🎈 Ethereum's deflationary transition: 98% reduction in issuance

🎈 Ethereum's deflationary transition: 98% reduction in issuance 🐭 Disney's latest move shows serious interest in NFTs, DeFi and the Metaverse 🕵️‍♂️ The mysterious case of Bitcoin's forgotten predecessor: Netcoin

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🎈 Ethereum's deflationary transition: 98% reduction in issuance 🐭 Disney's latest move shows serious interest in NFTs, DeFi and the Metaverse 🕵️‍♂️ The mysterious case of Bitcoin's forgotten predecessor: Netcoin

Ethereum's deflationary transition: 98% reduction in issuance

If you're holding Ethereum, congratulations – you just became a bit richer. Well, in perspective, at least. The number of Ethereum being issued daily has been cut drastically since the Merge, on-chain data shows, suggesting that the asset is on its way to becoming deflationary.

According to data from Ultra Sound Money, Ethereum’s issuance rate has fallen by 98% since the Merge.

Since its transition, the network’s supply has grown by 7,385.47 ETH, whereas if it were still running on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus model, it would have added 128,422.13 ETH.

In only a few days, ETH supply has increased by 0.34%. However, under the Proof of Work system, it would have been 3.86% over the same time period.

What does that mean?  It means that, although the overall supply of Ethereum is still increasing, the rate at which it is being issued is slowing down drastically. With PoS, Ethereum miners are replaced by so-called “validators” who stake their ETH in order to participate in block production. The number of validators is much smaller than the number of miners and, as a result, the number of ETH being added to the network per day is also smaller. This, in turn, makes Ethereum a more scarce asset and – all things being equal – should lead to its price appreciation. So, if you hold Ethereum, the value of your tokens should increase as demand grows while supply decreases. Maybe that's not going to happen tomorrow, or even next week, but if you believe in the long-term success of Ethereum, it's definitely a good idea to HODL on to your ETH.

Disney's latest move shows serious interest in NFTs, DeFi and the Metaverse

The Walt Disney Company is on the lookout for a transaction lawyer to help explore emerging technology opportunities - including non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The company is looking for someone who can work at an "accelerated and aggressive timeline", according to a job posting on LinkedIn. 

The successful candidate will be tasked with "partnering with business teams as they plan new global emerging technology projects" - including the metaverse and decentralized finance. They will also be responsible for conducting due diligence on NFT, blockchain and cloud provider projects, and negotiating and drafting complex agreements for those projects.

That seems to show us that The Walt Disney Company is taking a serious interest in NFTs, DeFi, the Metaverse and the benefits that the blockchain technology might offer. Last year, Disney already dipped its toes in blockchain when it came out with its own NFT collection called the "Walt & Mickey Partners" which was made available on the VeVe app. We're not sure what's next for Disney and crypto, but it's interesting to see what they could come up with.

The mysterious case of Bitcoin's forgotten predecessor: Netcoin

It seems that Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin (BTC), might have originally had a different name in mind for the world's first cryptocurrency. Domain registration data shows that the website linked to the original Bitcoin, registered on August 18, 2008, was actually named Netcoin.org. Interestingly, Netcoin.org was registered just one day before Bitcoin.org was created. This begs the question: what would have happened if Nakamoto had chosen to name his creation Netcoin instead of Bitcoin? Or maybe he intended to name it Netcoin all along, and only changed the name to Bitcoin because he thought it sounded better?

We don't know for sure, but some say that Netcoin would have been doomed to failure from the start, and I tend to agree. The name Netcoin just doesn't have the same ring to it as Bitcoin. It's not nearly as catchy or memorable. And let's be honest, if you're going to create a revolutionary new form of digital currency, you need a good name. Who knows if we would've even heard of Netcoin or some Internetcoin if Nakamoto had stuck with the different name.

Another theory is that Nakamoto may have originally intended for Netcoin to be a short-lived project, with Bitcoin eventually taking its place. This would explain why the Netcoin website was never developed or used for anything. It's possible that Nakamoto registered the Netcoin domain as a placeholder, intending to launch Bitcoin shortly thereafter.

Others believe that the cryptocurrency would have taken off regardless, and that its name would have been largely irrelevant. But we may never know for sure what would have happened, as Satoshi Nakamoto ultimately decided to go with Bitcoin. And the rest, as they say, is history.