Ripple wants Celsius

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The markets were in the green with Bitcoin maintaining above $24,000 levels, while Ethereum crossed $1,900. Nasdaq was up in early trade. Back home, the Sensex and Nifty ended in the green led by bank, IT and realty stocks.

Ethereum: Closing in on The Merge 

Will it, won't it? The Merge is one of the most anticipated events in our world right now. On Wednesday, Ethereum took one step closer to shifting to a proof-of-stake model, which has been in the works since 2014. And it looks all set to meet its September deadline. The event, once it occurs, is going to be significant for all of the crypto ecosystem. 

Highest gear engaged

The final trial run was successfully executed. It involved a Goerli testnet merge with the Prater testnet, a proof-of-stake beacon chain. This merge took place when Goerli hit a total difficulty of 10.79 million. 

1. A successful Merge will significantly reduce power consumption by over 99%.

2. There is a huge amount of scepticism though. At a technical level, we don’t yet know how proof-of-stake will work for Ethereum. There could be technical issues, bugs, parts of the chain could go down. There are also questions around security and privacy.

The effect on ETH 

The anticipation of The Merge has driven up the price of ETH, Ethereum’s native token. It has been on an upswing the past month, rising nearly 80%. It rose more than 10% since yesterday. Other digital assets have also risen to monthly highs. This also means we could see a sell off once the price peaks closer to the Merge.  

Coinbase’s Week Of Woes

A day after it reported a huge loss in its second quarter earnings, the fine print in Coinbase’s filings showed it is facing regulatory scrutiny. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has served “investigative subpoenas and requests” on Coinbase related to things like its staking programs, listing processes and its stablecoin and yield-generating products. 

There’s history here

Coinbase and SEC have sparred in the past, and the exchange has always maintained that the regulator’s rules for digital assets aren’t effective. Even last month, it put out a blog reiterating its position. There was also the crypto insider trading case involving a former employee. 

Buy don’t HODL

Regulatory issues aside, Coinbase also has an issue with its investors. Second quarter institutional volume dropped by 27% sequentially, and retail volume fell about 40%. Its own reasoning is to investors preferring to HODL and not buy more. It may have to wait a little longer for its customers to get back into the frenetic buy mode. 

Binance Loves Inflation

Binance has said that increasing inflation numbers has been a positive for crypto. Bitcoin and other altcoins have turned out to be a hedge against inflation and a dollar that hasn’t been as strong before. The company pointed out that despite the Terra-triggered crash, people kept flooding in. 

Who is buying it?

Outside of the US, Binance claims its biggest markets are in Central and South American countries, which are suffering from a general slowdown across the world. In Argentina, for example, the average annual inflation is close to 90% and its citizens have been buying cryptos. Similarly, in Mexico and El Salvador. 

Is it a hedge?

Conceptually, crypto was to be a hedge because there is a limited supply of tokens. But it has been disproven multiple times and dismissed as a marketing slogan. It’s possible that this is the world’s largest crypto exchange trying to rustle up some momentum.

Ripple Is Raising The Temperature

Blockchain payments company Ripple has its eyes on bankrupt lender Celcius. It wants a piece of it. So much so that it wants to buy all its assets. According to reports, Ripple has already made an offer. Celsius hasn’t responded to it. Yet. There is no clarity if Ripple wants to buy the entire business outright. 

What are these assets?

1. Assets in custody accounts. 

2. Loans

3. Bitcoin mining business

4. It’s own token, CEL

5. Cash in the bank and the crypto it holds.

Last month, FTX reportedly passed on a deal to acquire the bankrupt lender. Ripple seems to have found value.

FYI: Ripple is embroiled in a very public battle with the SEC and if this deal materialises, it will be Ripple’s first M&A. 

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Who are we? There is a lot happening in our world. Everything has layers, and each layer has to be carefully peeled so you, the reader, know how the world of money is changing every day. That’s our promise. Help you unpeel the onions, which are the public markets in the US, India, and crypto, so that you know just a little more.