Ethereum, ether (ETH) as its native token, is one of the most well-known altcoins within the digital market of cryptocurrencies. Investors and enthusiasts alike are treating ETH as more than a cryptocurrency. The origination and creation of NFTs and smart contracts attracted crypto investors to invest and capitalize on ETH.

Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has significantly grown its value and is currently the second-largest cryptocurrency next to bitcoin. According to several reports and predictions by crypto experts, ETH’s value in the crypto market was expected to grow by more than 400% in the year 2022. But since the digital market of crypto crashed during the earlier weeks of May, ETH’s price, along with other cryptocurrencies in the market, had experienced a devastating crash. With the crash, it entered a bearish market, where its price decreased by 33% and was seen to continue on a downward trend. 

The bearish market trend of Ethereum got its investors and supporters worried about their investments. But with the Ethereum Merge update that seems to be happening sometime soon, there seems to be hope for this cryptocurrency. The “Merge” that Ethereum refers to is the moment when Ethereum officially shifts from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. It aims to eliminate adverse impacts on the environment of Ethereum’s functionality.

In terms of energy consumption, it is said that Merge could possibly reduce as much as 99% of its current energy consumption. With proof-of-stake, miners in the Ethereum blockchain will no longer compete to verify transactions on the blockchain by solving complex computational problems. And as a result of this, it is no longer necessary to buy and use sophisticated and much more expensive mining rigs, thus reducing the energy consumption significantly.

The shift in consensus mechanism also aims to dramatically change Ethereum’s transaction speed. It is said that everything within the Ethereum blockchain is going to be faster, cheaper, and more efficient. The transaction fees could fall, making Ethereum more accessible to a casual user. 

But the talks about “The Merge” have been around for a long time now and have been delayed more than a few times than what investors expected. Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, said that the upgrade would undergo in August when the Beacon chain, which is parallel to Ethereum’s blockchain and which is being tested for the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, will merge with the primary network of Ethereum.

With all the technical upgrades and initiatives that are going to be implemented within their network, Ethereum might eventually become the number one cryptocurrency, overtaking Bitcoin. The success of the upgrade might give their supporters and investors hope worth waiting for.

The upcoming merge of the Ethereum network is a major event that could have significant implications for the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Here’s what you need to know about the merge and its potential impact.

Ethereum is set to undergo a major network upgrade in the near future. The upgrade, which is known as the “merge,” will see the Ethereum network move from its current proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm to a new proof-of-stake (PoS) algorithm.

May is nothing but a month full of losses for the crypto market including ETH. Although it could be too early to say whether it is the worst since Bitcoin is still below $30,000, it is fair to say that the market is in a bear state. Sellers are in control of the market and they are not selling just yet.

The merge is a highly anticipated event that has been years in the making. If successful, it will be a major milestone for Ethereum and could have significant implications for the cryptocurrency ecosystem as a whole.

The upgrade is designed to address some of the scalability and security issues that have plagued Ethereum in recent years. The move to PoS will also make Ethereum more energy-efficient, which is a major selling point for the project.

Ethereum’s developers have been working tirelessly to ensure that the merge goes off without a hitch. However, there is, the merge is scheduled to happen sometime in early 2020. However, the exact date has not been finalized and is subject to change.

Delay May Make or Break

The stakes for the merge are incredibly high. If successful, it could make Ethereum the most influential cryptocurrency project in the world. However,  if things go wrong, it could set the project back years.

The delay in the merge has caused some frustration among Ethereum’s community members. Some believe that the project is taking too long to make the switch to PoS and that the delay is putting unnecessary pressure on the Ethereum network.

However, it’s important to remember that the merging is a complex process that requires a great deal of planning and coordination. The Ethereum team is taking their time to ensure that the merge is done right and that the transition is as smooth as possible.

The bottom line is that the Ethereum merge is a highly anticipated event with huge implications for the cryptocurrency ecosystem. It’s important to stay up-to-date on all the latest developments and be prepared for anything that might happen.

There are no free lunches, and there are indeed no free transactions. Consider paying $100 to mail $500 or obtain a PNG of a panda if paying $5 to receive $20 at an ATM is inconvenient.

