Weekly Crypto Roundup: Ethereum’s transition, Tether’s new partnership, and eye-watering crypto hack statistics

This week saw Bitcoin slipping again until it fell below the $22,000 level on Friday, losing more than 7% in a single day. Ether was affected too, as the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap fell below $1,700 on Saturday

While prices turned icy again, the crypto sector is heating up as more participants - traders, developers, founders, regulators, and yes, even hackers - try to leave their unique mark on it.

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You may have seen a lot of rhymes in the crypto community of late - merge, surge, verge, purge, and splurge are just a few. The reason? The crypto community is eagerly anticipating the day when Ethereum will fully transition from the high demand ‘proof-of-work’ method of growing the blockchain, to the far less energy intensive “proof-of-stake’ consensus mechanism. This is called the ‘merge’ event.

Ethereum currently has what is known as a “Beacon Chain,” which uses proof-of-stake. Now, the goal is to securely shift Ethereum’s activity to this chain. While official sources reported that 19 September is the deadline, it’s important to remember that Merge ‘deadlines’ are closer to predictions than promises. 

Yet, that hasn’t stopped crypto traders from investing in a possible surge in Ether’s price as users and those building projects on Ethereum look forward to a hopefully smoother, cheaper, and more eco-friendly experience after the Merge.

“That is the most important development that we are looking up to, which will basically get Ethereum into a bullish scenario very soon,” said Nirmal Ranga, CFO of Indian crypto exchange ZebPay to  The Hindu.

The Merge is only meant to be the beginning for Ethereum, as it has ambitious plans to scale and grow more efficient until it can “help all of humanity,” according to the official website.