Ethereum upgrade inspires market-wide rally
Ethereum led a market-wide crypto rally last week, tipping the total market value back over $1 trillion dollars.
The smart contract platform has added 10%, while Bitcoin has made a similarly impressive recovery with 8% gains. Excitement around the Merge is widely thought to be responsible for the rally, along with reduced economic uncertainty as inflation showed signs of relenting. In addition, Michael Saylor could have also helped drive the market recovery. His software firm MicroStrategy recently announced plans to sell up to $500 million of stock to fund more Bitcoin purchases.
At the top of the charts, Luna Classic continued its comeback with 65% gains, while competing smart contract platforms Cosmos and EOS made double-digit percentage gains as they raced higher. Elsewhere, major crypto spin-offs Ethereum Classic and Bitcoin Cash both gained more than 9%.
This Week’s Highlights
– Bellatrix boosts Ethereum 10%
– EOS and Cosmos outshine Ethereum
Bellatrix boosts Ethereum 10%
Energized by the impending Merge upgrade, Ethereum surged 10% last week as the final hurdle before the big event was cleared.
Bellatrix, the last upgrade before the start of the much-anticipated move to proof-of-stake, was activated on Tuesday, leaving the network officially ready for The Merge which is now expected to occur on September 14th.
On the same day as Bellatrix, the ETH:BTC ratio reached a 2022 high at 0.084. This reflects increased optimism and demand for Ethereum, which is widely expected to experience upward price pressure as The Merge makes it more deflationary. Some expect that this could even lead to a Flippening event in which Ethereum eclipses Bitcoin.
EOS and Cosmos outshine Ethereum
Beating Ethereum’s 10% climb, competing smart contract platforms Cosmos and EOS have made bigger gains ahead of their own upgrades.
Cosmos is up 15% on expectations of a big announcement about Cosmos 2.0, followed by EOS which has risen 12% ahead of the activation of its own hard fork on September 21st.
Elsewhere, Cardano also has an upgrade planned with the Vasil hard fork scheduled for September 22nd. This promises to bring greater scalability and lower fees, but has not boosted the token which continues to drift sideways.
Week ahead
The coming week could begin to answer one of the most significant questions facing crypto investors: will The Merge or the macro environment have a more powerful impact on the market?
In macroeconomic news, Tuesday will bring US inflation data, which is widely expected to show that inflation is cooling off.
Then on Wednesday, the final stage of The Merge is expected to occur. If successful, the long-awaited upgrade could bring powerful tailwinds for both Ethereum and the broader market.