Ethereum Shapella upgrade pushes ETH price to $2,100; Twitter chooses eToro for crypto and stock trading; IMF will publish CBDC guide due to increasing demands.
Despite some fears that there will be a new supply of Ethereum (ETH) to the markets following the much anticipated Ethereum Shapella upgrade, the ETH price winked to the $2,100 level in the day after the upgrade.
The upgrade enables staked ETH withdrawals for users who cannot find a way to get their funds back after staking before. ETH price has managed to reach $2,100 as of today, although a new supply of ETH has arrived in the markets, indicating a potential drop.
On April 13, crypto analytics firm Glassnode predicted that only 1% of staked ETH could be released after Shapella went live. According to the company, only 253 depositors signed up to withdraw their staked ETH positions. Glassnode also expressed confidence that the newest update to the network will not have a dramatic impact on the Ethereum price.
After the hard fork went smoothly on the Ethereum mainnet, a total of 12,859 ETH, worth almost $26 million, was unlocked in 4,333 withdrawals within the first hour after the withdrawals were activated.
Immediately after the upgrade, the community enthusiastically celebrated the new milestone. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said on the livestream that Ethereum is in a really good spot right now. Buterin stressed that there is more to be done, but that it can be done at a slower pace.
Twitter chooses eToro for crypto and stock trading
Social media platform Twitter is preparing to introduce a new feature that will allow its users to trade cryptocurrencies and stocks. As reported by CNBC, the new feature will be launched in collaboration with fintech company eToro.
With the eToro partnership, Twitter users will be able to browse market charts and buy and sell crypto and other assets thanks to a wider range of financial instruments. In addition, the collaboration between the social media platform and the fintech company will also expand Twitter’s “cashtags” feature, which currently allows users to view real-time trading data from TradingView.
Twitter continues to expand into finance
It’s also worth noting that the new financial features will be available via a “view on eToro” tab that will direct users to eToro’s trading platform. Founded in 2007, the fintech company first introduced crypto trading features and a crypto wallet in 2019.
The partnership with eToro will be the first major deal for Twitter since Elon Musk took over as CEO after buying the social media network for $44 billion last year.
Musk had previously come up with the idea of making Twitter a “super app” and focused on building an ecosystem that would give users one-stop access to a range of online services. The concept of “super app” is very popular in China, where such apps act as a gateway to everything a consumer needs in their daily life. For example, the WeChat app offers instant messaging, social media, travel and hotel booking, banking, and more.
IMF will publish CBDC guide due to increasing demands
The demand for CBDCs prompted the IMF to prepare a guide.
The IMF official said the needs of central banks that plan to issue a CBDC appear urgent. For this reason, the organization has contacted nearly 30 countries that have requested assistance in the last two years. Bo Li, deputy director general of the IMF, stated that more than 40 countries have contacted him.
“We think it is necessary to develop CBDC capacity as we live in the digital age.”
However, poor design of a CBDC can bring with it several risks. Li said that the IMF will prepare a comprehensive CBDC handbook to meet the information needs.
IMF will give priority to some countries
The handbook, which is planned to be published, was discussed in detail in a report prepared by the IMF. It was stated that the guide would be descriptive rather than prescriptive.
In the report, it was stated that the CBDC handbook is expected to be completed in 4-5 years, with funding from Japan. A table of contents is already available for the handbook, which is divided into large sections and consists of 19 chapters. The guide will address both policy and technical issues.
The IMF will prioritize assistance for countries that follow CBDC developments quickly but have high capacity constraints or weak regulatory standards.