Crypto markets have been on the decline for all of 2022. The biggest news in crypto is the Ethereum merge from the proof-of-work consensus to proof-of-stake. Majority ETH holdings in 2 specific accounts (LIDO & unknown) have the merge in question by many investors as well as Gary Gensler of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Since the merge on July 15th, Ethereum has seen well over $400 million decrease in market capitalization and is on the brink of falling to $1250 or even lower per ETH.
In a recent Senate hearing, Gensler made comment that all crypto coins and tokens (except BTC) are securities. That bomb shell shows how bad the current banking industry wants to bring crypto under their wing and control and or regulated it to death.
FNL Crypto DNA has been waiting for the merge to assess the situation in the crypto market. In 2022, a heavy push in interest in the carbon offset and renewable energy markets have played catalyst to changes like the Ethereum merge. The Proof of Stake validation has been said to placate the climate/energy zealots that so often attack BTC.
I am waiting to see how Gensler will now use the ESG mandates to attack BTC. The days of expensive gas fees and mining operations are slowing down. Many blockchain solutions aim to be “GREEN” solutions to transacting data with verifiable consensus.
The Merge is old news for many and there were no fireworks nor surprises, except for a sell off after the fact. In the midst of a Bear Market, was this not expected?
The market now has to contend with the Fed raising interests rates (for the 3rd time recently) and fears of recession due to benchmarks from prior recessions and deja vu.
