第二大加密货币以太币(Ether)背后的区块链很快将进行万众瞩目的升级,此举可能会吸引更多的机构投资者将资金投入该网络,并帮助提升以太币的价格。
此次区块链升级的目标是提升以太坊(Ethereum)的可扩展性、安全性和可持续性。此外,升级还将淘汰这款加密货币的挖矿业务,从而降低生成新代币所需要的巨大能耗,而能耗一直是人们强烈抨击的对象。
截至目前,比特币(Bitcoin)是市值最大的加密货币,超过了8040亿美元。然而,以太币当前的市值超过了3600亿美元,有望在名为“合并”的基础设施升级之后超越比特币。
尽管这一举措的时间表并未最终确定,但行业观察家认为,“合并”可能会在今年夏天进行。投资者已经开始下注,而且大量的资金都面临着风险。
除了助力以太币之外,以太坊还一直是去中心化金融应用程序和非同质化代币(NFT)项目的座上客,因此,升级有望大幅推高其估值。
采用权益证明机制将减少99%的能耗
以太坊当前依靠的是工作量证明机制,其中,矿机必须解答复杂的数学题,来验证交易并生成新币。这一流程要求大量的算力,而且通常会因为其环境影响而受到批评。
借助计划的升级,以太坊将转而采用权益证明机制,该机制将让用户根据其贡献代币的多少,即权益,来验证交易。作为质押更多代币的回报,用户获选在网络上验证交易并获取奖励的概率更高。
当前,以太坊同时运行着工作量证明和权益证明两条链。尽管这两条链都有验证器,但当前处理用户交易的只有工作量证明链。一旦合并完成,以太坊的区块链将全面转至权益证明链,即信标链(Beacon Chain),同时淘汰挖矿。
受此影响,人们预测以太坊的能耗将下降99%。由于环境影响的降低,业界认为更多的机构投资者将愿意购买以太币,使用其区块链,投资其网络,并扩大其采用范围。
作为合并的最后准备,以太坊的开发人员已经测试了这一转换,并获得了成功。这一结果让人们越发看好升级带来的潜力。
尽管人们原本预计合并会在数个月前进行,而且一再推迟,但以太坊的开发人员蒂姆·贝科告诉彭博社(Bloomberg):“除非有灾难性的事件发生,否则合并肯定会在今年进行。”
已经发行的以太币数量预计将减少90%,这一现象可能会推高其价格
人们预计以太币的供应在“合并”之后会有所下滑,因为业界预计以太币的发行量可能会减少。
区块链分析公司IntoTheBlock在其新闻通讯中写道:“在合并之后,已经发行的以太币数量预计将下滑90%,此举将导致费用下降至类似水平,继而让以太币的年供应量出现高达5%的年降幅。”
如果需求在供应下滑时增加,以太币的价格就可能会上涨。然而,我们无法预测任何资产的未来价格。
Watch the Burn的数据显示,自从2021年8月实施另一项重要升级以来,以太坊已经烧掉或摧毁了价值59亿美元的以太币。尽管8月的升级与合并无关,但它确实证实了新以太币的发行已经开始放缓。合并后,一些人认为以太币可能会成为一种能够抵御通胀的资产,或因为其下滑的供应量而被视作一种价值储存工具。目前,比特币已经被当作这种资产避风港。
预计将带来高回报的质押收益
根据权益证明机制,验证器将把以太币“质押”或贡献给加密货币钱包。按照新的权益证明模式,此前在工作量模式下向矿主支付的辛苦费将在一定程度上转变为验证器的被动收入,因为挖矿将被淘汰。
加密分析平台IntoTheBlock报道称:“通过与权益证明链的合并,矿机此前赚取的费用将进入质押方的腰包。这一现象有望让质押奖励达到7%至12%的水平。”
然而评论人员对“合并”表示怀疑
尽管大多数以太坊社区对“合并”感到兴奋不已,但也有人表达了担忧。
专注于比特币的创投公司Stillmark的创始人艾丽丝·基利恩在推特(Twitter)上写道:“以太坊已经深陷困境,安全性的确保正在变得越来越困难。”她认为权益证明的安全性有所减弱,而且会让以太坊变得更容易受到攻击。
但这类批评“似乎对以太坊存在非常大的偏见,并没有多少依据。”贝科告诉《财富》杂志。他表示,向权益证明的迈进实际上将改善其应对潜在黑客攻击的安全性。
他说:“在权益证明机制下,如果出现攻击,我们只需要对网络进行升级,就可以废掉黑客的代币。”(财富中文网)
译者:冯丰
审校:夏林
第二大加密货币以太币(Ether)背后的区块链很快将进行万众瞩目的升级,此举可能会吸引更多的机构投资者将资金投入该网络,并帮助提升以太币的价格。
