Ethereum’s ‘EIP 1559’ Fee Market Overhaul Greenlit for July

Ethereum’s ‘EIP 1559’ Fee Market Overhaul Greenlit for July

One of the most significant and contentious alterations to the Ethereum blockchain in recent memory is now scheduled for inclusion into its codebase.

Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559 will be packaged with the London hard fork this coming July regardless of the mining industry’s discontent with the proposal, according to the All Core Developers call Friday. At least five other EIPs are likely to join EIP 1559 in London.

EIP 1559 flips a typical blockchain transaction on its head in order to fix numerous issues with Ethereum’s user experience. Traditionally, a user sends a gas fee to a miner for a transaction to be included in a block. That gas fee will now be sent to the network itself as a sort of “burn” called basefee with only an optional tip paid to miners. The burnt fee is algorithmically set as well, ostensibly making it easier for users to pay a fair fee.

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The proposal has garnered some of the largest support to date from Ethereum application creators and users alike, given the current difficulty of selecting a correct transaction fee. Miners and mining pools, on the other hand, have been gathering in opposition against the proposal as it progressed toward mainnet.

Mining gold rush

Indeed, Ethereum mining has been a particularly lucrative business of late. Total mining revenue surpassed a record $1.3 billion in February, with some 50% coming from fees alone, according to Coin Metrics. An increase in both the price of ether and transaction fees has introduced a wave of new hash power to the network, which is more than double that of a year ago.

Minority mining pool Flexpool launched a marketing campaign against the EIP. Several minority pools joined, followed by majority pools Ethermine and SparkPool. Over 60% of the Ethereum network’s hash power is now against the proposal. F2Pool is the largest pool in favor of the EIP, with some 10% hash power.

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On the call, Ethereum developers decided to pair EIP 1559 with a delay to the difficulty bomb. Also called the “Ice Age,” the bomb incrementally increases the difficulty of mining on the Ethereum network. Geth team lead Péter Szilágyi said that pairing EIP 1559 with the delay helped ensure no one would fork Ethereum at that time without having to undergo some technical hurdles.

MEV to the rescue

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Mining pools have only a few options to stop EIP 1559 now that it’s included, and most of these would be considered actively hostile against the network. The largest danger would be a 51% attack against Ethereum, which would censor transactions using the EIPs framework. It remains unlikely, however, given various financial incentives not to attack the network.

For example, successfully using a 51% attack against Ethereum would likely decrease the value of ether in the short term. (Or maybe not, as three 51% attacks on Ethereum Classic have shown).

Moreover, a new revenue replacement is quickly becoming available for mining networks. Called miner extracted value (MEV), miners can take advantage of their place as arbiters in how blocks are packaged to “front-run” profitable trades. MEV is currently popular among decentralized finance (DeFi) traders who bid up gas prices to secure their place in the block. Many Ethereum mining pools are currently implementing MEV software to gather this untapped source of revenue.

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What Ethereum killer? On-chain data shows competitor networks are still behind

Ether (ETH) remains the second-largest cryptocurrency and it absolutely dominates the smart contract industry according to an array of network usage metrics. Even though the network has been overwhelmed by peak activity which is causing median fees to surpass $10, the network effect of its large user and developer base seems to be enough to sustain its position as the second ranked cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Nevertheless, some key on-chain metrics are beginning to show a potential change in Etheruem’s supremacy, which raises the age old question of whether an “Ethereum killer” will be able to dethrone the top network?

Smart contracts Total Value Locked (TVL) ranking. Source: defillama.com

As shown above, the Ethereum network vastly dominates decentralized applications (dApps). Due to its high gas fees for transactions, when analyzing the number of active addresses, the Ethereum newtork appears to be at a disadvantage to its competitors.

Over the past week, FLOW blockchain’s NBA Top Shot had almost 80,000 active addresses which is five times larger than Ethereum’s Rarible NFT marketplace or even SushiSwap. Thus, the first data to analyze is the daily active addresses number across each blockchain.

Daily active addresses. Source: coinmetrics.io

The chart above shows that Tron (TRX) has recently surpassed Ethereum in daily active addresses, although this metric can be easily inflated. The Tron network has virtually zero fees for simple transactions which creates an unfair comparison.

By measuring effective transactions and transfers,it’s easier to exclude the addresses that are not contributing to the network.

Transactions and transfers, adjusted, USD. Source: coinmetrics.io

By doing this we can see that Tron doesn’t come even close to Ethereum’s numbers, although Cardano’s (ADA) recent price growth has led to a virtual tie between the two.

Oddly enough, the Tron network holds over 14.5 billion of the Tether (USDT) in circulation, which by itself should boost network usage metrics. Meanwhile, Cardano has 90% fewer daily active addresses than Ethereum, yet, both networks handle the same amount of transfers and transactions.

This is especially problematic as Ethereum handles 20 billion Tether tokens and also manages all the transactions of Chainlink (LINK), USD Coin (USDC), Wrapped ETH (WETH), and many others.

ETH, ADA, NEM, NEO, TRX market cap, USD million. Source: cointrader.pro

This data should, at least theoretically, be reflected in the market capitalization. Thus, it makes sense for Ethereum to dominate the ranking as no other network is even close to its decentralized applications.

Moreover, when analyzing the transfer and transactions' value, Ethereum leads by 50 times if we exclude Cardano’s questionable figures discussed earlier.

