1. Crypto Long & Short: Why Ethereum’s ‘London’ Upgrade Matters
The risks and rewards of Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559.
In T-minus 10 days, the Ethereum blockchain will undergo its 11th backward-incompatible upgrade, also called a “hard fork.” This hard fork, dubbed “London,” contains five Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), each featuring code changes aimed at optimizing and improving the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Of these five EIPs, EIP 1559 has been the most controversial among Ethereum stakeholders due to its radical redesign of the network’s fee market. Today’s Briefing features an edited excerpt from CoinDesk Research’s latest report, The Investment Implications of EIP 1559, that explains the risks and reward dynamics of this code change for investors.
2. Vitalik Buterin Joins Cast of ‘Stoner Cats,’ Mila Kunis’ New Animated NFT Show
Ethereum’s founder will voice a taxidermied cat named Catsington.
“Stoner Cats,” an animated web series produced by actress Mila Kunis, already has an A-list Hollywood cast including Jane Fonda, Chris Rock and Ashton Kutcher.
But the blockchain-linked TV show is also adding some crypto star power: Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin.
To watch the first five-minute episode, viewers must purchase a non-fungible token (NFT) that is both a digital artwork of a randomly selected character from the show as well as a ticket to unlock all “Stoner Cats” episodes as they are made. The NFTs will sell for 0.35 ETH (+1.17%) — about $750 at time of publication.
3. Tether Executives Facing Criminal Bank Fraud Charges
The Department of Justice is investigating Tether for a possible offenses conducted years ago, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Executives from Tether are potentially facing a criminal probe into bank fraud, Bloomberg reported Monday.
The Department of Justice is investigating Tether for a possible offenses conducted years ago, the outlet reported citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Bitcoin dipped on the news, falling about $1,000 shortly after the story came out.
A request for comment was not immediately returned by Tether.
Tether, which administers USDT (-0.13%), the crypto market’s largest stablecoin, has long been dogged by accusations of murky banking relationships.
4. Bitcoin Rallies From Oversold Levels; Resistance Nearby
Upside momentum is improving after several months of consolidation.
Bitcoin (BTC) buyers were active over the weekend as the cryptocurrency broke above the 50-day moving average near $34,000. The intermediate-term downtrend is reversing, although resistance near $40,000 could trigger some profit taking.
Upside momentum is improving after several months of consolidation and multiple oversold readings on the charts. Bitcoin was trading around $38,000 at press time and is up 10% over the past 24 hours. Early Monday, the price climbed to about $39,500.The relative strength index (RSI) on the daily chart is approaching overbought levels for the first time since April. This could precede a brief period of profit-taking near the 100-day moving average at $40,000.
The weekly RSI is not yet oversold, although selling pressure from May is starting to slow.
Price action is consistent with previous rallies from $30,000 support, albeit more persistent given the break above the 50-day moving average.
Bitcoin remains in a consolidation phase until price moves above $40,000, which is the top of a two-month range. Initial support is seen around $34,000, which could stabilize a pull-back.
5. Some of DeFi’s Leading Investors Are Backing a New Options Protocol
Framework Ventures and ParaFi Capital are leading the round in a bid to see if DeFi options trading can finally click.
Lyra, an options trading protocol built on Ethereum scaling network Optimism, received $3.3 million in a seed round led by Framework Ventures and ParaFi Capital.
The DeFi Alliance, Orthogonal, Robert Leshner’s Robot Ventures and Apollo Capital also participated in the round.
The decentralized finance (DeFi) project, which just launched its testnet less than a month ago, is expected to launch on mainnet in September.
As DeFi continues gaining traction, on-chain financial products that mirror those seen in traditional finance, from structured products to derivatives, are growing in popularity, but the options market has struggled to find traction.
Lyra is integrated with Synthetix, a trading platform that also uses Optimism. The tie-up with Synthetix allows Lyra to hedge risk for liquidity providers. Risk management enables Lyra to keep fees low for traders.
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