8 Ethereum Developments in May

By cryotosensei | CryptoSensei | 4 Jun 2022

In a move that delighted World of Warcraft fans and generated a nonchalant response from others, Vitalik Buterin announced his ambition to create a Decentralised Society. Specifically, he aims to introduce soulbound tokens that prove the authenticity of our academic qualifications, job experiences and even personal pursuits like movies. I say: injecting new ideas into the Ethereum blockchain should always be applauded. (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ethereums-cofounder-says-well-soon-183542182.html)
When you provide enough value, the world will bend backwards to accommodate your flaws. This can be seen in how developers innovate to come up with Layer 2 solutions for Ethereum to address its hefty network fees. For example, GameStop launched their wallet that boasted decentralised apps on Layer 1 as well as fast and reasonably priced transactions on Layer 2 that is Loopring. The icing on the cake was how it allows users to store their NFTs. An one-stop wallet! (https://mobile.twitter.com/gmedd/status/1528517009629016064?s=21&t=1GX0imOnDfI-TUJ3WFrAyg)
Prada announced the launch of an Ethereum-based NFT collection, thus imbuing its branded goods with another token of exclusivity. Amounting only to one hundred items, these NFTs come together with iconic, boundary-defying gender-neutral shirts from the Prada Timecapsule. Firm fans of celebrity Damien Hirst may particularly be interested in these NFTs, for their corresponding shirts were designed by his son,Cassius Hirst. (https://cryptopotato.com/prada-will-launch-a-ethereum-based-nft-collection/)
French luxury brand, Balenciaga, announced that it would start to accept Ethereum and Bitcoin as payment, following in the footsteps of Gucci. This suggests that although Ethereum is technically an altcoin, its prevalence as the digital silver has elevated its status and led people to consider it to be in the same league as Bitcoin. (https://decrypt.co/101183/balenciaga-accept-bitcoin-ethereum-metaverse)
All eyes are on Ethereum to pivot from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake successfully as early as this August when the Merge has been completed. A million dollar question thus emerges from this ground-breaking event: Will the owners of the $26 billion worth of ETH hasten to sell off their assets once they can unstake their ETH? Will such unstaking of ETH lead to any unprecedented selling pressure? You will be relieved to know that mechanisms are in place to prevent such things from happening. Firstly, people will only be able to withdraw their unlocked ETH approximately 6 to 12 months during another ETH upgrade after the merge. Secondly, they will have to wait for their turn in the exit queue which could range anywhere from several months to over a year. (https://cryptoslate.com/will-26b-staked-in-eth-2-0-be-unlocked-and-sold-after-the-merge/)
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Optimism launched an airdrop of its new OP governance token. Free tokens were given to about 249,000 eligible wallets. Future airdrops are said to be in the pipeline to reward loyal users of this Layer 2 scaling solution. (https://decrypt.co/101746/ethereum-scaling-solution-optimism-airdrop) Check if you are eligible for the airdrops on https://app.optimism.io/airdrop/check
You probably don’t need any encouragement to HODL ETH, but should you need some motivation, how about this? According to crypto analytics firm, IntoTheBlock, more than 50% of all the Ethereum in circulation are owned by addresses that have been holding ETH for at least one year. (https://dailyhodl.com/2022/05/28/long-term-holders-double-down-on-ethereum-eth-according-to-crypto-analytics-firm-intotheblock/)