Ethereum looks to make a run this summer in anticipation of The Merge, even in the midst of a bear market.
It looks as if the highly anticipated merge is happening sooner than later. Recently, Ethereum co-founder and spokesman Vitalik Buterin stated,
“If everything goes well, the plan is for the Merge to happen in the summer. If there are no problems, then the Merge will happen in August. If there are problems, September is possible, and October is possible. Ethereum will finally become a Proof-of-Stake network.”
Without getting too technical, it is important for the public to know that when Ethereum transitions to Proof-of-Stake, the result will be higher energy efficiency. According to FXStreet.com, “The change in consensus mechanism reduces hardware requirements and barriers to entry would reduce energy use and increase efficiency in the altcoin’s network.”
Ethereum will be faster and cheaper to use. But don’t expect overnight massive drops in gas. This will happen gradually over the next few months after The Merge with various upgrades applied.
Some analysts see a nice bump in Ethereum prices in conjunction with The Merge, possibly peaking between 2500-2700, even during this bear market. Then we can expect to see prices settling somewhere under 2200 this Fall, or until this bear market ends, whichever comes first. Of course, keeping an eye on Bitcoin is important. If BTC can find a way past 33,000 in the short-term, Ether may do better than these bearish forecasts.
The following structure chart illustrates the history and future of the Ethereum network for those who love visuals:
Are we in a crypto winter? It certainly seems like it. Although secondary applications of Ethereum are far more established than they were in the winter of 2017-2018 when crypto values lost 80%, public sentiment is very similar. Still, experts seem to think this crypto winter will be shorter than past winters.
For me, I plan to try to buy some Ether this summer, as long as we keep getting good news from Buterik about The Merge. This is bound to have a positive impact. Then if investor confidence or other factors do not improve, it may be wise to take those modest gains and invest in interest earning altcoins, stable coins, or other projects that are looking to make similar investments. I know of at least one NFT project that is minting this summer that is investing 40% of its Ether earned into secure interest earning accounts.
I am not a professional trader. As always, DYOR and only invest what you are willing to lose.
Peace
The Lynx
Art Lynx (@ArtLynx1) / Twitter
https://twitter.com/twistedtreesNFT
