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Ethereum

The London Hard Fork of Ethereum: What You Need to Know and What To Expect

Containing numerous Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including the vital 1559 and 3554, it’s worth exploring the key features of the upcoming London hard fork and how it could change the Ethereum network.

Although it was initially scheduled to take place in July, a more recent statement from an Ethereum developer asserted that the London hard fork will occur on August 4th, 2021.

Why does the Ethereum Blockchain need improvements?

Launched in 2015, the Ethereum network’s utilization has grown massively in the next six years as it’s arguably the most used blockchain in the space today. It is now the home to many stablecoins, numerous NFT and DeFi project, and its native digital asset which happens be the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap.

This utilization however, brought significant obstacles for the current proof-of-work algorithm. Those included delayed transactions and unreasonably high fees reaching four digits in USD on some extreme occasions.

The developers who worked on the ETH blockchain realized this and decided to make the network proof-of-stake. It’s a complicated process that will take years to develop, test, and implement before it can be completed.

They haven’t abandoned PoW networks and suggested several hard forks to improve their performance.

Istanbul and Berlin, then London

After the Istanbul and Berlin hard forks, now it’s time for the next one with a code name ‘London’ (named after the second annual developers’ conference in 2015).

Initially scheduled to take place in July 2021, its progress was going well as it had launched on several testnets, with the latest one being Ropsten.

However, it was delayed, and Ethereum developer Tim Beiko announced earlier this week that it’s expected to take place on August 4th between 13: 00 UTC and 17: 00 UTC at block number 12,965,000.

The London hard fork will contain several EIPs, most notable of which are 1559 and 3554. Each proposal must follow the guidelines in

, as explained in EIP-1.

“The EIP should provide a concise technical specification of the feature and a rationale for the feature. The EIP author is responsible for building consensus within the community and documenting dissenting opinions.”

EIP-1559 aims to reduce transaction fees through a somewhat controversial method. Instead of the user having to send a gas fee to a miner for the transaction to be included in a block, EIP-1559 proposes that gas fees to be sent to the network.

eip1559tip
EIP-1559: Gas to be sent to the network instead of miners. Source: BitMEX blog

This new pricing system will reduce Ether (ETH) supply by burning the fee. Each block will have a different base fee. It will depend on the network congestion, as if one block is 50% or more full with transactions, the fees will increase, and vice-versa.

EIP-3238, on the other hand, will target the difficulty time bomb. This is a feature that makes mining Ethereum more difficult. It is a goal for mining to become so difficult that miners will be forced to move to Ethereum 2.0.

eth-dif-2021
ETH difficulty long-term chart. source: Etherscan

At the moment, however, the network will not reach this point due to the difficulty. Initial plans indicated that EIP-3238 would delay the so-called time bomb until the second quarter of 2022. However, the more recently proposed EIP-3554, whose review period ends on July 14th, would postpone the difficulty bomb “to show effect the first week of December 2021.”

The developers explained the motivation behind EIP-3554 as follows:

“Targeting for the Shanghai upgrade and/or the Merge to occur before December 2021. Either the bomb can be readjusted at that time or removed altogether.”

The Controversy

While the aforementioned proposed upgrades might sound like a move in the right direction for most, not all parties are happy, especially with EIP-1559. The deflationary effect of burning fees on the second-largest cryptocurrency would be essentially caused by the charging of fees. Despite this being a potential boost to ETH’s value assets due to its lower supply, it will also reduce the profits of miners.

And, Ethereum mining has indeed been a lucrative business, with profits surging to new highs in the past year or so. This could change after the London hard fork. Users will still be able to “tip” miners if they wish.

Somewhat expectedly, many mining companies opposed the implementation of EIP-1559. Others argued that even though EIP-2656 – which lowers gas costs of transactions using modular exponentiation (ModExp) – should enhance the network’s security and practically, there would be some potential issues on that front.

Additionally, a recent report by CoinMetrics asserted that EIP-1559 might not help with reducing the gas fees at all. The report stated that high transaction costs are “fundamentally an issue of scaleability” and will continue to rise as long as dApp use continues to increase, which is the current trend.

The paper instead suggested a possible solution that could be used until Ethereum 2.0 is released. This comes from Layer-2 scaling networks, as many blockchain projects have already launched such products.

In any case, the London hardfork is one of the most anticipated events this year in cryptocurrency and will most likely have an important impact on Ethereum’s widely used blockchain.

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Ethereum

Ethereum Bulls Face $185M in Liquidations as ETH Price Slumps to 2-Month Low

Amid the broader market’s correction yet again today, ETH’s price has taken a major hit and tumbled below $3,000 for the first time since early November.

This has caused a lot of liquidations for over-leveraged bulls, with the number skyrocketing to nearly $200 million only for ETH-related positions.

ETHUSD. Source: TradingView
ETHUSD. Source: TradingView

As the graph above demonstrates, the second-largest cryptocurrency broke above $3,000 after the US elections in early November and didn’t look back for the next two months.

Moreover, the asset peaked at just over $4,100 on December 16, but that was as far as it could go. During the end-of-the-year crash, ETH slumped to $3,100 but managed to defend the $3,000 support.

