Ethereum Shapella upgrade accomplished; FTX plans to restart the exchange; Warren Buffet: Bitcoin is a gambling token and has no value.
The Ethereum Shapella upgrade has been officially implemented.
The Shapella upgrade has been implemented, which will allow the withdrawal of Ether staked on Ethereum. The upgrade was released on the mainnet at epoch 620.9536.
The Ethereum Shapella upgrade, which the community has been eagerly waiting for, was released at 01:27 CEST.
As it will be remembered, about two years ago, withdrawals of Ether staked on the Ethereum network were suspended. With EIP-4895, this feature has been reactivated. Thus, validators can unlock staked Ether thanks to EIP-4895.
With the upgrade, the staked assets were transferred to the Ethereum Virtual Machine and withdrawals became active.
With the EIP-3855 that comes with the upgrade, it is aimed to increase the transaction speeds, while the EIP-3860 aims to reduce the costs.
The upgrade was the largest on the Ethereum network after Merge in September. With this upgrade, the network is one step closer to fully exploiting proof-of-stake.
More than 18 million Ether, worth $32 billion, were unlocked after Shapella. This equates to around 15% of the current Ether supply.
How will the ether price be affected?
There is a view that unlocking the assets staked for two years with the Shapella upgrade could cause a selling pressure. For this reason, there are many analysts who expect a decrease in the price of the asset.
However, such upgrades also act as an important catalyst in increasing the value of the asset. For this reason, there are many differences of opinion among analysts.
The Ethereum community, on the other hand, is optimistic about Ether’s long-term movement.
FTX plans to restart the exchange
Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX wants to use the money to be paid to creditors to restart the exchange.
According to Bloomberg’s report, FTX’s lawyer said this money could be used because it required a large amount of cash.
Andrew G. Dietderich, attorney for Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm that represents FTX, told bankruptcy judge Jonh Dorsey that they are in the process of considering whether the FTX exchange will resume operations.
“There are as many opinions on the subject as there are professionals in this case, and that’s a lot.”
Dietdercih said in court that the current implementation of FTX is more like the front of a video game than a properly functioning exchange.
The funds FTX needs to restart the exchange may come from investors, or the $7.3 billion the exchange has raised so far can be used. Dietdercih said $7.3 billion in assets will be held until a court approval for the creditor repayment plan.
According to the lawyer, if FTX restarts its operations, it has a chance to earn more money to be able to pay its creditors.
SBF’s bail conditions tightened
Bail requirements for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried have been tightened. After Sam Bankman-Fried’s effort to interview one of the key witnesses in the case, the court banned SBF from using smartphones and similar apps. Sam Bankman-Fried will now have to use a phone without internet access.
Sam Bankman-Freid denied all charges against him.
Warren Buffet: Bitcoin is a gambling token and has no value
Warren Buffet reprized his role as one of the leaders of the FUD train, in an interview with Squawk Box on April 12.
Speaking to CNBC, Buffet said that we had a “gambling boom” regarding the cryptocurrency market and added:
“I like to bet on a football game if I’m sitting and watching it. It makes the game more interesting. But I don’t think I want to make my living by betting against the house I live in”
Buffet softens his rhetoric
These statements show that Buffet’s statements against Bitcoin have softened somewhat. Buffett had made more insulting statements about cryptocurrencies in his previous statements.
In another interview with Squawk Box in 2014, Buffett told Dan Gilbert that the idea that Bitcoin “has enormous intrinsic value” is a joke, referring to it as a mirage.
In another interview he gave in 2014, Buffet emphasized that he would not be surprised if Bitcoin is not partnered in 10-20 years. However, he stated that the dollar cannot be considered a currency because it inevitably depends on the value of the dollar.
Buffet’s heaviest statement about Bitcoin was in 2018. The famous investor claimed that Bitcoin was a “rat poison” at that time.