This Week In Crypto: Ethereum Merge Dates Are Here

Twitter icon  •  Published 1年前  •  Hassan Maishera

This week in crypto, Ethereum developers have announced that the Ethereum Merge events, Bellatrix will occur on September 6, and Paris will be triggered sometime between September 10 and September 20.

The cryptocurrency market continues to be in a bear trend, but so many activities are happening. Here is a roundup of the events this week.

The Crypto Market Cap Remains Above $1 Trillion

The total cryptocurrency market cap has remained above $1 trillion for the fourth consecutive week. This comes despite the bearish performance experienced for most of August. 

Bitcoin has failed to surge past the $25k resistance level in recent weeks and could end the month trading around $21k-$22k. Ether has also failed to rally past the $2,000 level despite the upcoming Ethereum Merge event.

Ethereum Merge Dates Are Out

Talking about the Ethereum Merge, the Ethereum developers have finally confirmed the dates for the event. According to the blog post published on Wednesday, the Ethereum team said Merge would be split into two upgrades, called Bellatrix and Paris. Bellatrix is timed to occur at 11:34 AM UTC on September 6, and Paris will be triggered sometime between September 10 and September 20.

The team also included links to download the necessary upgrades for the various Ethereum clients in the blog post. Operators will need to do this before the Bellatrix update occurs.

NFT Marketplaces Are Feeling The Heat

The bear market is affecting virtually every aspect of the cryptocurrency space, and NFTs are not exempted. According to recent data obtained from The Block, as of August 24, the total trading volume on NFT marketplaces for August was $369.53 million By contrast, NFT marketplaces saw approximately $675.43 million in volume during July.

OpenSea remains the market leader, accounting for 82% of the total volume. So far in August, OpenSea has recorded over $300 million in trading volume, but it remains below the $528 million it recorded last month.

SEC Delays Decision On VanEck's Latest Bitcoin ETF Application

It seems like the wait to get a Bitcoin ETF in the United States will last a little longer. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced earlier this week that it had delayed a decision on VanEck's latest bid to create a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The SEC is yet to approve a single spot Bitcoin ETF, and the industry might have to wait a while to achieve this feat.

Tether Won’t Freeze Tornado Cash Addresses Until Government Tells It To

Tornado Cash is in the middle of a big case after the United States government accused the platform of being used by North Korean hackers to launder funds via the crypto market. The move has seen some crypto platforms, including Circle’s USDC stablecoin, blacklist Tornado Cash addresses.

However, Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, said it wouldn’t freeze sanctioned wallet addresses with ties to Tornado Cash until the government tells it to do so. Tether said it is upholding its decision not to freeze sanctioned wallet addresses with ties to Tornado Cash because it has not received any requests from US law enforcement or regulators to do so.

Author

Hassan Maishera

Hassan is a Nigeria-based financial content creator that has invested in many different blockchain projects, including Bitcoin, Ether, Stellar Lumens, Cardano, VeChain and Solana. He currently works as a financial markets and cryptocurrency writer and has contributed to a large number of the leading FX, stock and cryptocurrency blogs in the world.