While this may be an illustrative case, it is occasionally necessary to transmit payment or run a function on Ethereum’s system. Moreover, unlike ATM costs, the Ethereum platform will not reimburse you for your gas fees at the end of the month.

What is Gas?

The quantity of ether (ETH) – Ethereum’s native money – required by the system for a client to engage with the system is gas. These costs are designed to reward Ethereum miners for the time and effort it takes to validate transactions and provide safety to the Ethereum platform by rendering it prohibitively expensive for flawed individuals to abuse the network.

Gas fees are the most loathed component of Ethereum, even though they are a great way of paying miners to continue confirming deals and maintaining network security. People despise gas taxes not just because they are generally disliked but also because they may be exorbitantly expensive whenever the connection is crowded.

How are Gas Prices Determined?

It’s essential to understand how gas charges are computed to understand better why they’re so expensive and how you may save money. Ethereum uses a metric system of denominated units called “Wei,” where 1 ETH is equal to 1 quintillion wei, even though costs on Ethereum usually are far less than 1 ETH. Among the most frequent wei currencies, gigawei, or 1 billion Wei, symbolizes gas prices.

If you’ve ever created a non-fungible token or bought one on a second-hand market such OpenSea, you may assume that 100 gwei for an NFT exchange is a bargain. Since the basic fees are only one portion of the entire price structure, this is the case. Given the latest gas fee structures introduced by Ethereum’s London update, the total fee is already computed as follows:

Total Fee = (Base Fee + Tip) * Gas Unit (Limits)

Why Are Gas Prices So High?

We may understand better why gas prices are so high if we comprehend how overall gas fees are computed. The following are the two main variables that have driven recent increases in gas prices:

• Gwei is the currency for gas costs.
• The Ethereum total payment ratio is changeable.

Takeaway

Sadly, there is no method to reduce the gas unit’s impact directly. However, there are ways of reducing your overall charge by decreasing the basic fee and tip. You might perform your transaction on the system during a period when relatively few people are using the blockchain to cut the total of your total gas price by paying a lower base fee. It’s because base charges are, in some ways, a reflection of the desire for Ethereum. If more labor is needed to engage with the Ethereum network, gas prices rise. As more users attempt to communicate with the network, more effort is necessary.

Concerns about the economy and the expiration of $1 billion of Ethereum options this week threaten to keep the price of the cryptocurrency below $1,800.

Ether’s (ETH) performance over the last three months has been disappointing, with the cryptocurrency testing the $1,800 support for the first time since July 2021 following a 50% fall since April 3.

Due to stock market instability, investors sought refuge in the US dollar, and on May 13, the DXY index achieved its highest level in 20 years. The DXY index compares the US dollar to a basket of international currencies, including the British pound (GBP), the euro (EUR), and the Japanese yen (JPY).

Furthermore, the United States’ five-year plan, the 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since August 2018, trading at 3.10 percent, indicating that investors are looking for higher yields to compensate for inflation. In a nutshell, macroeconomic data indicates risk-averse investor attitude, which helps to explain Ether’s decline.

A seven-block chain reorg on Ethereum’s Beacon Chain on May 25 added to the fear among Ether dealers. A legal transaction sequence was removed from the chain because a competing block received higher network support. Fortunately, this is a typical occurrence, and it might have resulted from a resource-hungry miner or a flaw.

According to Coinglass statistics, the major sufferers of Ether’s 11 percent price drop were leverage traders (longs), who witnessed $160 million in collective liquidations at derivatives exchanges.

The Bears are shooting for a $325 million profit.

Based on the present price activity, the three most likely possibilities are listed below. The quantity of call (bull) and put (bear) options contracts available on May 27 vary based on the expiry price. The theoretical profit is determined by the imbalance favoring either side:

• 0 calls vs. 230,000 puts between $1,600 and $1,700. The overall outcome is $370 million in favor of the put (bear) instruments.
• 50 calls vs. 192,300 puts between $1,700 and $1,800. By $325 million, the outcome favors the bears.
• 3,300 calls vs. 150,000 puts between $1,800 and $2,000 The overall outcome is $280 million in favor of the put (bear) instruments.

