John Rudden

Maker Raises Staked Ethereum Limit to Reduce Reliance on USDC

Maker, the DeFi protocol behind the DAI stablecoin, announced that it has doubled its debt ceiling on its staked Ethereum (stETH) vault. The world’s largest decentralized-finance app, Maker is working to reduce its reliance on centralized stablecoins such as Centre’s USD Coin (USDC)—especially after the mid-August Tornado Cash scandal. Staked Ethereum is a crypto token representing one unit of Ethereum that has been deposited or locked up in anticipation of the merge, the network’s upcoming upgr

CME is host to Bitcoin and Ethereum futures products. Image: Shutterstock

Leading Derivatives Exchange CME Group Launches Ethereum Options

CME Group, a leading derivatives exchange, has announced plans to roll out Ethereum options contracts. Options and futures are types of derivative products that give traders another way to speculate on a particular asset. Futures contracts force holders to buy or sell an asset on a specific date; options contracts provide the same function but don’t force the holder to buy or sell (just the option to do so). Ethereum options, therefore, give investors the ability to buy or sell the second-large

How Will the Ethereum Merge Affect Bitcoin's Image?

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin said on Tuesday that the Ethereum merge is on target to happen "around" September 13 to September 15. That's when the world’s second largest cryptocurrency will jettison its energy-intensive proof-of-work consensus mechanism. How will that shift affect Bitcoin, which still stands alone atop the crypto market and still uses proof of work? Shifting sands The merge is only the latest Ethereum blockchain upgrade aimed at creating a reliable decentralized ecosystem

How Ethereum Miners Plan to Pivot After the Merge

Mining infrastructure companies Hive Blockchain and Hut 8 Mining Corp. today released notices that detail how their businesses plan to pivot away from Ethereum mining. As the mid-September window for the Ethereum merge draws closer, the final days of proof-of-work mining on Ethereum are here. The merge upgrade will transition Ethereum to a proof-of-stake system, which is forcing miners to rethink their business models. Hive, a publicly traded company, plans to explore other blockchains to contin

DeFi Speculators Awaiting Arbitrum Token Flock to GMX

Arbitrum, one of the most popular Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solutions, successfully launched its Nitro upgrade this past week. Although the release brought many significant improvements, a native Arbitrum token was not one of them. As investors wait for Arbitrum to launch its own token, perpetual futures exchange GMX—one of a few native projects built on Arbitrum—has meanwhile become a popular DeFi trading exchange. Arbitrum is based on what is known as an "optimistic rollup," a type of data comp

Bitcoin and Ethereum. Image: Shutterstock

Bitcoin, Ethereum Funding Rates Remain Negative Amid Market Volatility

The funding rates for Bitcoin and Ethereum, the leading cryptocurrencies by market cap, remain negative for derivative traders, suggesting a potential short-term bull signal. The Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate hikes and plans for future tightening of policy have placed increased pressure on markets across the globe. This past Friday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated his intent to counter inflation with higher interest rates in the near future. Markets reacted sharply to

Coin Prices