Is Ethereum planning to dethrone Bitcoin and become the dominant crypto asset with its upcoming Merge upgrade? As ‘The Merge’ approaches, ether-based digital asset investment products have seen inflows totaling $16 million–evidence of institutional capital deployment.
If everything goes as planned, the Merge will take place in late September, completing Ethereum’s transition from a PoW to a PoS blockchain.
CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill believes that the increased timing clarity is the reason for a rise in market sentiment for Ethereum-focused products, extending a nearly 7-week positive streak.
As per Butterfill, the Bitcoin market saw minor outflows totaling US$8.5m, while short-bitcoin investment products saw a record outflow totaling US$7.5m, indicating investors believe bitcoin prices have troughed for the second consecutive week.
Also Read: Vitalik doesn’t See Impacts of Hard Fork on Ethereum after Merge
According to a separate source, JPMorgan analyst Ken Worthington believes that the massive increase in ether (ETH) prices that made news in July was mostly driven by anticipation of the Ethereum Merge.
Glassnode, a blockchain intelligence firm, stated that the Bitcoin market was relatively quiet. Traders appear to be betting on the ETH price into September using call options, while futures and options “backwardation indicates an expectation to sell-the-news is in play.”
At the EthCC, co-founder Vitalik Buterin explained the steps of the Ethereum Merge roadmap following the completion of two testnets ahead of the event. The price of ETH has risen as Ethereum developers anticipate that The Merge will take place on or around September 19.
