Ethereum Eagle 開啓創世，用戶質押 ETH 可領取 EGL 代幣，目前協議內已質押 3553 枚 ETH
鏈聞消息，通過治理決定以太坊 Gas Limit 的協議 Ethereum Eagle （EGL）已開啓創世，當協議達到質押配額 10 萬枚 ETH 或到 8 月 13 日創世活動將結束，用戶可以在創世期間，將 ETH 質押至 EGL 的創世合約中參與發行領取 EGL 代幣，目前協議內已質押 3553 枚 ETH。
鏈聞此前報道，Ethereum Eagle 希望通過發行治理代幣 EGL 解決以太坊網絡中區塊 Gas 上限（Gas Limit）的問題，質押 ETH 的用戶將可以免費獲得 EGL 代幣，該協議將通過 PoS 投票的方式設定區塊的 Gas Limit，同時該項目的機制中將鼓勵用戶進行投票。
NFTs, DeFi Boost for Ethereum Dims Clamor of Bitcoin Maximalists
(Bloomberg) – Surging demand for NFTs and DeFi apps is allowing backers of Ethereum to dampen the cacophony of Bitcoin maximalists who have long claimed that only the original cryptocurrency matters.
Ether, the native token of the most-used blockchain, jumped 36% in August, more than double the 13% return for holders of the biggest digital asset by market value during the same period. So far this year, Ether is outperforming Bitcoin by the widest margin going back to at least 2018, Bloomberg data show.
The Ethereum “community has taken up that mantle to a much louder degree and that sort of blockchain development is really having a bullish moment in crypto right now,” said Stephane Ouellette, chief executive and co-founder of FRNT Financial.
Many analysts had projected that Ether would rally following a major software upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain in August. The enhancement, code-named London, trims the pace at which the supply of Ether tokens grows.
Ahead of the upgrade, many investors argued the reduction of the coin’s supply could result in higher prices due to increased scarcity. Others also said the supply could drop further once Ethereum moves to a different mechanism of verifying transactions, something that could happen in the first quarter of next year. This new verification system will use computers supporting the Ethereum network to stake Ether coins instead of miners in most cases.
“The innovation at play in the smart-contract arena had been defeating maximalist mantras for quite some time,” said Mati Greenspan, founder and CEO of Quantum Economics. Still, because a lot of the advancements – particularly in DeFi and NFTs –are so new, it’s difficult to say exactly how much more growth there will be or what other new sectors might arise, he said.
The case for Ether surpassing Bitcoin has been been a constant theme in crypto since the alternative blockchain was created. Bitcoin maximalists maintain that it remains the purest form of digital money and point out that the original cryptocurrency has a market value of about $900 billion, or more than double that of Ether.
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August marked Ether’s second consecutive monthly advance and its best monthly performance since April. The coin is up more than 350% this year, compared with Bitcoin’s 60% gain. On Wednesday, it rose about 5% to $3,558 while Bitcoin gained around 1% to $47,400.
“Ethereum is seen as a better store of value – that’s why it has been preferred by institutions for a while now,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co. “It is now becoming preferred among all investors.”
And it’s not just Ether that’s been in the limelight recently, said Ouellette. Solana and Cardano represent projects with a similar focus and both have rallied.
Among analysts and investors, there’s little consensus as to what’s driving parts of the frenzy for smaller or alternative coins. Some posit that speculators are moving from the mainstays to newer, more exciting offshoots, as they often do after big runs. Others see a world awash in cash and ultra-low rates, which ultimately pushes investors toward ever-wonkier assets.
Wilfred Daye, chief executive officer of Enigma Securities, said Ethereum is the fabric of the tokenized economy and it has a deeply rooted and solidified programmer community. From a trading perspective, “ETH has higher volatility than Bitcoin and similar liquidity profile as Bitcoin,” he said. But, “in the long run, ETH has a real chance of outperforming.”
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How Ethereum’s Next Big Upgrade Could Boost Its Value
Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH)- the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, and the most popular smart contract and decentralized application network – just changed the way it pays the people who maintain its network, in ways that could make it an even more appealing investment. When the next major evolution in its upgrade roadmap occurs, this change could reduce its supply and increase its value. That might be great news for investors seeking to hedge against inflation.
