Ethereum’s Revenge: A Sign of Bigger Gains Ahead?

Ethereum recently experienced an 8.9% price increase, reviving bullish sentiments among traders. This uptick contrasts with Ethereum’s previous underperformance compared to altcoins like Solana, which has seen a 951% year-to-date gain compared to Ethereum’s 102%. Jordi Alexander from Selini Capital has expressed optimism for Ethereum’s potential rise, referring to it as “the revenge of the ETH.”

The bullish outlook is further supported by recent altcoin rallies and Michael Saylor’s significant Bitcoin investment. Despite criticisms about Ethereum’s network fees and speeds, advocates highlight layer-2 solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum for efficiency improvements. Currently, ETH trades at around $2,400, while Solana slightly dipped to $105.

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Vitalik Buterin Suggests Simplifying Ethereum’s PoS System

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed making Ethereum’s proof-of-stakeconsensus mechanism simpler and lighter. He suggests reducing the number of validator signatures needed, which currently stands at around 28,000 per slot due to Ethereum’s high validator count of about 895,000. This reduction aims to lessen the network’s load and technical complexities, including quantum resistance and scaling issues. 

Buterin proposes about 8,192 signatures per slot, maintaining substantial slashable ETH and easing protocol development. This change would set a manageable future signature load, allowing for easier protocol and infrastructure development, with potential future increases through hard forks. 

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ARK Invest Buys ProShares Bitcoin ETF, Sells Grayscale Assets

ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, has shifted its Bitcoin-related investments, purchasing 4.3 million shares of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), valued at $9.2 million. Concurrently, ARK sold its remaining stakes in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and offloaded $27.6 million worth of Coinbase (COIN) stock. ARK also acquired 20,000 shares of the Ark 21Shares Active Bitcoin Future Strategy ETF. 

BITO, the first U.S. bitcoin-linked ETF, now comprises 5.03% of ARKW, ARK’s Next Generation Internet ETF, ranking as its sixth-largest holding. Despite the recent sale, Coinbase remains ARKW’s largest holding at nearly 12%. 

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Swell Staking Protocol Records $125M+ Inflows in December

In December, Swell, a liquid staking protocol, saw its TVL double to 108,000 ETH, approximately $245 million, making it the fourth-largest protocol in its category. This growth followed the launch of Swell’s “Pearl” rewards program, which incentivizes users to mint and restake its swETH token on the EigenLayer platform. 

Since mid-December, over 53,000 swETH, worth more than $120 million, have been minted and primarily redeposited on EigenLayer. Swell’s rising popularity within the Ethereum ecosystem is attributed to its simplified staking process and the flexibility provided by its yield-bearing liquid staking token, swETH.

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Other breaking news

• Crypto Portfolio Linked to Donald Trump Sells $2.4M in Ethereum
• Chinese Web3 VC Plans $10B Accelerator Fund Launch: Report
• Blast Surpasses $1.1B in Deposits Ahead of Launch Next Month
• CAKE Rises 7% as PancakeSwap Proposes Cutting Supply by 300 Million Tokens
• Bitcoin Market Braces for $10B Options Expiry at Year-End

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