This rough estimate takes into account put options in bearish bets and call options in neutral-to-bullish transactions. Despite this, more nuanced investing methods are ignored by this simplicity.

For example, a trader may have sold a put option to obtain positive exposure to Ether above a certain price, but there’s no simple method to evaluate this effect.

We’ve seen remarkable growth in the ETH market for the past two years. It showed a sharper trend, setting a nice all-time high last 2021. Although it is not that popular, it still has great growth potential.

Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency globally, and it’s predicted to soon overtake Bitcoin. It is number two due to its large volume of trading transactions, surpassing both Bitcoin and every other altcoin combined.

ETH Growth

As we can see that the demand for Ether will keep growing, in some people’s opinion, it has the potential to surpass Bitcoin. However, the recent price crash caused by the market sell-off lost more than 50% of its market value.

If we recall, ETH had remarkable growth in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The said event paved the way to new avenues, sustaining its spike. With a two percent daily increase, ETH suddenly grew to more than what’s expected in just a year, ending 2020 at $737.

This continued with around 750% return. The market value and price broke $100 billion and $4,000, respectively. However, ETH is not that popular compared to Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin (BTC), and Litecoin (LTC). Fortunately, it became the crowd’s favorite during a market correction.

ETH Downfall

Last November 2021, ETH set its ATH at $4,812. After that, it already started to crash down, persisting for eight consecutive weeks. The downtrend continued, not even meeting the prediction of Economy Watch.

What does this imply? It means the demand for ETH is still at a high, considering it has already crossed the resistance level. The problem is the price crash and volatility of the market.

A greater concern is how far it can go down? Some traders believe that a crash might happen in the $3,000 range. This will affect more than just a few altcoins.

What can we expect with ETH at the end of 2022?

As of now, the cryptocurrency market is already in a bearish trend. According to reports, Bitcoin is down by almost 40 percent. Most altcoins have lost their value as well. Fortunately, ETH is still holding strong and might be able to sustain its stability.

We are noticing a slow recovery which could give way to a speedy surge once again in the market price for ETH recently. Would ETH be able to regain the top position? It might be the newfound Bitcoin, after all.

Conclusion

However, the forecast is still uncertain until time tells. We have no idea what the future holds for ETH. But, since it was able to maintain its position while other cryptocurrencies are in a slump, ETH might be the one that’s worth the price.

It seems like cryptocurrency is all the rage these days, especially for enabling decentralized exchanges and peer-to-peer transactions. However, one application that hasn’t been explored much so far is its use in gaming, but this may be about to change.

Although the digital currency has been around for a while now, most people have not really seen its benefits as a way to purchase games or make in-game purchases with increased anonymity and reduced risk of fraud or chargebacks.

Why is this?

One reason is the difficulty in buying into the cryptocurrency ecosystem and diving into it. The other reason is that mainstream online gaming platforms are not yet massive enough to support a significant number of transactions, let alone an entire ecosystem of digital currencies. 

However, this may change soon as more people begin to use cryptocurrencies for payments and transactions within an online community, which would benefit the game developers and gamers.

The most important reasons why cryptocurrency may be a good fit for gaming are its ability to transfer funds which can’t be reversed, increased privacy and localized transaction fees. Using Ethereum as an example, let’s discuss why these features would be of particular benefit.

Irreversible Payments: One of the most significant benefits of using cryptocurrency is that payments are irreversibly sent and can’t be reversed or charged back. This is a problem for the game industry which often gets its revenues from in-game purchases and microtransactions.

Better Privacy: Each transaction on the Ethereum network is entirely private and secure, with requests and confirmations not being visible to anyone aside from the sender, receiver and miners who process transactions.

Localized Transaction Fees: Unlike credit cards that have a set fee for international transactions, using cryptocurrencies like Ethereum would allow developers to charge localized fees depending on where users are sending their funds.

Gaming Industry Will Benefit From Cryptocurrency

The game industry can potentially benefit a lot from cryptocurrency as it would allow them to transfer funds in a private, secure and decentralized way. Furthermore, their transactions would also be extremely cheap since the transactions of cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum are not processed by banks, thus reducing costs significantly.

Even though some of these benefits are great, they may come at the expense of security and privacy, which is something that offline businesses may want to ensure as well.

