Crypto Scoop: Ethereum’s Price Soars After Announcement Of The Much- Anticipated Merge Date
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July, 29 2022
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Ethereum's ninth shadow fork goes live as its merge date is announced. Tesla sells 75% of BTC holdings, and CAR annnounces that the Sango token will start selling by July 25.
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As July draws to a close, it has undoubtedly seen several noteworthy upgrades and additions that have contributed to the optimistic atmosphere in the cryptocurrency market. In this edition of the crypto scoop, we’ll be reviewing some of these exciting highlights:
- Ethereum’s price soars as a possible merge date is announced
- Tesla Announces Sale of 75% of BTC Holdings
- CAR announces the genesis sale of Sango tokens
- Nigeria Central Bank partners with MTN to foster CBDC adoption
- Dubai Unveils Metaverse strategy and much more.
Ethereum (Source: CoinCu)
Ethereum’s Price Soars As Merge Date Is Announced
For the last few years, the Ethereum community has anticipated the merge that will move Ethereum to a proof of stake network. Well, it seems the wait is almost over. Ethereum's ninth shadow fork went live this week. Ethereum has been undergoing test forks, and its developers have finally picked a merge date.
During a conference call on July 14, Ethereum (ETH) developers selected mid-September as the planned date for the Merge. Tim Beiko, the meeting's organiser, suggested September 19 after the developers examined the prerequisites for the Merge. The timeframe, though, simply acts as an unofficial schedule and is not a firm deadline. Following the announcement of a merge date, Ethereum recorded a gain of over 36% per cent and surged above $1,500.
Bitcoin's Price Chart (Source: Coinmarketcap.com)
Tesla Sale of 75% of its Crypto Holdings Seems To Have Unfazed Crypto Investors.
During the week, BTC’s hash rate dropped to a 5-month low, according to BTC.com, after miners in Texas temporarily suspended operations because of the heatwave in the state. Authorities anticipate that a heatwave will exceed the capacity of the electrical grid since they expect heatwaves to boost energy usage in the state considerably. Yet bitcoin’s price recorded over 15% increase despite the mining setback.
Bitcoin’s price trend remained positive even after Tesla’s announcement that it had sold 75% of its bitcoin holding in Q2. Tesla’s purchase of $1.5 million bitcoin had ramped up bitcoin’s price last year, but the sale almost had no impact on the market. Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained that the sale “should not be taken as a verdict on Bitcoin,” explaining that the move was due to liquidity concerns given the continued COVID-19 lockdowns in China. However, he noted that Tesla did not sell its DOGE holdings.
Sango (Source: Sango)
CAR announces the genesis sale of Sango tokens
The Central African Republic (CAR) has announced that the sale of its 210,000,000 Sango coins will start on July 25. To participate, investors must purchase tokens worth at least $500. Investors who buy and lock in Sango coins will receive citizenship, a piece of real estate, and a location in the metaverse in exchange. The Sango token will be purchased for the equivalent of $0.10 starting on July 25 in the Central African Republic (CAR), the first nation in Africa to recognise bitcoin as legal tender.
Nigeria Central Bank partners with Telecommunications company MTN to foster CBDC adoption.
The Nigerian Central Bank (CBN) reports that due to worries about revenue loss, Nigerian banks are hesitant to promote the country's low-cost digital currency, the e-Naira. Traditional money transfers can be replaced with commission-free ones, thanks to E-Naira. However, since the currency's introduction in October 2021, just 700,000 individuals have established an e-Naira wallet. This figure is pitifully low, given that Nigeria has almost 55 million bank accounts.
E-Naira wallets are currently restricted to bank customers only. Nigerians without bank accounts now have access to e-Naira wallets thanks to a partnership between the Nigerian Central Bank and MTN Group, Africa's largest mobile network operator. Emefiele, the governor of CBN, addressed the new project and stated that it is "almost concluding tests."
Emefiele also noted that “the evolution of fintech, cryptocurrencies, digital payments, artificial intelligence and machine learning have changed the functioning of the financial and banking sectors, both globally and domestically. Therefore, the urgent call for the need to rethink financial system regulation, supervision and monetary policy implementation.”
Prince Filip Karađorđević of Serbia addressed rumours that Serbia will be adopting bitcoin as legal tender. He expressed that this wasn’t in the works yet. However, he noted, “It's definitely going to happen. But I don't know which country or who is going to do it where or anything like that, but it's bound to happen. Every country will eventually adopt Bitcoin.” We’d like to see this.
Dubai Unveils Its Metaverse Strategy
By 2030, Dubai's strategy will promote the creation of over 40,000 virtual employment. According to the release, "this will further strengthen Dubai's economy and help the UAE government's objective to increase the number of blockchain enterprises by five times the current number."
According to Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, UAE minister of state for artificial intelligence and digital economy, the metaverse is anticipated to fuel the UAE's efforts to "provide innovative solutions, positively impact people's lives, and transform the city into one of the smartest hubs worldwide offering new economic opportunities."
That’s not all!
Gamestop leapt into the NFT space last week. According to data collated by CoinDesk, GameStop's non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace is quickly becoming popular among JPEG collectors. Since its inception on July 11, it has done over 5,000 ETH (about $7.2 million) in trade activity, more than double rival Coinbase's total NFT traffic.
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