Throughput Of Layer 2 Rollups By 100x
Samuel Haig
Cryptocurrency Regulations Around the World
To understand Cryptocurrency Regulations around the world and their legislative positions, read our comprehensive guide.
Calin