Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, continued to fall in price over the weekend following the network’s much publicized technical change known as “the merge’ last Thursday, as well as comments from the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission that ether may need to be treated as a security. Ethereum is currently trading at around $1,290, down more than 11% from 24 hours ago, while bitcoin, the most popular crypto in the world, is also down 8% to just $18,420.
Ethereum last Thursday completed a network upgrade known as “the Merge,” moving the cryptocurrency from a proof-of-work system to a proof-of-stake system. Proof-of-work was incredibly energy-intensive, forcing so-called “miners” to have their computers play a guessing game to verify transactions. Proof-of-stake allows people who already own ether to “stake” their cryptocurrency to verify transactions in exchange for longer-term interest earned, similar to how a savings account can acquire interest.
And therein lies the problem. Moving to a “proof-of-stake” system means that people who invest in ethereum and then “stake” their ether treat their investment as something closer to security than a currency — especially since very few people use ether to to pay for things. And strike has attracted the attention of people like SEC chairman Gary Gensler who made post-merger comments that are making crypto investors nervous.
“From the perspective of the currency … that’s another indication that under the Howey test, the investing public expects profits based on the efforts of others,” Gensler said on Thursday, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
As the Journal notes, Cardano and Solana are already two popular proof-of-stake coins. Cardano is down 80% from a year ago, while Solana is down 78% from a year earlier.
Bitcoin is currently trading at about $18,420, down 8% in the past 24 hours and well below its all-time high of $68,000 on November 9, 2021. The fall and winter of 2021 also happened to be when you started all those TV shows. featured commercials from celebrities such as Matt Damon, Larry David and LeBron James. Funny how they begged you to buy at the top right when smart money exited their positions. The Ether Foundation, as just one example, has sold a massive amount of ethereum rights top in November. Either they’re extremely lucky or this whole thing is a Ponzi scheme.
Click through to see how the best cryptocurrencies in the world are doing on Monday morning. Everything is not only on the day, but also in the past week. Over the past 24 hours, BNB is down about 7%, XRP is down 10.6%, Cardano is down 10.7%, Solana is down 8.6% and Dogecoin is down 8.5%. To round out the top ten cryptocurrencies, Polkadot is down 12%, Shiba Inu is down 1.4% and Lido Staked Ether is down 10.7%.
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