Bitcoin (BITCOMP) has held relatively steady around $30,000 in the past week, having surged above the mark for the first time since June last year. The cryptoasset spiked over $30,500 midweek but this was short-lived. 

Freepik

Ether (ETH-X) however has experienced a stronger spike in value, largely thanks to the successful Shapella upgrade (more on that below). Ether began the week trading below $1,850 but spiked upwards - rising around 13% - post upgrade and is now trading just below $2,100. 

Ethereum lay of the land post Shapella

With the Shapella upgrade complete, where does ether and the Ethereum network now stand?

Reaction to the unlocking of Ethereum staking in the Shapella upgrade was largely muted in the end. Ether’s price swung higher later in the week but this was arguably down to macro positivity rather than investor sensitivity to network changes.

Despite the promise of unlocking ether stakes, the actual value of staked ETH has only risen a small amount per CryptoQuant data. Staking Reward data shows the relative ration of staked ETH is much lower than competing cryptos with just below 15% of ether staked. This compares to other major chains such as Cardano and Avalanche which have 67% and 61% respectively staked. 

Of course, while it is right to have expected some short term instability in the market, it is the long-term trend that we should be focused upon here. The theory goes that unlocking staking for investors will encourage more to stake their tokens - as it is now much more straightforward to get them back if needed. We’ll see over the next few months if that 15% staked figure moves or if it is already at a natural market level. 

Mastercard launches artist NFTs

Card payment provider Mastercard (MA) has launched its artists NFT program with blockchain developer Polygon. First trailed in January the program will support emerging musicians, giving them tools to use Web3 tech to grow their audiences.

Fans can now obtain a “Mastercard Music Pass” which will allow them access to musician NFTs and other collectibles to support artists. Artists will be able to grow their audience with access to educational and AI tools plus offer fans “Priceless” experiences. 

The NFT market has been subdued for some time now. Mastercard’s new offering is still fairly light on detail so it remains to be seen how successful it becomes. One area where it still appears light is digital musical ownership rights. 

This is a shame because it is an area of real contention for up-and-coming musicians forced to accept miserly fees from subscription platforms. NFT blockchain technology could be utilized to better protect artists’ digital rights but Mastercard appear to have stepped back from something this ambitious for now. 

Sweden cuts crypto mining subsidies

Sweden has become one of the last EU nations to cut back on subsidies that help make crypto mining viable on the continent. 

Of course, there is an argument to be made that subsidies shouldn’t be the arbiter of viability and miners should be able to stand on their own two feet. But this will serve as a blow to the sector in the Scandinavian region. The end of the subsidy amounts to a 6,000% tax hike per kilowatt hour. 

The crypto mining sector has undergone some pretty radical changes recently, with bans in some regions, the end of financial support in others, and changes to networks such as Ethereum reshaping the market. 

Moving forward the focus will be much more driven by bitcoin. With significant environmental concerns around this the mining industry is going to have to push on with clean energy solutions that enable mining without adding to fossil fuel loads.

More By This Author: