Issue 117: Vitalik Gives An Ethereum Update
Weekly Market Movement
Analysis: Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market is up in the last 24 hours, with BTC finally breaking the key resistance level of $11,000 USD. The sentiment around crypto remains bullish with volumes increasing in the 7-day period. Up next: Vitalik & Ethereum.
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Big Story Of The Week: Vitalik Buterin
Last Friday Ethereum Creator Vitalik Buterin Published A Post On A Popular Ethereum Forum, Expressing A Vision For The Protocol As The Network Approaches Its Transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) – We Offer An Overview Of Buterin’s Post And Update On The Transition
- Vitalik wrote that scalability brought by ETH 2.0, the PoS version of the network, for applications is ‘years away.’ This is due to the fact that technical changes brought by ETH 2.0 will take time to implement in such a way that every app on the network has access to cheaper and more efficient transaction processing. As a work-around, Buterin suggests that Ethereum adopt a ‘roll-up centric’ approach to solving scaling issues in the medium term. Roll-ups represent a wide-ranging group of technical approaches to Ethereum scaling via side chains or layer 2 networks. These side chains speed up transacting through measures such as data compression and communicate transactions in batches to the main Ethereum network. This takes the strain of transaction processing off of the main Ethereum chain and puts the focus on roll-up networks. While Buterin does not offer a concrete timeline for his vision, one can assume the ‘roll-up centric’ approach to last several years, at least until the scaling benefits of ETH 2.0 are available to all the network’s applications. The roll-up approach would require infrastructure adjustments. For example, roll-up networks should be integrated with popular ETH wallets, such as Metamask. Transfers between the networks would also ‘need more work,’ according to Buterin. Vitalik Buterin’s post comes on the back of technical difficulties suffered by the Spadina testnet, considered to be a crucial step towards ETH 2.0. While testnets are designed to explore technical challenges, and difficulties are to be expected, Spadina’s issues still push back an ETH 2.0 launch. Spadina has also led to Ethereum’s engineers to launch Zinken, which aims to address some of these technical challenges.
Other Weekly Headlines
- Payments firm Square, which offers users a BTC buy and sell feature, announced a purchase of USD 50M worth of the coin. ‘Square believes cryptocurrency is an instrument of economic empowerment and provides a way to participate in a global monetary system, which aligns with the company’s purpose.’ – link – @Square
- According to local media, South Korea’s central bank is on track to test a digital currency next year. According to a report from the local Yonhap news agency, the central bank has completed the design and technology review of its digital currency. – link – @TheBlock
- Vancouver-based Covalent, an Ethereum-focused data analytics firm, has raised USD 3.1M. The funding round was co-led by Woodstock Fund, 1kx Capital and Mechanism Capital. Other participants included CoinGecko and Alameda Research, among others. – link – @TheBlock
- Leaders of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus have introduced a bill that aims to give legal status to blockchain-secured records and smart contracts. The bill, called the Blockchain Records and Transaction Act of 2020, was submitted by Representatives David Schweikert and Darren Soto. – link – @CoinDesk
- Ethereum wallet MetaMask announced a new feature that will allow users to trade tokens directly via the wallet. The feature will act as a single interface between a variety of trading venues on Ethereum. – link – @CoinDesk
Disclaimer: The opinions and analysis expressed in this newsletter are those of the writer, and not of Bitbuy. Nothing in this note should be considered investment advice.