It bounced off and went on the offensive at the start of 2025. Its yearly peak came on January 7 when it jumped to $3,750. However, that’s when the landscape took a turn for the worse, and ETH, alongside the rest of the market, started to plunge.

The subsequent rejection drove Ethereum’s price to $3,300, where it spent most of the next few days. However, another leg down initiated by the bears today pushed it south even further, and it slipped below $3,000 minutes ago for the first time since early November.

ETH is down by precisely 20% since its January 7 high (or $750 in USD perspective). Today’s drop was particularly painful for over-leveraged traders with long positions, as the total such liquidations has gone up to $185 million, according to CoinGlass.

In fact, ETH’s liquidations have surpassed even those for BTC, whose price tumbled from $96,000 earlier this morning to under $90,000 briefly.

Liquidation Heat Map. Source: CoinGlass
Liquidation Heat Map. Source: CoinGlass
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Ethereum

Post-US Election Honeymoon Ends as Macroeconomic Data Drives Markets

Digital asset investment products saw modest inflows of $48 million last week. While nearly $1 billion flowed in during the early part of the week, outflows of $940 million in the latter half reversed much of the gains. This shift followed the release of new macroeconomic data and the Federal Reserve’s minutes, which signaled a stronger US economy and a more hawkish stance.

According to CoinShares, this could indicate that the post-US election honeymoon has ended, with macroeconomic indicators regaining their influence on asset prices.

Modest Inflows Amid Renewed Macroeconomic Concerns

The latest edition of ‘Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report’ revealed that Bitcoin attracted $214 million in inflows last week, maintaining its lead as the best-performing digital asset with $799 million in inflows year-to-date, despite also seeing the largest outflows later in the week. Inflows to short Bitcoin products stood at $1.8 million.

Ethereum, on the other hand, struggled the most, with $256 million flowing out, which CoinShares attributes to a general tech sector downturn rather than asset-specific concerns. Solana, by contrast, remained strong, pulling in $15 million in new investments.

XRP amassed significant inflows of $41 million last week, driven largely by political and legal developments. The inflows reflect growing optimism as the January 15th SEC appeal deadline approaches.

Multi-asset products followed suit with $21.1 million in inflows. Interestingly, altcoins attracted investments despite lackluster price performance. Leading the way were Aave, Stellar, and Polkadot, which recorded inflows of $2.9 million, $2.7 million, and $1.6 million, respectively. Additionally, Cardano, Litecoin, and Chainlink also saw inflows of $1.2 million, $0.7 million, and $0.4 million, respectively, during the same period.

Switzerland Tops Outflows

In terms of geography, the US stood out with $79 million in inflows, followed by Germany with $52.4 million over the past week. Canada, Brazil, and Australia also observed inflows of $37.1 million, $21.9 million, and $10.3 million, respectively.

Switzerland saw the highest outflow for the week, recording $85.3 million. A similar sentiment was seen across Hong Kong and Sweden as the two countries witnessed outflows of $36.6 million and $33.2 million, respectively.

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Ethereum

Ethereum Price Analysis: What’s Ahead for ETH After a 9% Weekly Dip?

Ethereum currently rests at a notable support region near $3.2K, with market participants closely observing the potential for a bullish rebound.

The Funding Rates metric offers valuable insights into the sentiment within the perpetual futures markets, helping to gauge the likelihood of a recovery.

Technical Analysis

By Shayan

The Daily Chart

Ethereum has seen consistent declines following its rejection at the $4K resistance level, indicating the dominance of sellers. Most recently, another sharp decline pushed the price toward a substantial support zone, defined by the 100-day moving average of $3.1K.

This dynamic support is critical as demand concentration near this region is expected to curb downward momentum, with a bullish rebound being plausible if buying interest emerges.

Currently, ETH is trapped between the 100-day MA ($3.1K) and the $3.5K resistance level, forming a tight consolidation range. A decisive move in either direction will likely determine the mid-term trend.

The 4-Hour Chart

On the 4-hour timeframe, Ethereum broke down from an ascending wedge pattern, a bearish structure that typically signals further declines. This breakdown triggered a swift sell-off, pushing the price toward a support zone defined by the 0.5-0.618 Fibonacci retracement levels.

This support zone has the potential to stabilize the price and possibly initiate a short-term bullish rebound. However, persistent bearish pressure could result in a break below this line, intensifying the downtrend.

If Ethereum breaches this critical support zone, it may trigger panic selling, further strengthening sellers’ dominance. Conversely, a sustained rebound could pave the way for a recovery toward the $3.5K resistance level.

Onchain Analysis

By Shayan

Examining the chart, the recent market correction has coincided with a significant decline in funding rates. This shift suggests growing bearish sentiment among speculators, with many traders betting on further decreases in ETH’s price.

However, upon reaching the substantial support zone at $3K, the Funding Rates metric has started to show signs of recovery. A notable bullish spike in the metric suggests an influx of buying interest as market participants begin to open long positions in anticipation of a price rebound.

If this recovery in funding rates continues, it could indicate sustained demand and the potential for a bullish rebound from the $3K support. On the other hand, if the current recovery loses momentum or reverses, it would signal a return to bearish sentiment, paving the way for a deeper correction.

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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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