此次区块链升级的目标是提升以太坊(Ethereum)的可扩展性、安全性和可持续性。此外,升级还将淘汰这款加密货币的挖矿业务,从而降低生成新代币所需要的巨大能耗,而能耗一直是人们强烈抨击的对象。
截至目前,比特币(Bitcoin)是市值最大的加密货币,超过了8040亿美元。然而,以太币当前的市值超过了3600亿美元,有望在名为“合并”的基础设施升级之后超越比特币。
尽管这一举措的时间表并未最终确定,但行业观察家认为,“合并”可能会在今年夏天进行。投资者已经开始下注,而且大量的资金都面临着风险。
除了助力以太币之外,以太坊还一直是去中心化金融应用程序和非同质化代币(NFT)项目的座上客,因此,升级有望大幅推高其估值。
采用权益证明机制将减少99%的能耗
以太坊当前依靠的是工作量证明机制,其中,矿机必须解答复杂的数学题,来验证交易并生成新币。这一流程要求大量的算力,而且通常会因为其环境影响而受到批评。
借助计划的升级,以太坊将转而采用权益证明机制,该机制将让用户根据其贡献代币的多少,即权益,来验证交易。作为质押更多代币的回报,用户获选在网络上验证交易并获取奖励的概率更高。
当前,以太坊同时运行着工作量证明和权益证明两条链。尽管这两条链都有验证器,但当前处理用户交易的只有工作量证明链。一旦合并完成,以太坊的区块链将全面转至权益证明链,即信标链(Beacon Chain),同时淘汰挖矿。
受此影响,人们预测以太坊的能耗将下降99%。由于环境影响的降低,业界认为更多的机构投资者将愿意购买以太币,使用其区块链,投资其网络,并扩大其采用范围。
作为合并的最后准备,以太坊的开发人员已经测试了这一转换,并获得了成功。这一结果让人们越发看好升级带来的潜力。
尽管人们原本预计合并会在数个月前进行,而且一再推迟,但以太坊的开发人员蒂姆·贝科告诉彭博社(Bloomberg):“除非有灾难性的事件发生,否则合并肯定会在今年进行。”
已经发行的以太币数量预计将减少90%,这一现象可能会推高其价格
人们预计以太币的供应在“合并”之后会有所下滑,因为业界预计以太币的发行量可能会减少。
区块链分析公司IntoTheBlock在其新闻通讯中写道:“在合并之后,已经发行的以太币数量预计将下滑90%,此举将导致费用下降至类似水平,继而让以太币的年供应量出现高达5%的年降幅。”
如果需求在供应下滑时增加,以太币的价格就可能会上涨。然而,我们无法预测任何资产的未来价格。
Watch the Burn的数据显示,自从2021年8月实施另一项重要升级以来,以太坊已经烧掉或摧毁了价值59亿美元的以太币。尽管8月的升级与合并无关,但它确实证实了新以太币的发行已经开始放缓。合并后,一些人认为以太币可能会成为一种能够抵御通胀的资产,或因为其下滑的供应量而被视作一种价值储存工具。目前,比特币已经被当作这种资产避风港。
预计将带来高回报的质押收益
根据权益证明机制,验证器将把以太币“质押”或贡献给加密货币钱包。按照新的权益证明模式,此前在工作量模式下向矿主支付的辛苦费将在一定程度上转变为验证器的被动收入,因为挖矿将被淘汰。
加密分析平台IntoTheBlock报道称:“通过与权益证明链的合并,矿机此前赚取的费用将进入质押方的腰包。这一现象有望让质押奖励达到7%至12%的水平。”
然而评论人员对“合并”表示怀疑
尽管大多数以太坊社区对“合并”感到兴奋不已,但也有人表达了担忧。
专注于比特币的创投公司Stillmark的创始人艾丽丝·基利恩在推特(Twitter)上写道:“以太坊已经深陷困境,安全性的确保正在变得越来越困难。”她认为权益证明的安全性有所减弱,而且会让以太坊变得更容易受到攻击。
但这类批评“似乎对以太坊存在非常大的偏见,并没有多少依据。”贝科告诉《财富》杂志。他表示,向权益证明的迈进实际上将改善其应对潜在黑客攻击的安全性。
他说:“在权益证明机制下,如果出现攻击,我们只需要对网络进行升级,就可以废掉黑客的代币。”(财富中文网)
译者:冯丰
审校:夏林
The blockchain behind the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether, will soon undergo a highly-anticipated upgrade that may lead to more institutional investors putting money in the network and help lift Ether's price.
