Follow along as Valkyrie's Head of Portfolio Management, Bill Cannon, highlights a notable "byte" from the markets each week.
Bill's Byte:
As the summer winds down, the crypto world is preparing for one of the biggest events for the sector: The Merge. The second most popular cryptocurrency, Ethereum, is about to undergo a long-awaited software upgrade that changes the verification system currently used from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake.
The change would shift Ethereum to a more energy-efficient infrastructure, addressing the widespread criticism that crypto’s climate impact outweighs its possible benefits. And it would lay the foundation for future upgrades to reduce the hefty fees required to conduct transactions in Ether, the platform’s signature currency and the second-most valuable digital asset after Bitcoin.
Ethereum’s design allows it to support a range of financial engineering. Programmers can build applications using the software to perform more complicated tasks than simple money transfers. Thousands of businesses and projects in the experimental world of decentralized finance now use the platform to offer lending, borrowing, and other sophisticated investment options. Many nonfungible tokens — the unique digital collectibles known as NFTs — are built on Ethereum.
Please take a moment to learn more about Ethereum and The Merge with this recent article from the NY Times. Then tune into Valkyrie's CIO, Steven McClurg, join Bloomberg to discuss how we are positioning portfolios ahead of this event.
