🎒 Merge upgrade marks Ethereum's journey to maturity

🎒 Merge upgrade marks Ethereum's journey to maturity ⛏️ The Miner Exodus: Ravencoin and ETC hash rates surge as Ethereum miners flee ETH 🥖 Binance CEO praises France's crypto initiatives, expects Paris to become a major crypto hub

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🎒 Merge upgrade marks Ethereum's journey to maturity ⛏️ The Miner Exodus: Ravencoin and ETC hash rates surge as Ethereum miners flee ETH 🥖 Binance CEO praises France's crypto initiatives, expects Paris to become a major crypto hub

Merge upgrade marks Ethereum's journey to maturity

After months of anticipation, the Ethereum network has finally completed its much-anticipated Merge upgrade. The upgrade is a significant milestone in reducing electricity consumption on the Ethereum blockchain, but there are still plenty of upgrades in the pipeline.

The monumental upgrade ditches the previous blockchain miners in favor of promises of enormous environmental advantages. The Merge upgrade is a major step forward in reducing electricity consumption on the Ethereum blockchain. However, there are still plenty of upgrades in the pipeline that will continue to improve efficiency on the network.

Critics of the Ethereum network have long pointed to its electricity consumption as a major drawback. The Merge upgrade is a direct response to those concerns, and it is hoped that it will be a major step forward in reducing the carbon footprint of the Ethereum network.

At a live-streamed Merge event hosted by the Ethereum Foundation, Vitalik Buterin highlighted the importance of the occasion while also predicting that much more is on the way.

"To me, the Merge just symbolizes the difference between early stage Ethereum and the Ethereum we’ve always wanted to become,” said Vitalik, “so, let’s go and build out all the other parts of that ecosystem and turn Ethereum into being what we want it to be.”

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had gained approximately 50% in the three months prior to the merge. However, inflation and rising interest rates in the United States among other global macroeconomic concerns caused crypto prices to flatten out in recent weeks.

So what’s next for Ethereum?

"This is the first step in Ethereum's big journey towards being a very mature system, but there are still steps left to go," said Vitalik, so the answer to that question is two-fold. In the short-term, developers are focused on previously outlined set of goals for the Ethereum network, which includes making sure that the network can handle high transaction volumes and improving scalability.

In the long-term, the Ethereum network will continue to work on high fees and slow speeds, introduction of the so called "shards" to the network in order to make it more scalable, as well as plenty of other improvements. These are all very ambitious goals, but if achieved, they would solidify Ethereum's position as the most advanced blockchain platform.

The Merge is a significant milestone in Ethereum's journey to becoming a more mature system, but there are still plenty of improvements to be made. So stay tuned, because the best is yet to come!

The Miner Exodus: Ravencoin and ETC hash rates surge as Ethereum miners flee ETH

It looks like the miners who were upset about the switch to proof-of-stake on Ethereum have found a new home on Ethereum Classic as well as some other coins like RVN. The hash rate on ETC has shot up dramatically, increasing by nearly 280% in just one day. This is great news for those who believe in the power of proof-of-work – and not so great news for those who were hoping that Ethereum Classic would die off right away. Whether or not ETC will be able to maintain this hash rate is yet to be seen, but it's certainly off to a good start - the hash rate shot up to 183 TH/s on Thursday.

In the meantime, it looks like Ravencoin became one another new hot spot for miners. RVN has seen a surge in interest, with its hash rate increasing by over 400% in the past day. This is likely due to a combination of factors, including the recent news that Grayscale Investments is buying up RVN, as well as the general feeling that Ravencoin is a more miner-friendly project.

Of course, it's also possible that some of the miners who are now flocking to RVN are simply those who were previously mining on Ethereum and have now switched over to a new coin. This would explain the sudden surge in hash rate, as well as the fact that Ravencoin is now one of the most popular coins on the market. Whatever the reason, it's clear that miners are still very interested in proof-of-work coins – and that Ravencoin is benefiting from this interest.

So, what does this mean for Ethereum? Well, it's hard to say. There are those who are convinced that proof-of-stake is the way of the future, and there are those who are equally convinced that proof-of-work is the only way to go. It's possible that both sides are right, and that we'll see a split in the Ethereum community between those who want to stick with proof-of-work and those who want to switch to proof-of-stake.

In the meantime, it looks like miners are flocking to other PoW coins in droves. Whether or not this trend will continue is yet to be seen, but it's certainly something to keep an eye on. Who knows – we might see a new wave of PoW coins emerge in the near future, as miners search for coins that are more miner-friendly.

Binance CEO praises France's crypto initiatives, expects Paris to become a major crypto hub

France and the leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance have continued to deepen their relationship through collaboration. Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance, has described France's capital Paris as the financial hub of crypto in Europe. CZ spoke during an opening session of the Binance Blockchain Week Paris 2022 which started on September 14. He stated that with the strong push for crypto adoption and other initiatives the French government is taking, it's no wonder that Paris is becoming the go-to place for all things crypto.

CZ also mentioned that Binance is looking to further expand its presence in France. The exchange is already one of the largest crypto employers in the country with over 200 employees. With the new Binance Blockchain Week, CZ said that they are hoping to attract even more top talent to join their team and that EU's MiCA laws are "fantastic" but a bit strict, especially on stablecoins. However, he still expects the laws that will create a uniform crypto regulatory regime for the 27 EU member countries to soon become a global standard.

France had some hurdles to cross in order to establish itself as a major player in the crypto space. The country's central bank was initially skeptical of digital assets but has since softened its stance. Additionally, France's tax laws were not conducive to the growth of the crypto industry. However, with recent changes, such as a new flat tax rate for crypto transactions, the country is quickly becoming a more welcoming environment for businesses and investors in the space.

It's great to see such a strong partnership between France and Binance. With the country's supportive stance on crypto and Binance's commitment to expanding its presence there, it's clear that Paris is poised to become a major crypto hub.