The goal is to make Ethereum, the blockchain being upgraded, more scalable, secure, and sustainable. Among other things, it would making its crypto mining obsolete, thereby reducing the huge amount of energy required to create new tokens —a source of intense criticism.
As of now, Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market value at over $804 billion. But Ether—with a current market cap of more than $360 billion—could become the leader after the infrastructure upgrade called the “merge.”
Though a timeline isn’t definite yet, industry watchers have speculated that the “merge” could happen this summer. Investors are already betting on that, and there’s a lot of money at stake.
In addition to powering Ether, Ethereum has been adopted by decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and non-fungible token projects (NFTs), so an upgrade could dramatically enhance its valuation.
Move to proof-of-stake will result in ‘99%’ less energy used
Ethereum currently relies on what’s known as proof-of-work in which miners must complete complex puzzles to validate transactions and create new coins. This process requires a huge amount of computer power and is often criticized due to its environmental impact.
With the planned upgrade, Ethereum is moving to proof-of-stake, which would let users validate transactions according to how many coins they contribute, or stake. In return for staking more coins, users have a higher likelihood of being chosen to validate transactions on the network and earn a reward.
Currently, Ethereum has both a proof-of-work and proof-of-stake chain running in parallel. While both chains have validators, only the proof-of-work chain currently processes users’ transactions. Once the merge is complete, Ethereum's blockchain will shift fully to the proof-of-stake chain, called the Beacon Chain, making mining obsolete.
As a result, it’s predicted that Ethereum’s energy consumption will be cut by 99%. Due to the reduced environmental impact, it’s thought that more institutional investors will want to buy Ether, use its blockchain, invest in its network, and create greater adoption.
Ethereum developers successfully tested the shift last week as part of final preparations for the merge, which added to bullish sentiment surrounding the upgrade’s potential.
Though the merge was expected to happen months ago and has been delayed, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko told Bloomberg that “it would take a catastrophic event for it not to happen this year.”
Ether issued is estimated to drop by “90%,” which may boost its price
The supply of Ether is also expected to decline post-“merge,” because fewer coins are expected to be issued.
"Following the merge, the amount of ETH issued is projected to drop by 90%, which would lead similar levels of fees to reduce ether’s supply by as much as 5% a year," blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock wrote in its newsletter.
If demand increases as the supply declines, the price of Ether may rise. But it’s impossible to predict the future price of any asset.
Since the implementation of another important upgrade in August, Ethereum has already burned, or destroyed, $5.9 billion worth of Ether, according to data dashboard Watch the Burn. Though that August upgrade was unrelated to the merge, it does show that the issuance of new Ether has already slowed. Post-merge, some think Ether may become a deflationary asset, or one with declining supply that can be used as a store of value. Bitcoin is already considered such a safe haven.
Staking yields estimated to cause for high returns
Under proof-of-stake, validators will “stake,” or contribute their Ether to crypto wallets. Fees that were typically paid to miners for their efforts in the proof-of-work model will turn into somewhat of passive income for validators under the new proof-of-stake, since mining will become obsolete.
"Through the merge with the proof-of-stake chain, fees previously earned by miners will pass on to being earned by those staking. This is expected to result in staking rewards between 7% and 12%," IntoTheBlock reported.
But critics are skeptical of the “merge”
Though most of the Ethereum community is excited about the “merge,” some have expressed concern.
Alyse Killeen, founder of Bitcoin-focused venture firm Stillmark, said on Twitter: “Ethereum is in so. much. trouble…ensuring security is becoming harder [and] harder.” She argues that proof-of-stake is less secure and that it makes Ethereum more vulnerable to attacks.
But this critique “just seems very anti-Ethereum without much extra substance,” Beiko told Fortune. He said that the move to proof-of-stake would actually improve security against potential hacking.
“Under proof-of-stake, if an attack happens, we can simply upgrade the network to remove the attackers’ coins,” he said.