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September 06,2021

Protocol Wars: Competition Heats up for Ethereum as Competitors Gain Traction

It&39s hard to argue that Ethereum (ETH) currently reigns supreme as the king of the altcoins, but does this mean that its dominance is unchallengeable? We have borne witness to quite a few altcoins spike both in price and value recently, to the point that it has left several crypto enthusiasts to wonder about whether Ethereum will stay atop the altcoin mountain or if it will eventually be overtaken by one of its main competitors. Here&39s are our top three picks in the battle against Ethereum for base-layer supremacy.

Solana (SOL)

Solana has lately skyrocketed in popularity as the cryptocurrency&39s price continues to rise to new all-time highs. SOL was selling at around $30 a little over a month ago and the current price is a bit around $150, which is a phenomenal amount of growth, to say the least. Bandwidth and transaction costs are two issues that have often hampered cryptocurrencies. Solana overcomes both of these by enabling over 70,000 transactions per second at a low cost. It has additionally managed to perform more transactions since its debut in 2017 than that of Ethereum. Moreover, Solana&39s transaction speed and bandwidth make it ideal for general usage as well as the creation of exchanges and platforms on top of it.

Like Ethereum, Solana could soon begin burning tokens and like Cardano, smart contracts may be added soon too. Solanart, the project's NFT marketplace, had additionally managed to reach a new milestone of a million SOL in total volume. Make no mistake about it, Solana is highly scalable and a top contender that can certainly challenge Ethereum's dominance.

Cardano (ADA)

Currently sitting in the top three cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Cardano (ADA) is only beaten by both Bitcoin (BTC) and its rival Ethereum. However, this is not to say that Charles Hoskinson's project hasn't been successful, far from it in fact. ADA was trading at less than $0.5 just over a year ago, which makes its recent growth all the more spectacular as it lately reached over $3 to set a new all-time high. With the Alonzo hard fork expected to occur on September 12th, we shall leave the &lsquoShelley' era behind and enter &lsquoGoguen', during which the highly anticipated smart contract capabilities will finally be added to the network. Once this happens, the developers will be allowed to build decentralized applications (dApps) on top of Cardano. Hoskinson is a former co-founder of Ethereum and while he has praised Vitalik Buterin for his work, it would not be a far-fetched assumption to say that Charles wouldn't want to challenge the altcoin king's dominance given his checkered history with it.

Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot may be defined as a platform that enables several blockchains to communicate messages, particularly value, in a trust-less manner, while sharing their unique features and pooling their security. In a nutshell, it is a scalable heterogeneous multi-chain technology.

Polkadot seems to be heterogeneous primarily because it is completely adaptable and makes no assumptions about the type or structure of the network&39s links. All non-blockchain systems could become parachains if certain requirements are met. Polkadot is similar to a collection of separate chains (such as Ethereum or Bitcoin), but with two significant additions, namely trust-free interchain transact ability and pooled security. Currently, DOT's price is $33 per token, and while Polkadot has dropped down the ranks a bit, it is still in the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap. Like Cardano, Polkadot was founded by a former Ethereum co-founder, Gavin Wood.

September 03,2021

Kranz Finance Just Announced the Name of the New DEX Aggregator - Kranz Token (KRZ)

Interested in buying a cryptocurrency before it goes mainstream? Here&39s the opportunity.

FRISCO, Texas - On August 24th, the Kranz Finance team announced the name of the new Decentralized Exchange Aggregator that is under development: OnlySwap, becoming the only swap necessary to use. OnlySwap will be using Kranz Token as an Automated Market Maker Token and as a Reward Token that will be rewarding businesses proportionally on every transaction for accepting cryptocurrency. Since Kranz Token has a burn function on every transaction, the supply will become increasingly scarce over time, especially after full implementation on the exchange.

What Is Kranz Token? KRZ Token is an ERC-20 and BEP-20 token contract that is covering the cost for, and rewarding, businesses to start accepting cryptocurrency.

What costs does Kranz Token cover for businesses? With its Integration Fund, Kranz purchases any necessary technology (like a new tablet/computer) or the cost of any software development (like website integration) to make accepting cryptocurrency easier.

