April - Crypto news

CryptoEaster 2023

This year's Easter shines as brightly as the spring sun outdoors, offering several positive news pieces after a period of misery and pessimistic expectations in the crypto and the rest of the financial world.

Apple's Easter Egg

The first real so-called Easter egg is found at Apple, as it has been discovered that the Bitcoin whitepaper has been embedded in MacOS since 2018 when the Mojave version was released. Who placed the document there is unknown, but the theory is that a technician put it there to test with, but the truth could well be different. Apple has not yet commented as of writing this, but according to rumors, this has been known for a year since a "bug report" was submitted to Apple, but despite this, the Bitcoin whitepaper can still be found on Mac computers.

If you want to find the document yourself on your Mac, you can follow this guide on YouTube:
How to find Bitcoin whitepaper on your MacBook (Apple) - YouTube

Bitcoin crosses the 30k USD threshold

Bitcoin closes at its highest level since June 2022 and is just above the 30,000 USD threshold, which is considered a very good sign for crypto right now, considering that BTC was just over 16,000 last winter. Is it an effect before the halving that will take place around April 6, 2024, as subsequent years have usually been favorable for the cryptocurrency's price development, or is it due to concerns about today's economy and inflation, causing people to change investment patterns? Most likely, it is a mix, and what is attracting the most attention right now is whether BTC will hold the 30k level in the coming weeks and if we will see the rest of the crypto market rise alongside the major cryptocurrencies.

CryptoGPT and AI on the blockchain

Hardly a day goes by without news regarding the development of ChatGPT and AI and all the fantastic features they are starting to offer, so it was only a matter of time before a crypto version named GPT appeared to stand out among the other AI-based crypto projects that have risen sharply in value since ChatGPT was introduced to the public. AI is the hottest area in tech ever, I dare say, and you see how the word AI is starting to be included in most things right now to build hype, but the idea of decentralized AI services on-chain is both scary and incredibly fascinating. The idea that the whole world could have access to the best advice in law, finance, and healthcare, among other things, in their hand and at a minimal cost is revolutionary, and the products will most likely explode in the coming years in all industries but perhaps especially within decentralized protocols.

Bitcoin NFTs gain popularity

Over a million digital NFT assets have now been written into the blockchain on the Bitcoin network as interest in Ordinals protocol has increased significantly since it was launched a few months ago and has begun to attract several major NFT players to the protocol where Cryptopunks are the first with their Ordinal Punks. The floor currently stands at around 100,000 USD, but Punks have been sold for up to 214,000 USD, and it can be assumed that this will attract even more investors to NFT collections on the network. NFTs are written into individual Satoshis, and trading in digital assets contributes significantly to the Bitcoin network's security budget, advocates say, while others see it more as spam in the blockchain.

Shanghai

The Ethereum network is gearing up for its major upgrade called Shanghai, which is taking place in mid-April, but what is Shanghai?

Ethereum has faced several challenges over the years, such as low scalability, high transaction fees, and high energy consumption. To solve these problems, the Ethereum team has been working on a radical transformation of the protocol, called Ethereum 2.0 or Serenity. Ethereum 2.0 consists of several phases and upgrades aimed at making Ethereum faster, cheaper, safer, and more sustainable. One of the most important upgrades is the transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) as the consensus mechanism.

On December 1, 2020, the first phase of Ethereum 2.0, called Beacon Chain, was launched. It is a new blockchain running PoS in parallel with the old blockchain running PoW. The Beacon Chain is responsible for coordinating validators and rewarding them for their efforts, and to become a validator on Beacon Chain, you must stake at least 32 ETH in a smart contract on the old blockchain. These ETH then become locked until the old blockchain can be merged with the new one, which is planned to occur in the final phase of Ethereum 2.0. The final phase is called Shanghai and is scheduled to launch on April 12, 2023. It will result in the old blockchain ceasing to exist and all its data and functions being transferred to the new blockchain. This will complete the transition from PoW to PoS and make Ethereum more scalable, efficient, and sustainable.

The Shanghai upgrade will also make more than 18 million ETH, worth about 34 billion dollars, withdrawable. This means that the validators who have staked their ETH on Beacon Chain since December 2020 will finally be able to move or trade them freely, which could have significant consequences for both users and investors of the Ethereum protocol. On the one hand, it could lead to increased demand and price for ETH, as validators will be rewarded with new ETH for every block they produce on the new blockchain. On the other hand, it could also lead to increased supply and price volatility for ETH, as validators will be able to sell or spend their ETH as they wish.

Crypto market analysts are divided on the effects of the Shanghai upgrade on ETH's price. Some believe the upgrade will be positive for ETH's price in the long run, as it will increase the protocol's security, usability, and attractiveness. Others believe the upgrade will trigger significant selling pressure on ETH in the short term, as many validators will want to realize their profits after waiting for more than two years. Regardless of how ETH's price reacts to the Shanghai upgrade, it is clear that it is a historic and groundbreaking step for Ethereum and the entire crypto world. It will show that it is possible to implement such a large and complex change in a protocol that has millions of users, developers, and investors. It will also demonstrate that Ethereum is committed to staying at the forefront of innovation and sustainability within blockchain technology.