For example, currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are relatively new, which means that there aren’t many transactions to analyze, which would make it difficult to provide the same level of security and privacy as traditional banking transactions.

Nevertheless, the benefits of cryptocurrency outweighed its drawbacks in most cases and made it an excellent option for gaming transactions. However, blockchain technology may be an even better solution for commerce in the future.

If you are investing in Ethereum, it is best to know the trusted sites for ETH trading. ETH uses smart contract technology in the decentralized finance industry. Buying Ethereum is not a big issue because there are different platforms to use. You can buy and sell this crypto from Bitcoin ATMs, brokers, apps, and exchanges.

Cryptocurrency apps – Many crypto exchanges and brokers are using mobile apps for easy trading. Some apps like Paypal and Venmo accept payment when you buy Ethereum.

Cryptocurrency exchanges –  It is the most common option to trade cryptocurrency, including ETR. The good thing about crypto exchanges is that they offer many options to deposit fiat currency. They also offer reasonable fees and cater to several tradable coins.

Cryptocurrency brokers – Using brokers when trading ETR is convenient because it does not require a new exchange account. But keep in mind that they do not provide external wallets for deposits and withdrawal of your crypto assets.

Using those three options when trading,  Ethereum keeps your assets safe from hackers.

Are There Fees Involved When Trading Ethereum?

If you think of trading Ethereum, expect some fees. Different platforms have different charging fees and do not show consistency in the computation of fees.

Deposit fees

When trading ETR, expect that the deposit fees vary depending on the method you will use. However, if you deposit money through bank transfer, it is free. For deposits through credit cards, the fees range from 3% to 5%.

Trading fees

Several crypto exchanges offer lower fees when using their native currency for payment. But sometimes, the trading fee they offer is less transparent until you receive less ETR for your dollars.

Withdrawal fees

When trading ETR, you should pay attention to the withdrawal fees. The fees differ depending on the crypto you are investing in and the platform you are using. Before making a withdrawal, check if the platform has a list of fees. Some investors convert their assets into cheaper crypto prior to withdrawing them.

Takeaway

It is not easy to trade Ethereum. The best thing to do is to study and familiarize how the different options or platforms work. Explore each platform and choose the one that can make good returns from trading cryptocurrency. While you are trading, you can also earn rewards by staking ETH tokens. It is a better way to get passive income that can lead to long-term investment.

Ethereum was launched in 2014 deemed to be the prime smart contract platform. It also uses a computational engine called Ethereum Virtual Machine. Thousands of dApps or decentralized applications run on the ETR blockchain.

DeFi (Decentralized Finance) protocols

ETR won’t work without decentralized finance protocols and smart contract technology. The algorithms of smart contracts are programmed for self-execution after meeting the preset conditions. Smart contracts also allow users to decentralize the traditional financial instruments in the past.

From 2014 to the present, ETR has come up with several notable projects.

Uniswap

One of the Ethereum projects is the Uniswap v3 designed for concentrated liquidity. The liquidity allows the providers to set the price ranges or the eligible fees. The major benefit of Uniswap v3 is the speedy transactions, high gas fees, and reduced slippage.

Aave

It is a decentralized lending protocol launched through an ICO or initial coin offering in 2017. The interest rates of this protocol are based on the liquidity pool utilization rate. The good thing about Aave is that once the investor deposits ETH, he can borrow another asset. But borrowers must understand the liquidation risks. If you will borrow using this protocol, you are required to put up collateral more than you had borrowed.

MakerDAO

It is the first-ever decentralized lending protocol of Ethereum. Through MakerDAO, stablecoin Dai was conceptualized. The value of Stablecoins remains stable even when pegged with another currency. Since it is a lending protocol, the users can take out loans without worrying about the price volatility of the cryptocurrency. Unlike other stablecoins, Dai is supported by Ethereum.

Curve Finance

This project of Ethereum is an automated market maker. Using Curve Finance, the investor can earn a consistent and stable yield of assets because it favors stability over uncertainty and volatility. It also offers the lowest transaction fees, impermanent loss, and reduced levels of slippage. It is made possible through organized liquidity pools.