How is Kranz Token rewarding businesses? Kranz has a Reward Fund with token allocations specifically set aside for businesses that cooperate with them and start accepting cryptocurrency.

Where does Kranz Token get its funding? There is a 1% fee on every transaction (with a 3% sell fee on Uniswap and Pancakeswap). 50% of the fees are burned, 30% goes toward the Integration Fund, 10% goes toward the Reward Fund, and 10% goes toward Liquidity.

The DEX Aggregator is only the first step. The Decentralized Exchange Aggregator is currently under development by OnlySwap, Inc., but they also have plans to unify a Centralized Exchange with it on the same website. This upcoming Centralized Exchange will be completely covering the arbitrage and volatility for businesses so that they can accept cryptocurrency and have the $USD that they need to be deposited directly into their business bank account.

Businesses who would like to accept cryptocurrency should e-mail: partnership@kranz.finance.com

For more information, please visit https://www.kranz.finance/

How To buy Kranz: Kranz is available on XT.com, Uniswap, and Pancakeswap. KRZ is also available on the UniTrade bridge so that you can convert KRZ, back-and-forth, from an ERC-20 token to a BEP-20 token (https://www.unitrade.app/bridge).

XT.com Trade Link:

https://www.xt.com/trade/krz_usdt

Uniswap Link:

https://app.uniswap.org//swap?outputCurrency=0xf54b304e2e4b28c7e46619d1a340f9b2b72383d7

Pancakeswap Link:

https://exchange.pancakeswap.finance//swap?outputCurrency=0xf54b304e2e4b28c7e46619d1a340f9b2b72383d7

KRZ/ETH Chart View:

https://www.dextools.io/app/uniswap/pair-explorer/0x718e7c6022255fc9b7c6a43d0c00c8dca193321d

KRZ ETH and BSC Contract Address:

0xf54b304e2e4b28c7e46619d1a340f9b2b72383d7

Media Contact

Company: Kranz Finance

Contact: William Gill, Project Leader

E-mail: info@kranz.finance

Website: https://www.kranz.finance/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KranzToken

SOURCE: Kranz Finance

September 03,2021

Polker (PKR) Announces a Trading Competition on BitMart

GZIRA, Malta, Sept. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Polker (PKR) team, announces that they will organise a trading competition to celebrate their BitMart listing. This famous "Play-to-Earn" NFT Game Polker is also endorced by Akon, the Senegalese-American R&B superstar, singer, songwriter, and record producer from New Jersey. Akon has released a video voicing his support for Polker.game - an up-and-coming Play-to-Earn NFT game (Akon's video https://youtu.be/vONY86jRy-I ). Akon rose to fame in 2004 after the release of his album 'Locked Up' and is perhaps most famous for his hit single 'Smack That' featuring Eminem. Akon was even listed in Forbes top 100 most powerful Celebrities.

"Shoutout to Polker man, this game is revolutionary, I got a chance to play and wow, a card game experience in 3D, built-in Unreal Engine 4, this is hands down, this is the best play to earn, NFT game in the space." &ndash Akon

What is Polker.game?

Polker.game has just announced their Play-to-Earn platform, a unique and impressive online gaming experience utilizing Unreal Engine 4. The game is available for absolutely anyone to play, for those looking to play a couple of quick hands at a table without wagering any money &ndash then the game is available completely free.

Polker.game claims that their focus has always been on community, transparency, fairness, and also on creating a good game &ndash and they have certainly been successful in all aspects with this release. The game focuses on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and in-game upgrades which become available by winning more hands within the Polker platform. NFTs have been the biggest trend within the blockchain industry so far in 2021, and blockchain gaming is forecasted to be the next. With Polker integrating NFTs and blockchain gaming into its impressive gaming platform it really does seem set to be the next big thing.

$PKR & Polker.Game

$PKR is the native token of Polker.game and can be used to purchase NFTs, gaming assets like cosmetics, and can be staked with an impressive APR (Forecast of 15% as of August 2021). $PKR isn't required to play Polker due to the play-to-earn nature of the game, however, the token will create a large part of the ecosystem and metaverse in the future.

