ETH’s Merge Delayed 100 Days as Musk’s Boring Company Starts Accepting DOGE

Spurred on by the recovery of stocks, Bitcoin and the crypto market experienced a bullish week. As a result of unexpected US job figures, Bitcoin climbed above $22,000 for the first time since early June.

As the tie between equities and crypto solidifies, experts from across the industry continue to question if the bottom is in or if cryptos have further to fall. 

Elsewhere, Elon Musk pulled out of the $44 billion deal with Twitter, Ethereum developers confirmed a slight delay in the transition to Proof-of-Stake, and The Boring Company confirmed that it will begin accepting Dogecoin for rides on its Loop transit system.

• Ethereum developers confirm a 100-day delay to The Merge 
• Bitcoin pushes above $22,000 for the first time since June
• Elon Musk pulls out of $44 billion Twitter deal
• Musk’s LA-based Boring Company to accept Dogecoin for rides on Loop transit system

Ethereum developers confirm a slight delay to The Merge

Ethereum developers have once again delayed the difficulty bomb, which is set to trigger the long-anticipated Merge. The Merge is the point when Ethereum will officially transition from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain. 

The purpose of the difficulty bomb is to ensure that all Ethereum miners are encouraged to participate in the new PoS network. The bomb will exponentially increase the difficulty of mining which should mean that Ethereum miners have no choice but to either abandon their mining efforts or lock ETH coins in the network to support the new PoS blockchain.

After several delays, Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, suggested in May that the Merge could be triggered in August if testing went to plan. However, with the latest Gray Glacier update, The Merge is now unlikely to occur before September.

The Gray Glacier (EIP 5133) upgrade has pushed the difficulty bomb back 700,000 blocks. According to experts, this is equivalent to 100 days. Notes that accompanied the Gray Glacier upgrade state that the delay has been implemented to “avoid network degradation due to a premature activation of the difficulty bomb.”

There are now more than 13 million ETH coins held within the network’s ETH 2.0 wallet address. According to Dune statistics, the deposited ETH accounts for 10.88% of the total ETH supply and has been deposited by over 76,000 network participants.  

Bitcoin enjoys a 17% weekly price climb 

After falling for several months, Bitcoin enjoyed a bullish week against a backdrop of fear, doubt, and uncertainty. The leading cryptocurrency climbed 17% from weekly lows and then fell back to retest the 2017 all-time high support level of $20,000. The coin eventually closed the week out at $20,860. 

As the tie between the crypto and equity markets continues to strengthen, analysts believe that last week’s price increases were thanks, in part, to the rally witnessed in stocks. Stocks enjoyed a buoyant week after the market welcomed a positive US June jobs report on Friday. Bitcoin climbed to a weekly high of $22,400 on the back of the release.

The report detailed that the US economy had added 372,000 jobs during the month of June, which far outpaced the recession-based forecast of 250,000. Experts now believe that the Fed is clear to continue implementing inflation-beating interest rate hikes, which could help to steer the economy away from a dreaded recession. 

With all of the intricacies of the economy and the threat of recession still poignant,  the crypto market is now divided between those that believe the “bottom is in” and those that feel prices have further to fall. 

According to Senior Analyst at OANDA, Edward Moya, the depth of the crypto crash will depend on “whether the stock market made a bottom and if no major crypto company falls into liquidation.” Moya continued to explain that strong June payroll figures and impressive wage growth has helped to quell recession fears for now. 

Elon Musk pulls out of $44 billion Twitter deal

Tesla and SpaceX CEO, and crypto enthusiast, Elon Musk, has pulled out of the hotly anticipated takeover deal for the social media giant, Twitter. Twitter has been one of the first social media platforms to test the use of cryptocurrencies with content creators. 

Unfortunately, Musk’s deal, which was first proposed in April and was set to be worth an estimated $44 billion, has been scrapped due to claims that information provided by the social media giant was false. 

The abandonment of the deal was first discovered after Musk submitted a filing with the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday.

According to the report, “Preliminary analysis by Mr Musk’s advisors of the information provided by Twitter to date causes Mr Musk to strongly believe that the proportion of false and spam accounts included in the reported mDAU (monetizable daily active user) count is wildly higher than 5%.”

The entrepreneur had openly discussed in May that the deal was to be “put on ice” due to concerns regarding the amount of spam and bot accounts that were active on the social media platform. 

Officials from Twitter have always strongly rebuffed claims that spam and bot accounts are higher than recorded figures. According to a statement, the Twitter board remains confident that the deal will be closed at $54.20 per share and is set to take legal action to ensure the merger is upheld.

“We are committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr Musk and plan to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.”

Elon Musk’s Boring Company to accept Dogecoin

Although Musk, the serial entrepreneur, pulled out of a deal with Twitter last week, another one of his companies – The Boring Company – confirmed plans to accept DOGE for rides on its new Las Vegas transit system.

Although initially created as a joke using the meme of a Shiba Inu dog, Dogecoin has now risen to become one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the market. Musk has been an open fan of the digital coin for several years. 

The new transit system in LA that hopes to incorporate Dogecoin is better known as Loop. On its website, the system is described as “an express public transportation system that resembles an underground highway more than a subway system.” The system is entirely electric and carbon emission neutral. Using The Boring Company’s tunnels, passengers travel inside Tesla vehicles which one day could be completely automated. The first Loop station was opened on Friday outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and accompanied the news of Dogecoin acceptance.

After rumours of Dogecoin acceptance swept the internet, Musk finally confirmed his support of the integration via a tweet that was published on Wednesday.

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