For the time being, the data suggest that the four “Ethereum killers” analyzed above are unlikely to “flippen” the Ethereum network anytime soon.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Ethereum Is Chasing Stardom and It’s Worth Consideration

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The discussion today may get a little wonky because of the nature of cryptocurrencies. We will focus on Ethereum USD (CCC:ETH-USD) as it’s making a legit bid for the crypto limelight. It is important to make the distinction between Ethereum the open-source platform and the ETH coin. The platform uses blockchain to create and run dapps (decentralized digital applications). These enable users to digitally and directly transact without an intermediary. And then there is the coveted Ethereum the coin.

Source: Shutterstock

ETH prices have soared even beating out its original cousin Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD). I am not a perma-bull tooting the crypto horns but I definitely get it. The reactions during my debates of this concept at parties are always the same. Most people can’t believe that Bitcoin or Ethereum are real things. The instinct is to call them fake. Fake things don’t cost $48,000 per unit.

Spoiler alert, my conclusion today is that Ethereum is most definitely an investable asset. If you don’t believe me just look at the scoreboard. Each cost about$1,475 and that’s 25% off the recent high. Do you remember when Bitcoin was that low? It was only four years ago. I am not suggesting that ETH will also spike to 50k now, but it does have massive upside potential.

Why We Need Crypto

Last year, the pandemic disrupted all businesses worldwide. We need to find more efficient decentralized ways to transact so we can be ready for the next crisis. Besides, it’s clearly the better way of doing business. In addition to that, there is the tangible value appreciation opportunity.

A year ago, the stock market crashed but it quickly recovered and in a ferocious way. Even after the drubbing that stocks are taking this week, the S&P 500 is still up more than 20% in a year. But that’s not the best story to tell because Ethereum is up 540% for the same period. The concept of digital coins and blockchain puzzles most people, but they need to get over it.

The government is another reason to push crypto forward. Central bank policies are too loose and the byproduct of that is the demolition of the currency. That is why the U.S. dollar can’t find footing for so long. Money is no longer a good place to store wealth. Hiding wealth in cryptocurrencies is smart because it is out of the reach of the government. However, the line is getting finer based on this central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) news from CoinDesk about Ripple.

Critics are also eager to point out that crypto is too volatile to be a currency. It doesn’t have to be. Technology is getting to where I can carry my digital wallet and make a purchase from it in any currency. For example, the transaction on the spot liquidates a bit of Ethereum to pay in U.S. dollars.

The Ethereum Market Cap Carrot

The upside in Ethereum prices is huge. It has a lot to catch up to its Bitcoin cousin. This is a theory that is helping Bitcoin catch up to gold. Market cap matters to Wall Street experts and it’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ethereum’s path is easier because Bitcoin forged it. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) did the same thing for EVs and now the rest are trying to get in. Not all coins will succeed but Ethereum has momentum and is second only to BTC.

Ethereum is not yet as popular as Bitcoin when in fact it has outperformed it by wide margin. They now even have a futures contract to trade it. Ethereum is more than a coin because there is a process around it (dapps). This is taking the blockchain concept and expanding its uses.

A lot of people still consider it a joke when somebody invests in something like Ethereum. The joke’s on them because they missed out on 540% of upside in just one year. I don’t argue with results regardless of my personal opinion. Once investors can get over to hurdle of digital coins being fake, they can start trading them for profit. Top cryptocurrencies have been the best performing asset class by far for years.

Where There Is Reward, There Are Risks

Source: Charts by TradingView

This is not to say that I should jump in will full size positions. Much like any other investment, I look for openings perhaps on bad days, and I take starter positions. This is high-tech stuff so it will change on a dime. Ethereum needs to avoid falling out of the limelight.

These are fast-moving assets so there is no way of avoiding the volatility. It is risky, and that’s why it yields a lot of reward. Everybody needs a little bit of cryptocurrencies in their portfolio. If not that then gold is the next best substitute. We don’t need to be experts on them to invest in them. The proof is in the pudding and I’m willing to keep an open mind about them.

Jaw-Dropping Statement

In reality, crypto is nothing new. The concept is very similar to gold. The only reason gold has value is because we say it does. To an alien, a yellow rock is no different than a black one. People cherish gold and it’s rare, therefore it has a high price. The harder it is to get, the higher the price. That’s why Bitcoin and ETH retain values that boggle many minds. There is a finite number of these doo-hickeys and millions of people are chasing after them. The concept is that simple. It has value because enough people say it does.

So next time you want to get a rise out of someone, do what I do. Tell them that Bitcoin and Ethereum are same as gold. That’s where people’s jaws drop.

What’s more exciting about the digital coins are the processes that exist around them. Blockchain is one and it will shape our future. Credit card companies are embracing the change. That’s why Square (NYSE:SQ) and Paypal (NYSE:PYPL) are now the leaders and Visa (NYSE:V) and MasterCard (NYSE:MA) are the laggards.

Cryptocurrencies are extremely popular but they have very hardcore opponents. Even heads of banks have been overtly against it even mocking them at times. They have since changed their tone and are warming up to the concept. Goldman Sachs reopened its Bitcoin trading desk recently. They can’t ignore something that has gotten this big this fast.

On the date of publication, Nicolas Chahine did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.

Nicolas Chahine is the managing director of SellSpreads.com.

The post Ethereum Is Chasing Stardom and It’s Worth Consideration appeared first on InvestorPlace.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.