$PKR is cross-chain compatible and currently available on Ethereum, Smart Chain, and Tron &ndash with Polygon bridge coming soon too.

$PKR Listing on BitMart

Until now $PKR has been available on multiple decentralized exchanges (DEX) &ndash including UniSwap and PancakeSwap. Although the DeFi has increased in use massively over the past few years it is still an area that many investors and cryptocurrency users are unfamiliar with. Polker.game is now listed and live on BitMart &ndash a popular and traditional centralized exchange (CEX).

To celebrate the BitMart listing Polker is organising a trading competition and more details can be found on the BitMart exchange.

The Future of Polker.game?

Company with both an international and highly experienced development team. Polker is also only part of the PKR ecosystem, with pkr.io displaying a huge amount of new development and innovation in addition to Polker. With the massive shoutout from Akon and their recent listing on BitMart, Polker.game is sure to be making waves within the blockchain gaming and NFT communities.

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/POLKER_PKR

Telegram: https://t.me/polkercrew

Telegram Announcements: https://t.me/polkernews

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PolkerPKR

Medium: https://polker-pkr.medium.com/

Media Contact

Company: Polker.game

Contact: David Lee, PR Manager

Email: hello@polker.game

Website: https://polker.game/

SOURCE: Polker.game

August 30,2021

Citigroup is Setting up to Trade CME Bitcoin Futures

Citigroup is actively considering the trading of Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts on CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange), echoing efforts by several other banks to bring additional cryptocurrency exposure to its clients. Given the strict supervision that such investment offers are subject to, the global bank is contemplating futures products for a handful of its institutional clients at this given time.

Caution Must Be Exercised

According to a Citi representative, the numerous uncertainties surrounding legal frameworks and supervisory expectations have to be considered beforehand and so a cautious approach would be recommended.

This makes sense as Citi offers a wide range of financial goods and services to individuals, companies, institutions, and governments, including consumer securities trading, corporate and investment banking, transaction services, wealth management, banking, and credit. It has over 200 million client accounts and is active in over 160 nations worldwide. So, it can ill afford a mistake at this crucial stage.

What Caused This?

The corporation&39s proposed intentions come many months after Goldman Sachs revealed a digital assets strategy that included providing BTC derivatives to customers and creating a cryptocurrency trading desk.

Moreover, Bank of America was also allegedly planning to utilize Bitcoin futures via CME Group last month, immediately after it began researching cryptocurrencies and various digital assets.

August 30,2021

NFT Marketplace Zeptagram Announces Their ZeptaCoin Token Sale

Zeptagram is a technology firm that uses artificial intelligence to create new digital music marketplaces. They work closely with artists and content creators all over the world and strive to offer the most lucrative platform for investment and trading of music rights. On August 22nd, Zeptagram launched their Zeptacoin token sale.

What makes Zeptagram unique?

The Zeptagram NFT marketplace enables content producers and owners to mint one-of-a-kind non-fungible tokens and sell them on the market. The marketplace has several elements that allow users to express their creativity and innovation.

The Zeptagram Music Token Offering solution enables artists and content creators to create a special type of NFT of their music rights (known as Music Tokens or MTO Tokens), despite the fact that they are essentially a representation or a unit of account within the platform and concern each individual song&39s music rights for the purposes of selling or trading. In this way, users can trade, sell or share some or all of their music rights which includes ownership rights and royalties.

The Zeptagram MusiXchange Platform enables the community to exchange and distribute MTO tokens generated by the Zeptagram music token sale, therefore supporting their favourite musicians and content producers.

Zeptagram solutions are designed to create a completely new and innovative trading market for music in which users and content producers can be exempt from the numerous problems and inefficiencies often associated with the more traditional music market. Additionally, users will be able to do all this while simultaneously participating in what they enjoy and are familiar with.

Zeptagram&39s aim is to hence create a completely decentralized marketplace for Music Rights, therefore increasing value for content creators.