OpenSea

OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace in the world to trade volume. It is the secondary marketplace for non-fungible tokens on Ethereum. The project launched DAO or Decentralized Autonomous Organization allows the users to receive airdrops of RARE and SOS tokens.

Takeaway

The Ethereum dApps or projects were ranked considering various factors, such as developer activity, transaction volume, and current active users. All the ETR projects mentioned above are using a decentralized approach to managing data, allowing the users to have full control through the blockchain technology and based on the Ethereum network.   

Are you struggling to read Ethereum charts? Here are some tricks that might help you.

1. Glance over the major milestones for a few minutes.

What did the price look like at certain highs and lows? This gives you a sense of how far the price is moving.  Next, look over the daily chart for a few minutes, paying attention to how many times it has changed direction every day and at what levels. This also gives a good indication of when and where the price will stop moving in a particular direction.

More importantly, you should be able to tell what trend it is in.

Is it rising or falling? It is worth noting that a falling trend often ends at the bottom of a downtrend channel and then shoots upwards, while an uptrend usually reverses around the top of an uptrend channel. In other words, these channels can help you predict what could happen next.

2. Watch the candle bars.

It is worth noting that at certain times of the day this can be misleading. However, in general, volume bars give you an indication of how many traders are betting on a particular direction. In the context of Ethereum and other altcoins, it is best to pay attention to volume bars close to the price bar when they are making their way up and down, just as they are forming their upper and lower extremes.

3. Open interest is also useful.

Open interest is basically the public money that traders have put into a specific direction and gives you an idea of how many traders are betting on a particular direction, which can help you tell if it will keep moving in that direction after the close of the current candle.

4. Watch the moving averages.

Moving averages are used to simply measure how the price has moved in the past. They are particularly useful when you are trying to determine where a trend will end up and how far it will move before reversing.

There are two main types of moving averages: Exponential and Simple Moving Average or SMA.

Ethereum trading data uses Exponential Moving Averages (EMA) which is the one that most people use and it is the one that I use for my charts as well. Most of the tricks described above are simple and should help you read the Ethereum chart faster and better.

If you have any comments or thoughts that you would like to share, please leave a reply below.

Ethereum is the most-well known altcoin in the digital world of crypto, and for many investors and enthusiasts, it’s much more than just another cryptocurrency. Ether (ETH), Ethereum’s native token, has rapidly grown since its launch in 2015 by computer programmer Vitalik Buterin. Its value has increased in price from $0.311 at its launch in 2015, to around $4,800 late last year.

During the past few months, ETH’s value has been hovering near around $2,000 to $3,500. At a yearly rate, ETH’s ROI is nearly 300%. This means that the early investors have nearly quadrupled their investment every year since its launch in 2015. This is due to ETH’s growing popularity in the crypto world, and its defining feature that permits developers to build and power new tools, apps, and NFTs, unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This blockchain network has many uses and applications across the tech and digital world, specifically in gaming, music, entertainment, and decentralized finance (DeFi).

Due to Ethereum’s reputation as the first blockchain to use smart contracts, its popularity in the crypto world when it comes to minting NFTs (with over 90% of the NFT market), and developing technology, many investors are shifting from one crypto to ETH. Despite Ethereum’s competition within the crypto world and other factors that contribute to its highly volatile nature, there’s a general sense of optimism that Ethereum will make it through this year of trials.

With this, many experts in the crypto world predict that ETH’s value could possibly grow by as much as 400% in 2022. Bloomberg intelligence analyst Mike McGlone has predicted that ETH could be ending the year 2022 between $4,000 to $4,500. Coinpedia, a crypto news outlet, stated that ETH could end 2022 between $6,500 to $7,500 if a similarbullish upswing starting in 2021 were to continue.

Coinpedia further added that if Ethereum’s upcoming transition to Ethereum 2.0 becomes successful, ETH’s value could possibly grow around or above $12,000. Ian Balina, Token Metrics investor and founder, said “Ethereum is the clear leader but other blockchains are onboarding new users at a faster pace due to Ethereum’s high gas fees and low transaction speed”, and predicted that ETH’s value could go up to $8,000 within the year 2022. One expert, Arslanian, believes that “this year is going to be a very important year for Ethereum, a kind of make-or-break year.”