FX.co ★ Ether outperforms Bitcoin as anticipation builds for software upgrade

Ether has once again outperformed other tokens, and even surpassed its better-known competitor bitcoin. This is all thanks to optimism within crypto miners about the long-awaited update. The software rollout promises to reduce the carbon footprint of the world's most used blockchain. However, that's not all the benefits promised by the developers.

Ethereum, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, is up more than 16% in just one week, while bitcoin is up just 8.4%.

While the gains look substantial on the news, the overall total of competition between the two leading cryptocurrencies has flattened the scores due to the fact that etherium had previously fallen 17% and bitcoin had dropped just 7%.

The latest bout of outperformance is happening as anticipation builds for the biggest software upgrade in Ethereum's eight-year history.

Called the merge and expected within months, it will change how transactions on Ethereum are ordered, helping the network consume less electricity and run more efficiently.

"The ETH merge on 'Kiln testnet' caused ETH to outperform the market," said Teong Hng, co-founder and chief executive officer of Hong Kong-based Satori Research. "It is regarded as an upgrade in terms of the transactions' validations in Ethereum. The merge was successful with no major issue reported."

Thanks to the news, Ethereum jumped 4.8% in Asia on Tuesday, hitting highs on February 17 and trading at $3043 at 12:38 p.m. in Hong Kong. Bitcoin also rose on an overall positive wave, climbing 4.9% to $43,144.

Not only will the new software likely make Ethereum more attractive for environmentally-conscious investors. It can also reduce the amount of Ether in circulation, which usually entails an increase in the price of any currency.

The developer explained that after the merge, Ethereum's network would stop using millions of powerful servers called miners to order transactions on the blockchain.

Instead, people will be able to place their Ethers into special staking wallets, which will be used to order transactions - a system called Proof of Stake.

The stakers won't be able to take their coins out, at least until another software upgrade, expected about six months after the merge.

They are also going to be less likely than miners to sell newly minted coins they receive as rewards for being stakers, as they don't have as high operating costs as energy-thirsty miners. After the merge, Ethereum's energy consumption should drop 99%.

The merge was expected to take place months ago, but had been delayed, as Ethereum developers worked to make sure everything goes smoothly. Ethereum Foundation officially planned for the merge to happen in the second quarter of 2022, but had recently said in a blog that the exact timing hasn't been determined - a possible sign of a small delay.

"It would take a catastrophic event for it to not happen this year," Tim Beiko, a computer scientist who coordinates Ethereum developers, told Bloomberg. Still, some miners expect the merge will get pushed out into the fall.

Developers have been promising the upgrade for years.

The last test of this software before the merge is triggered began on March 15, and after some initial glitches such as error messages, appears to be running smoothly.

The entire Ethereum economy, including $349 million in Ether, plus billions in decentralized-finance apps and nonfungible tokens depend on it.

However, some miners expect the merger to be postponed until the autumn.

In fact, the price of currency rises when its issuance in fiat formats is restricted. This has long been a well-known phenomenon. By withdrawing part of the currency from circulation, the government usually increases its value on the international market.

However, with tokens, things may turn out differently.

Although a restriction for stakeholders makes sense, especially when you remember how the market likes to speculate on the moment, such as when a crypto-exchange goes public. Notably, Robinhood's owners recently took a big dump on the company's share price for refusing such a restriction.

However, Ether is quite popular and in demand. Its immobilization for six months might discourage owners, as the crypto market itself is too fickle and gravitates towards quick turnover and short transactions.

On the other hand, any programming error once the update is installed will inevitably hit the Ether rate in the market. So perhaps this immobilization option is the best in terms of the first, rather turbulent months while the program is being rolled out.