Zeptacoin (ZPTC)

Zeptagram will have two types of tokens, ZeptaCoin, Zeptagram&39s main utility token, and Music Token Offerings, limited edition NFTs for each piece of music on the platform. The Zeptacoin is the base level currency across the entire platform for several various functions, and the following are its primary features:

  • Zeptacoins (ZPTC) is used for platform trading
  • NFTs/MTOs may be interacted with by using Zeptacoins (ZPTC)
  • Successful trade fees can be settled inside the platform using ZPTC (automatically charged during trading).
  • Payments to Music IP rights holders are paid out in ZeptaCoins by default.
  • ZeptaCoins shall be listed on secondary markets such as cryptocurrency exchanges.

Music Token Offerings (MTO)

  • Music Tokens (MTO) are limited edition, one-of-a-kind tokens. Each MTO offering that is listed on the platform would have its own unique Music Token. This is defined as the Zeptagram&39s internal distributed non-fungible tokens. These NFTs have certain characteristics which are listed below:
  • An MTO token contains information about a piece of music or a song, such as the title, duration, cover art, author, and so forth.
  • An MTO token is actually a digital representation of music rights that can be purchased through a Music token offering.
  • MTO Tokens can only be traded within Zeptagram, specifically through the platform&39s MusiXchange element.
  • MTO tokens shall represent a buyer&39s share of music rights, with rewards distributed quarterly.

Distribution & ICO Details

The public ICO is scheduled to take place in September, with the listing expected to take place at the end of August or September. Furthermore, the Zeptacoin ICO private sale had already begun on August 22nd, 2021. Zeptacoin will be listed on BitMart on October 15th, 2021.

Moreover, ZeptaCoins are only available for pre-sale to unique whitelisted buyers.

For the token distribution, here's how it works:

  • 10% for the Seed Round - (5,000,000)
  • 2% for the Strategic Round - (1,000,000)
  • 6% for the Private Round - (3,000,000)
  • 0.8% for the Public Round - (400,000)
  • 18.4% for Team and Advisors - (9,200,000)
  • 5% for Partners - (2,500,000)
  • 5% for the Community Development Fund &ndash (2,500,000)
  • 30% in Liquidity Development - (15,000,000)
  • 15% for the Staking Rewards &ndash (7,500,000)
  • 7.8% for the Reserve - (3,900,000)

August 30,2021

Liti Capital Files Landmark Arbitration Lawsuit Against Binance

Context

As per the latest developments, a new $100 million arbitration case against cryptocurrency exchange Binance is being actively discussed around the crypto communities, in which over 1,000 traders demand restitution for losses sustained during the site&39s downtime on May 19th, 2021.

Binance had experienced technical difficulties for hours on end on that aforementioned date during one of the biggest market crashes of the year, with the entire cryptocurrency market falling by 33%. Traders were not able to make deals during Binance&39s downtime, and many saw their accounts emptied when the site finally reopened.

Binance&39s click-through terms of service relieve the exchange of all liability for losses suffered by new users after registering with the exchange. The firm does not have a formal headquarters and is not regulated or registered.

Hiding Under the &lsquoDecentralization' Umbrella?

David Kay from Liti Capital claimed Binance had used the term &lsquodecentralized' to great success during its tenure as the world&39s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, but solely to advance its own goals. &ldquoBinance attempts to disguise itself as a communal asset, which it is not," he added. &ldquoIt is a corporation that makes use of community resources. To that end, it has done an excellent job of blurring the borders and enveloping itself in the concept of decentralization."

David claimed that Binance used the concept of decentralization to create dividing lines in the cryptocurrency community through cultivating an in-group/out-group mindset, stating that Binance does not in fact have any official headquarters, nor is it actually regulated (although its CEO Changpeng Zhao has stated that he wants to change this soon by working with global regulatory institutions). David believes that if any such entity is against the crypto community, then it is essentially against decentralization itself.

&ldquoWe are not &lsquoanti-Binance'"

David wanted to clarify that despite what has happened and been said, Liti Capital is not actually anti-Binance. &lsquoWe support the notion that Binance can still be beneficial to the community. This situation mainly concerns the reality that we all make errors, but those faults must be corrected eventually. As such, there is no desire to ruin Binance, but this glaring issue needs to be acknowledged and corrected," Kay explained.

