Ether Nears 2-Month High Ahead of Major Protocol Change

The Ethereum network underpins a range of projects in the crypto world including non fungible tokens (NFTs).

By Reuters | Updated: 5 August 2021 11:21 IST

Ether Nears 2-Month High Ahead of Major Protocol Change

Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 0.5 percent on Thursday

Highlights

The upgrade is known as the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559
The upgrade will alter the way transactions are processed
It will also reduce the supply of the ether token

Ether held near two-month highs on Thursday ahead of a major adjustment to its underlying ethereum blockchain that would alter the way transactions are processed.

The revamp is anticipated to go live on Thursday at approximately 1200 GMT (5:30pm IST), according to market players. Technically, the upgrade will occur when the 12,965,000th block on the blockchain has been verified.

Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 0.5 percent on Thursday, but has risen about 18 percent this week and is at its highest level since early June, in the aftermath of May's crypto market plunge.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

The Ethereum network underpins a range of projects in the crypto world including non fungible tokens (NFTs) - a crypto asset, representing an intangible digital item such as an image, video, or in-game item - as well many decentralised finance (DeFi) applications. Ethereum price in India stood at Rs. 2 lakhs as of 11am IST on August 5.

The upgrade, known as the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559, will alter the way transactions are processed and provide clearer pricing for them.

It will also reduce the supply of the Ether token and is likely to sharply boost its price.

Major Ethereum Upgrade Set to Alter Supply, Fix Transaction Fees

Several large exchanges including Binance and OKEx have said they will suspend deposits and withdrawals of ether and ether-based assets around the time of the adjustment.

They said this was necessary to reduce the trading risks brought about by price volatility and to maintain the safety of user funds.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.