🎉 Ethereum completes its Bellatrix upgrade

🎉 Ethereum completes its Bellatrix upgrade 🤔 Binance's surprise stablecoins shenanigans 📺 LG launches a blockchain-based art marketplace for its smart TVs

GM, vEmpions! Our motto of the day here is "Carpe Diem." Seize the day. Make the most of today. Try something new. Do something you've never done before. This is a great day to try something new, or to do something you've been wanting to do but haven't had the chance. Make the most of today and seize the opportunity to do something great! Here's what we have for you today:

🎉 Ethereum completes its Bellatrix upgrade🤔 Binance's surprise stablecoins shenanigans 📺 LG launches a blockchain-based art marketplace for its smart TVs

Ethereum completes its Bellatrix upgrade

Ethereum's long-awaited "Merge" upgrade is now one step closer, with the successful launch of the "Bellatrix" hard fork. With this update, the network is now more prepared than ever to handle the massive influx of users and transactions that are sure to come with the Merge.  

For those not familiar with the term, a "hard fork" is a significant change to the Ethereum network that is not backward-compatible with older versions of the software. This means that all users and businesses must upgrade to the latest version of Ethereum software in order to continue using the network.

The Bellatrix hard fork is named after the brightest star in the Orion constellation, and it is fittingly designed to be a bright new beginning for Ethereum. This update includes several important changes that will improve the scalability, security, and stability of the network.

And so it begins. The long-awaited Ethereum Merge is finally upon us. After months of anticipation, the momentous event will take place in two parts. First, the network's consensus layer, otherwise known as the Beacon Chain, will update in preparation for the Merge. This update, known as Bellatrix, is crucial to ensuring a smooth transition to the new Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm. Once the update is complete, Ethereum will begin producing blocks under Proof-of-Stake. The second part of the Merge, dubbed Paris, will increase the difficulty threshold to 58750000000000000000000. This refers to the difficulty required to mine the final Proof-of-Work block. As the difficulty is affected by the network's fluctuating hashrate, it's still unclear when exactly the update will ship. However, one thing is certain: the Ethereum Merge is sure to be a historic event that will shape the future of the world's second-largest cryptocurrency.

So stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled for more updates on the Ethereum Merge. It's sure to be a wild ride.

Binance's surprise stablecoins shenanigans

Are you holding any USDC, USDP or TUSD on Binance? Well, get ready for a big surprise! On September 29th, Binance is going to automatically convert all of your holdings into their own BUSD stablecoin.

That's right - even if you don't want to, your balances will be swapped out for Binance's own token. So why is Binance doing this?

Well, they claim that it is "a business decision to enhance liquidity and capital efficiency for users". But we all know the real reason might be Binance's desire to grow BUSD. After all, what better way to increase the use of your own stablecoin than by forcibly converting everyone else's holdings into it?  

BUSD is handled by another company called Paxos, which also manages dollar redemptions, asset treasuries and attestations.  Interestingly, Binance has stated that USDT is not one of the stablecoins involved in the auto-conversion initiative. They didn't give a reason as to why, but we can only speculate.

The BUSD stablecoin is currently worth $19.4 billion, while USDC (issued by Circle) is worth $52 billion. So this move could help close that gap a bit.

In any case,  if you don't want your holdings to be automatically converted, make sure to move them off of Binance before September 29th. Otherwise, you might end up with a lot more BUSD than you bargained for.

LG launches a blockchain-based art marketplace for its smart TVs

We recently wrote about LG trying to make waves in the world of NFTs by playing with an idea of NFT TVs and now with the launch of its LG Art Lab marketplace, it’s clear that the company is serious about getting a piece of that pie. The platform, based on the Hedera blockchain, will enable users to buy, sell and trade NFTs on LG’s smart television sets.

With the addition of LG Art Lab, the world of NFTs just got a little bit more accessible to the average person. No longer do you need to be a crypto-expert or early adopter to get in on the action – now, all you need is a smart TV.

Of course, with this level of mainstream adoption comes some serious concerns. Can we really trust a company like LG to safeguard our NFTs? And what happens if our TV breaks and takes our NFTs with it?

Hedera Hashgraph , the company behind the Hedera blockchain, is no stranger to partnerships with major corporations. In the past, they’ve partnered with IBM, Google, and Swirlds. And now, with the addition of LG, they can add another big name to their list.