David recently spoke on the CryptoWeekly Podcast where he explained that while cryptocurrencies must remain largely unregulated due to their nature and the fact that government intervention will only stifle the industry's growth, centralized exchanges such as Binance which directly profit off of its consumers must be regulated and routinely checked.

Liti Capital will be paying for the arbitration in advance and shall additionally be reimbursed with a portion of the damages awarded if the procedures are decided in the claimants&39 favour.

August 30,2021

SFOX Names Former Goldman Sachs Executive John Mannino as New Director of Compliance

SAN FRANCISCO - August 30, 2021 -- SFOX, the independent digital assets prime broker providing institutional traders and investors with access to global crypto markets from a single account, today announced former Goldman Sachs executive John Mannino has joined the company as Director of Compliance.

Mannino joins SFOX after more than two decades of extensive operations and regulatory compliance experience at Goldman Sachs. Mannino, whose last position at Goldman was Senior Vice President, Global Head Regulation Assurance & Compliance for Margin and Collateral, worked at Goldman offices in New York, Zurich, London and Los Angeles. He oversaw and ensured daily compliance for the OTC derivative margin and collateral processes while navigating the rapidly changing derivative regulatory environment as it emerged globally.

&ldquoSimilar to the derivative markets, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing a time of dynamic change and exponential growth," said Akbar Thobhani, CEO and Co-Founder of SFOX. &ldquoAs we embark on our ambitious efforts at SFOX, John's experience with regulatory and compliance frameworks will prove extremely valuable to our clients, partners, and the institutional crypto market as a whole."

Most recently, Mannino was a Finance and Risk Compliance Manager at Accenture, where he helped financial institutions manage the transition of their suite of products away from the LIBOR index.

&ldquoI look forward to using my experience navigating emerging regulatory environments to help SFOX  continue to bridge the traditional and crypto markets for institutional traders and investors by proactively engaging with regulators, and developing the structures and frameworks that professionals and institutions need to be able to participate in this dynamic market," said Mannino. &ldquoThis is a phenomenal team of financial professionals and technologists, and I'm excited to join one of the most forward-thinking pioneers of the institutional crypto market."

Mannino is a CPA. He graduated from Penn State University and earned an MBA from Boston College Carroll School of Management, completing his final year at New York University's Stern School of Business.

About SFOX

SFOX (San Francisco Open Exchange) is the independent digital assets prime broker providing institutional traders and investors with access to global crypto markets from a single account, helping over 100,000 traders, investors, and institutions trade and invest in digital assets at the best price across leading exchanges, OTC brokers, and market makers globally since 2014. SFOX's team of senior developers and executives bring experience from institutions such as Airbnb, MIT, Goldman Sachs, Google, Box, Paxos, NASA, itBit, Gemini, Ripple, ITG, TIAA, Capital Group, State Street and Harvard University. The company is backed by Y Combinator, SV Angel, Digital Currency Group, Khosla Ventures, Social Capital, Tribe Capital, DHVC, Haystack, Sequoia, Blockchain Capital, and Executives from PayPal and Airbnb.

August 18,2021

The Dark Side Of DeFi: $600 Million Gets Stolen In Biggest Hack To Date

The efficiencies in a blockchain run deep and we should easily see its appeal to the traditional financial institutions and systems. "Watch what they do and ignore what they say" is the motto here because there can be no doubt the banks are investing heavily in blockchain, or have plans to, despite what they tell us. Observations illustrate that beyond the benefits of massive crypto price increases and blockchain startup business opportunities, the growing crypto industry also demonstrates great manpower efficiency gains over traditional financial systems. More for less is the equation, and that is a formula the banks know well.

Blockdata research tells us that 55 out of the top 100 banks have exposure to Crypto & Blockchain company investments, either directly or through subsidiaries. Barclays, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan are among the top names with exposure on the list. Though the focus for many of the banks is on crypto custodial services, it is part of a greater trend of investment in the crypto & blockchain startup business sector. Blockchain startup investment volumes are already 2 x this year over 2020.

