Cardano (ADA) Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long history of helping people make smart financial decisions. We've maintained this reputation for more than four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in the steps they need to take next. The Binance coin (BNB) is a useful cryptocurrency that works as a payment method for fees associated with trading on the Binance exchange. It is the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Those who use the token as a means of payment for the exchange can trade at a discount. Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions achieve financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper columns, radio programs and premium investment services. The Merge, Ethereum's long-awaited transition (1.12%) from proof-of-work consensus to proof of participation, was completed last week. While it has become a common misconception that The Merge will accelerate transactions on the Ethereum network and reduce fees, there will be other benefits.
The transition to proof of bet will allow more Ethereum holders to participate and earn rewards on the network, since they can now bet their Ethereum to earn a share of the transaction fees. While holders must have 32 Ethereum and meet several other requirements to do so, many third-party services, such as Coinbase (COIN 4.34%), allow customers with smaller amounts of Ethereum to commit their Ethereum to accumulate betting funds to earn interest. Coinbase currently pays an annual return percentage of 3.25% on staked Ethereum. The merger will also drastically reduce Ethereum's carbon footprint, as energy-intensive mining equipment will no longer work day and night to produce Ethereum blocks.
Some sources estimate that Ethereum's energy consumption before the merger was equivalent to that of a country like Chile. Experts predict that the switch to a participation test will reduce this energy intensity by more than 99%, which is a big problem for the planet and for investors, who will now feel more comfortable investing in Ethereum. The great thing about holding Ethereum for the long term is that, while The Merge is big business, Ethereum developers don't stop there. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, estimates that blockchain will only reach 55% of its potential after The Merge.
The merger paves the way for fragmentation, in which the blockchain is divided into many chains to alleviate network congestion, which should eventually help improve speed and reduce fees once it is fully implemented. The level of progress so far and future ambition make Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market value, an asset to buy now and hold forever. After the merger, Bitcoin, the No. Bitcoin advocates believe that the consensus on Bitcoin's proof of work is more secure than the test of bet and believe that The Merge will improve the image of Bitcoin as a secure decentralized network.
I believe that both the proof of work and the proof of participation have their own merits and I consider owning Bitcoin and Ethereum to be the most sensible approach for investors. Some have questioned the status of Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, as the price of Bitcoin has fallen this year, in part due to rising inflation in the US. UU. But it's important to remember that bitcoin is a global network with users all over the world.
Despite its fall this year, it still represents a safe, viable and accessible asset for people in countries with rampant long-term inflation, such as Turkey and Venezuela. The maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins is an attractive feature in a world where governments print increasing amounts of currency, reducing the purchasing power of existing currency in the process. I don't know if the price of Bitcoin will rise or fall within a week, but I feel good to have it as a potential hedge against future inflation and I believe that all investors can benefit from having even a small amount in their portfolios. The summer boom of Ravencoin is due to the fact that it is a proof-of-work cryptocurrency that can be mined with a GPU (graphic processing unit) mining equipment.
All the GPUs that were mining Ethereum needed a place to go after the Ethereum merger, and Ravencoin is one of the most attractive destinations. Ravencoin's hash rate has increased, indicating that miners have already moved to Ravencoin. A short-term catalyst is fine, but here's why Ravencoin is much more than just a short-term operation. Ravencoin was created for the purpose of allowing people to create their own tokens.
Users can burn 500 Ravencoin and create their own token that represents a real-world asset. An example of how this could be useful is the tokenization of real estate. A property owner could use Ravencoin to tokenize an investment property and divide it into 100 parts. This would give real estate investors significantly more liquidity than they enjoy today and would reduce barriers to entry to investing in real estate.
Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ravencoin are good options to buy now and keep forever. Cryptocurrencies are volatile and are best suited for risk-tolerant investors. For these investors, buying major cryptocurrencies now, when the market is uncertain, is a move that could pay off in the long run. Michael Byrne has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The Motley Fool holds positions and recommends Bitcoin, Coinbase Global, Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. . .
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