CoinLoan Weekly: Modest Recovery, Ethereum Renaming, Biden’s Executive Order
Price Dynamics
BTC Price
BTC started the week positively and peaked on Wednesday, January 26, at $38,566.23. Since the Thursday dip, it has been trading within the $36,000-$38,500 range. Analysts expect a rebound in equity markets, which could bolster the bullish sentiment.
However, the looming tightening of the Fed’s monetary policy still affects investor behavior. The S&P 500 has remained within a very tight range, and selling may continue.
As of now, 1 BTC is valued at $37,238.19, with a 24-hour change of -2.1%. Over the past week, it has gained just 2.6%, and it is 46.0% down from the all-time high. The Fear & Greed Index of 20 still indicates extreme fear.
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ETH Price
After losing over 30% the previous week, Ethereum began to stabilize. It rebounded on Monday, January 24, and mainly traded above the $2,400 mark — below the Wednesday peak ($2,683.72).
As of this writing, ETH is trading even lower — at $2,525.86, with a 24-hour change of -3.4% and a 7-day change of -0.5%.
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XRP Price
Ripple’s dynamics mirrored the ETH behavior. Following an uptick, the price peaked out at $0.645082 on Wednesday, January 26. Since then, the currency has been trading above $0.58.
XRP is currently trading at $0.588723, with a 24-hour change of -4.8% and a 7-day change of -6.5%.
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Cryptocurrency News
The Great Renaming of Ethereum
Ethereum.com has overhauled its core terminology. The two components of Ethereum 2.0 — Eth1 and Eth2 — will now be referred to as execution layer and consensus layer, respectively. This year, the company is still following its decentralized scaling roadmap and transitioning to proof-of-stake.
Eth1 and Eth2 described the old PoW chain and the new PoS mechanism on the Ethereum 2.0 roadmap. The latter is no longer relevant. The renaming does not affect the current upgrade path, but it allows the company to solve four major problems:
- Eliminate subconscious prioritization of Eth1 and confusion due to coexisting layers;
- Prevent scam, as criminals have offered to exchange ETH for non-existent Eth2 tokens;
- Replace the Ethereum 2.0 terminology, which misrepresents the current roadmap;
- Clarify staking, as ETH on the Beacon Chain has been mistakenly assigned the ETH2 ticker.
The shift does not require any actions from the user. Ethereum has only asked its audience to participate in the translation program, as content in 40+ languages still references Eth2.
Biden's Crypto Executive Order Coming in February
The Biden administration is finalizing a crypto executive order. The document, which will outline a comprehensive strategy on digital assets, may be released in February. Federal agencies will be directed to analyze the risks and opportunities of digital assets and submit reports by the second half of 2022.
President Biden will receive the plan in the coming weeks. It will likely present Bitcoin as a potential risk to the US dollar and national security. In addition, some investors are concerned that the government may impose heavier taxes on the leading cryptocurrency.
As of now, there is still no comprehensive legal framework for crypto assets or exchanges. The SEC has long called for more oversight of this Wild West landscape. The lack of clarity has also prompted criticism from top crypto executives like Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX.
So far, the president has said very little about cryptocurrencies. The White House does not have a strong position on CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), either. On January 21, the Federal Reserve released a report on its digital dollar, and public comments will be accepted through May 20.