For the banks, the top points of interest in blockchain and crypto are obviously its adoption and demand acceleration, the resulting soaring profits for blockchain interested startups, & regulatory advancements. All clear signs of industry growth. Another key takeaway being noted through observation of the big crypto exchanges is that the manpower factor in producing such returns is a fraction of the traditional approach of banks. The whole formula looking very appealing to everyone in the know.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies continue to reveal opportunities through efficiency & growth. Banks, like everyone else, will not ignore blockchain&39s obvious growth in demand, and platform improvements on yesterday&39s systems. The Bank&39s participation in crypto is guaranteed to follow the demand of their customers, helping to evolve their business models and efficiencies.

August 15,2021

NFT Digital Art Market MakersPlace Raises $30M Series A

NFT&39s (non-fungible tokens) gain even more momentum as NFT marketplace MakersPlace raises $30M from big-name investors. NFT is a cryptographic asset that uses blockchain technology to certify ownership of digital items. MakerPlace enables the creation and circulation of those items. The likes of rap star Eminem, Sony Music, and others are part of the investment group backing this path carving the NFT trading platform. According to MakerPlace, Coinbase Ventures, Uncork Capital, Draper Dragon Digital Assets, 9Yards Capital are also among the investors. These prominent names have a history of investing in blockchain technology platforms that promises enormous growth, MakersPlace is no exception.

"We see this fundraise as continued validation for our mission," stated Dannie Chu, chief executive of MakersPlace. "We will continue to push boundaries and empower digital creators with better tools and services while finding more ways to introduce digital art and NFTs to a mainstream collector audience." 2021 has seen big growth for MakersPlace. Collectors using the market have grown by ten times, processing over 100 million transactions. The NFT market peaked at $250 million in the month of May but shows signs of passing that volume high soon.

Evolving the industry of digital ownership in Art and Music is just the start, but currently the most popular of NFT applications. Though the idea of digital ownership has existed for a long time in the video game industry and online applications, these new presentations introduce the element of scarcity through verifiable authenticity and uniqueness on a blockchain. Taking an existing popular concept and making it even more desirable and collectible. People, especially the young, are growing to find digital ownership a concept that is more familiar, comfortable, & adds value to their digital experiences. Massive growth in the NFT sector is pretty easy to forecast. Top marketplaces like MakersPlace will be the springboard for some innovative collectible expressions.

 

August 14,2021

TransitNet Launches Title Verification Tools To Transform The Crypto Sphere

TransitNet is launching a new title registry for crypto wallets that may signal a complete paradigm shift in how institutional investors see crypto.

According to data presented by Finaria, $1.9 billion in crypto was stolen in 2020. A major reason for this level of theft comes from crypto's status as a bearer asset. This means that anybody who is able to get their hands on someone else's crypto essentially becomes the owner of it. This is also why crypto seems to be the currency of choice requested by ransomware attackers.

However, TransitNet is developing a new solution for investors, allowing them to turn their crypto from a bearer asset to a registered asset, making the whole crypto sphere more secure and attractive to institutional investors.

The first of TransitNet's title verification tools is the Asset Collision Identifier (ACI). This tool lets service providers check for the collision of crypto wallets. In other words, it will identify wallet addresses that may be claimed by multiple managers and then help ensure that specific assets are not claimed by more than one fund. After the release of the ACI demonstrated the industry need for verification tools, TransitNet is now developing a title registry. The forthcoming release of which, will expand the ability for TransitNet users to register their cryptographic assets.

TransitNet has just closed a seed round on WeFunder worth $2 million. Investment from major players in the crypto investment industry was previously secured during an angel investment round. However, TransitNet's latest investment round was to give access to the project to crypto investors across the world rather than the elite crypto investment funds. The names that invested back in 2018 include such renowned firms as BKCM, ALPHABIT, and Kenetic Capital, which is evidence of how significant a project like this could be. The ability for crypto to gain the same legitimacy as assets stored in the bank could be a genuine game-changer.

About TransitNet

Transit net provides the tools to assist service providers with title verification for cryptographic assets. Launched in 2020, the company seeks to provide institutional investors a more secure and transparent blockchain by creating a registry of cryptography assets.