How Ethereum’s changing its network
Since Aug. 5, a portion of the fees paid by users of Ethereum’s network, which used to go toward making new coins with which to pay miners, has instead been burnt or destroyed. A total of 177,424 ETH, worth around $672 million at the time of writing, has been taken out of circulation since the upgrade, leaving 117.3 million tokens in circulation according to CoinMarketCap. By taking coins out of circulation, this change could make each existing coin more valuable.
Ethereum is currently produced by miners under a proof-of-work consensus mechanism that consumes a lot of energy, just like Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) production. It has a variable annual inflation rate of around 2.8% at the moment – but it’ll issue fewer new coins when it upgrades its network to a staking-based consensus.
Instead of solving tough math problems to keep the network running smoothly – and getting rewarded for it – Ethereum holders will be able to do the same things by storing away, or staking, some or all of their tokens. Around 6.2% of the circulating supply, or 7.4 million ETH tokens worth an estimated $28 billion, have already been staked. That staked ETH is currently earning an annual percentage yield of 5.8%, way more than any bank.
Once Ethereum’s major upgrade occurs sometime in late 2021 or early 2022, one simulation estimates that the circulating supply of Ethereum could shrink by around 1.4% each year at current rates of fee burning. In theory, that might reduce the value of each token by an equal proportion. This means that the circulating supply of the asset will shrink.
Ethereum has way more use cases
Bitcoin is currently viewed as a store of value, or a safe haven asset to hedge against inflationary fiat currencies. But Ethereum is more of an economy – a fledgling financial landscape for the internet.
Aside from staking, Ethereum is also the foundation for decentralized finance protocols, many of which are based on Ethereum and its smart contracts. These smart contracts, which run on the blockchain and execute when predetermined conditions are met, are also used to build decentralized applications (dApps).
Investors currently have 7.7 million ETH, or $29 billion, locked up in DeFi protocols for token swapping, yield farming, or liquidity mining. This is where token holders can provide collateral in crypto assets to earn more crypto assets.
Ethereum is also the standard for the majority of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which have been booming in sales this year. NFTs are unique tokens on the blockchain that prove ownership; they can represent art, music, gaming items, avatars, and even real estate.
Additionally, Ethereum is the base layer for stablecoins – digital assets pegged to a fiat currency. Around half of the world’s most popular stablecoin, Tether (CRYPTO:USDT), is based on the Ethereum standard, with $34 billion worth residing on the network.
There’s just one drawback to Ethereum’s current popularity: Rising demand has inflated network fees, with the average transaction now costing $40. The currency’s upcoming upgrade includes other improvements designed to lower those fees and speed up transactions, but for now, the higher fees make it harder for people and other apps to actually use Ethereum.
Why big banks are buying in
Ethereum’s strengths compared to Bitcoin have driven Ethereum prices 400% higher since the beginning of 2021, compared to just 70% for Bitcoin.
Major institutions such as Grayscale have taken notice, and they’re loading up on ETH. Institutional funds offer wealthy clients exposure to the asset without requiring them to hold it, and Grayscale currently holds $10 billion worth of ETH in its Ethereum Trust (OTC:ETHE).
Even some of the big Wall Street banks have leaned bullish on Ethereum. In July, analysts at investment bank Goldman Sachs said that Ethereum’s real use cases give it the potential to become the dominant digital store of value in the coming years.
The network may also be viewed as a more environmentally friendly investment when it moves away from mining, which looks good to eco-conscious corporations.
Coupled with the prospect of supply deflation, these factors could drive an uptick in demand and prices. That trend might only grow stronger if the COVID-19 pandemic spurs inflation and currency devaluations on a global scale.
Increased regulation in the U.S., such as the controversial crypto tax reporting bill, could stifle innovation and mainstream Ethereum adoption in the short term. There is also the threat of faster rival blockchains such as Cardano or Polkadot becoming the de facto standard for smart contracts, DeFi, and dApps.
These networks have gained traction recently as the crypto ecosystem expands, but Ethereum has already cemented itself as the industry standard, just as IBM did with computing in the early 1980s. With so many platforms already running on Ethereum, and it having the largest support and developer community, it will be no mean feat to knock the network off its perch.
With this in mind, now might not be a bad time to buy and hold Ethereum for at least couple of years.