Ethereum (ETH) is recording increased buying pressure as the blockchain makes progress towards the historic Merge upgrade that will usher in the staking mechanism. Besides the network development activity, the second-ranked cryptocurrency is also benefiting from the market’s positive reaction to the CPI data.
Indeed, by press time, Ethereum was trading at $1,875 to record gains of almost 12% in the last 24 hours. During the early trading hours of August 11, Ethereum also peaked at $1,907, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Additionally, Ethereum is also registering an inflow of capital, with market capitalisation standing at $230.45 billion, adding $24.06 billion from $206.39 billion in the last 24 hours.
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Ethereum gains momentum as the Merge nears
Notably, in the previous weeks, Ethereum has mainly embarked on bullish momentum with the Merge upgrade that will transition the network from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism emerging as a key catalyst.
The latest rally in the asset also comes after Ethereum developers successfully conducted the third and final test environment network (testnet) for the Merge. The upgrade dubbed ‘Goerli’ is significant since it is considered a dress rehearsal of the Merge.
Ethereum Foundation researcher Ansgar Dietrichs confirmed the latest development in a tweet posted on August 10.
It is worth noting that Ethereum’s transition has repeatedly been delayed, with developers noting that the slow progress allows sufficient time for research, development, and implementation.
The impact of Merge on ETH’s future
Furthermore, crypto players are projecting that the Merge will drive more capital into Ethereum since the upgrade will likely position ETH as a store of value asset.
For instance, Mike Novogratz, the CEO of cryptocurrency investment firm Galaxy Digital, believes that a post-Merge era will drive more capital into the asset.
Elsewhere, Ethereum gains have correlated with the general buying pressure as the market reacted to a drop in the U.S. inflation rate. As reported by Finbold on August 10, the crypto market cap surged from $1.092 trillion up to $1.142 trillion within an hour.
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