TransitNet is the solution that the crypto industry needs to move to the next level. TransitNet offers crypto investors the ability to change their crypto from a bearer asset to a registered asset and will consist of a suite of different tools that will assist with title verification for cryptographic assets. TransitNet can be utilized by custodians, auditors, fund administrators, insurers, crypto exchanges, and most significant institutional investors.

August 12,2021

Ethereuem: The London Hard Fork Has Finally Arrived

Context

After much delay, the highly anticipated update that everyone in the crypto community has been waiting for is finally here, namely Ethereum&39s (ETH) London hard fork. The significant upgrade had gone live at block 12,965,000 at approximately12:40 AM UTC.

The world&39s second-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has now finally deployed one of its most anticipated network enhancements, EIP-1559. The hard fork includes various upgrades known as EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals), the most anticipated of which is undoubtedly EIP 1559.

What Does This Mean For Ethereum?

The update brings many EIPs to the blockchain as aforementioned, including EIP-3198, EIP-3529, EIP-3541, and EIP-3554. However, as previously stated, it is the EIP-1559 upgrade that has received the most community engagement and support.

EIP-1559 seeks to enhance Ethereum&39s gas fee market by instituting a base charge, which means wallet providers and consumers would be made aware of the cost of a transaction beforehand (in the past, it was compulsory to participate in a gas fee bid to miners, which meant that several users would often end up over or underpaying to have their transactions be added to the next block).

In other words, EIP 1559 reconfigures the fee system of Ethereum. Rather than its prior auction-based approach, wherein users paid the highest fees to have their respective transactions be included, the new and relatively much quicker Ethereum that has resulted from the post-London update features a dual structure. Under this new model, the authorization of any transaction will now require users to pay miners with a &39basic fee&39 plus tip. Base fees are burnt on a regular basis.

Although the tip rates may be changed by the dApp (decentralized application) user as well as the ETH holder, the &39base fee&39 rate is determined by the consensus. So, whenever the block reaches half of its capacity, the base fee rate rises.

Why Is This Update So Important?

Soaring gas prices have generated many difficulties and caused frequent congestion on Ethereum in the past, which was the case with the recent Stoner Cats NFTs situation. Ethereum is the most extensively used public blockchain at the moment, and so if it desires to maintain its dominance and sustain its continued usage and popularity in the industry, then these problems would have to be solved and that is exactly what the crypto community hopes the London hard fork will accomplish.

A popular misunderstanding however is that the update would lower gas prices, which is not exactly the case. Instead, it is more accurate to state that it will minimize the volatility of gas fees. EIP-1559 will not significantly lower network costs, but it shall make fees more foreseeable for consumers, therefore improving the overall experience for users.

EIP-1559 was initially suggested in 2018 as a way to improve on Ethereum&39s auction-based fee mechanism, however, Vitalik Buterin originally outlined early thoughts for the upgrade on the Ethereum blog in 2016.

How Will Ethereum Deal With Inflation?

EIP-1559 also marks a significant alteration to Ethereum&39s monetary policy. As of now, every transaction with a base fee paid in ETH will be destroyed and withdrawn from circulation. Earlier, miners got the transaction fee, but EIP-1559 reduces the incentive for miners to influence the network by rearranging blocks, lowering the Maximal Extractable Value (MEV).

Furthermore, the miners shall only acquire a tip on top of the standard fee, which will assist them in determining which transactions to prioritize in a new block.

Deflationary Pressure

As of the time of this writing, EIP-1559 has already managed to burn ETH worth $1 million. The new upgrade burns the basic fee from all Ethereum transactions, which results in the reduction of the ETH supply. Meanwhile, the price of ETH has increased by more than 6% in the last few hours. Additionally, a handful of deflationary blocks have been successfully committed to the chain as of now, with the quantity of ETH burnt to be more than the block rewards, which is 2 ETH.

The burning of the fees will end up administering additional deflationary (or downward) pressure on ETH. Provided that there is a satisfactory amount of activity on the Ethereum network, ETH may become the very first deflationary cryptocurrency asset. According to Justin Drake (a cryptography researcher currently working at the Ethereum Foundation), the blockchain&39s different scaling solutions should boost the pace at which the fees burn, which he describes as "very optimistic and highly bullish".

In recent weeks, the story around ETH&39s deflationary pressure has also granted the asset positive impetus. ETH is presently trading at approximately $2,800, which is an increase of over 20% in just the last week.

While some have predicted a "sell the news" scenario that would cause ETH to fall in price, evidence shows that ETH might reach $3,200, however, only time will tell whether the so-called "king of the altcoins" can reach that mark again, or if the price shall indeed dip once more. Nevertheless, the abovementioned hard fork represents a key step forward for ETH 2.0 and the eventual transition to a full Proof of Work (PoW) model, rather than its current Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism. Lastly, investors are happy that an alternative token to ETH had not been created which had been one of the main causes of concern prior to the launch of the update.

August 10,2021

Meter Passport Bridge Deploys on Moonriver, With Moonbeam Deployment Later This Year

Boston, MA, August 10, 2021. Moonbeam, the Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform on Polkadot, announced today the deployment of its Meter Passport bridge on Moonriver. This bridge will connect the Moonriver parachain and Kusama to Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, and Meter, allowing the free movement of assets across the independent networks. Meter Passport will also be deployed to Moonbeam once it launches on Polkadot later this year. 

Meter Passport is an N-way blockchain router that allows assets and information to flow directly from one blockchain to another, secured by a group of decentralized relayers. It is designed to serve as the shared, secure infrastructure for various blockchains and multichain DApps. 

Moonriver is an Ethereum-compatible parachain on Kusama, serving as an experimental, community-led sister network to Moonbeam. The developer-friendly design and implementation of Moonriver have made it a destination for dozens of new and established DApps alike. The addition of Meter Passport to Moonriver gives users important asset transit options from some of the most popular and active chains in the ecosystem, in addition to the natively interoperable assets on Kusama and Polkadot.

"Today&39s crypto world is fast transitioning from the isolated single blockchain local network model to the interconnected heterogeneous blockchain Internet model.  Smart contracts will have to scale across the blockchain boundaries. Moonriver and Moonbeam stand at the forefront of such landscape shifts in the Polkadot ecosystem. It is our great pleasure to support and provide the most smooth cross-chain experience for the upcoming Moonriver and Moonbeam launch." said Xiaohan Zhu, founder of Meter.  

Meter&39s initial set of relayers includes Protofire, Hashquark, InfinityStones, Wetez and, the Meter.io team. A cross-chain transaction will go through when it gets three or more confirmations from the five relayers. An implementation with an increased number of relayers and a higher security threshold will be available later this year.

"In an increasingly multi-chain environment, the key challenges to overcome are connectivity and interoperability between different blockchains," said Derek Yoo, Founder of Moonbeam. "The integration of Meter Passport provides critical transit routes to the Ethereum and BSC ecosystems. This allows users and developers the ability to work with a rich variety of assets in DeFi and other protocols that are deploying to Moonriver and Moonbeam."

Moonriver is currently in the process of launching to Kusama, with balance transfers and a full EVM expected to be available in approximately three weeks. At that point, DApps and other projects will begin to deploy to the network.

About the Moonbeam Network

Moonbeam is an Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform on the Polkadot network that makes it easy to build natively interoperable applications. This Ethereum compatibility allows developers to deploy existing Solidity smart contracts and DApp frontends to Moonbeam with minimal changes. As a parachain on the Polkadot network, Moonbeam will benefit from the shared security of the Polkadot relay chain and integrations with other chains that are connected to Polkadot. Currently, in active development by PureStake, Moonbeam is expected to reach MainNet by Q3 2021. Learn more: https://moonbeam.network/.

About Meter

Meter.io is a highly decentralized Ethereum scaling solution with a built-in metastable gas currency. It connects to Ethereum and other blockchains as a layer-two protocol and allows smart contracts to scale and communicate seamlessly through heterogeneous blockchain networks.

Meter.io is backed by Pantera Capital, DHVC, DTC Capital (Spencer Noon), GBIC, LD Capital, and AU21 Capital.

Follow Meter.io on social media to learn more about the project and stay up to date about all future announcements.

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