2022 Q1 Survey Reveals Over Half of South Africans Know Little or Nothing About Cryptocurrency

In many countries, years of ultralow interest rates coupled with the government stimulus unleashed during the pandemic sent cash flows into riskier investments, like tech stocks and crypto. Now some of those initiatives are winding down, and the potential for inflation to weigh on economic growth has many exploring safer investments than they'd gone for in the past.

Over the years, cryptocurrencies have become a viable way of conducting transactions anytime and anywhere. This is possible through users' ability to transact with each other directly without any intermediaries. Based on the value of their virtual money, cryptocurrencies are also referred to as money. South Africans use cryptocurrencies, but many still don't know much about them. The cryptocurrency space has been left to develop organically in South Africa, with no clear-cut awareness to encourage maximum adoption.

The Merchant Consumer Survey revealed that 53% of South African participants knew little about cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, nearly half of respondents said they would be more open to the cryptocurrency space if local banks offered such services. The report noted a considerable growth opportunity for crypto trading platforms on the African Continent. In South Africa, local exchanges lead the way, in stark contrast to the rest of the continent, where global exchanges lead in market share.

According to the report from Merchant, a global telemarketing firm:

• Only 14% of South Africans have any significant knowledge of the cryptocurrency industry.
• 23% of participants remained neutral.
• The vast majority (53%) said they had limited or no knowledge of the matter.
• 18-24-year-olds have higher literacy rates than any other demographic group, including 25-42-year-olds.

The survey also noted that cryptocurrency adoption in South Africa could be boosted if domestic banks embrace the asset class and offer educational programs to users.

Due to technological advancement, cryptocurrency is being used to a certain extent in South Africa. Businesses can accept and pay their employees using cryptocurrency without affecting their current cash flow. Additionally, some South Africans use cryptocurrency as a hedge against inflation. By purchasing cryptocurrencies when prices are low and selling them when prices rise, users earn more money than they spent on their investments. Through this strategy, they become financially independent from traditional banks that charge high-interest rates on loans.

“There is a real opportunity for banks to get involved in cryptocurrency as it begins to really take off on the continent, rather than waiting until it is more established – by when consumers are likely to have a preferred platform or partner who they have built that trust with.”

– Group CRO, Merchants

Another recent report by Bitget Exchange, Boston Consulting Group, and Foresight Ventures found that South Africa has the continent’s most significant cryptocurrency market, as evidenced by its more advanced financial infrastructure and fiat-to-crypto payment rails.

Source: BCG, Bitget and Foresight Ventures Report File

The report noted a considerable growth opportunity for crypto trading platforms on the African Continent.

On-platform exchange services, such as Coinbase and Gemini, have been less competitive in the African market. However, with few existing exchanges offering access to fiat currencies or local payment methods, it might be challenging for them to thrive in that market.

In Summary 

Despite the benefits that cryptocurrencies offer users, including lower transaction fees, increased financial security, and uncomplicated business operations, few people know much about them in South Africa at present. As awareness rises among local users, more will start investing in cryptocurrency and allowing themselves greater economic freedom over time.

Cryptocurrency transactions help to remove the procedural bottlenecks that plague traditional banking and financial services. Fearing a collapse of the banking industry or arbitrary appropriation of money by the government, Africans who live in politically unstable countries could be attracted to cryptocurrency.

Generally, it is expected that there will be an increase in cryptocurrency awareness amongst users in Sub-Saharan Africa over the coming years. This would drive the adoption of cryptocurrencies within the region.

Five Institutions Trying To Wipe Out The Crypto Industry 

As cryptocurrency adoption continues, the opposition from institutions that control and benefit from the corrupt financial system that cryptocurrency is in the process of replacing also continues. These powerful institutions have significantly increased their efforts to bring down the crypto sector specifically. 

Below are five organizations that have been working hard to regulate, restrict, subvert, and tear down the crypto industry for the last few years, and it's time to call them out by name. So, how are they trying to do it? Will they succeed? And what will it mean for cryptocurrency?

1: The Bank for International Settlements

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is the first institution trying to destroy crypto. This is the self-described bank for central banks. The BIS is based in Basel, Switzerland, and is owned by the 63 central banks that make up its membership. The BIS was founded way back in 1930 and is technically the oldest International financial institution in existence. 

Interestingly, the BIS was supposed to be disbanded in 1944 as part of the Bretton Woods Conference, but it hasn’t happened yet. On its **website, the BIS says this is because the financial elite at Bretton Woods didn't believe the BIS would play a useful role once the IMF and the World Bank had been established. 

**Image source: BIS website

Curiously, however, a memoir by one of the economists present at the Bretton Woods Conference revealed that the institution's intended dissolution was because the BIS had allegedly assisted the Nazis in taking gold and other assets from occupied countries. This was proven true in 2013 when the Bank of England declassified documents about how it helped the BIS and the Nazis take gold from Czechoslovakia. 

Despite this history, the BIS was never disbanded, partly due to influential economists like John Maynard Keynes. Keynes is famous for pioneering so-called demand-side economics; it’s the theory that the demand for goods and services is what causes economic growth and inflation, fundamentally; a view popular with many Central Bankers.

Today, the BIS has undertaken a similarly disturbing role, and that's to assist central banks in developing their respective Central Bank Digital Currencies, or CBDCs. This financial system will give the central banks the power to decide what you can buy, when you can buy it, where you can buy it, how much money you can spend, and even how much you can save. In the words of BIS manager Agustin Carstens, “The central bank will have absolute control…” and “…will have the technology to enforce that control.” 

Image source: Twitter 

Not surprisingly, the BIS is opposed to cryptocurrencies of all kinds, especially stablecoins. This is because cryptocurrency undermines the total control of the currency that its associated central banks are explicitly trying to achieve with their CBDCs, which are essentially direct competitors to stablecoins.

The BIS’s anti-crypto activities have been limited to reports about why cryptocurrencies are bad and why CBDCs are better, as detailed in this article and clearly shows that nobody is buying what they’re selling. Many are skeptical and can see through their agenda; still, the BIS has undoubtedly an incredible amount of influence given its history and the advocacy of central bankers worldwide. 

2: The Financial Action Task Force

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international organization based in Paris, France, is the second institution trying to stymie crypto. It consists of 40 countries and dozens of other international organizations, including the IMF and World Bank. The FATF was founded in 1989 and was initially established to combat money laundering worldwide. 

Its mandate has since expanded to include anything threatening the system's integrity. It achieves this by issuing so-called recommendations about the kinds of financial regulations that countries should implement. The FATF drafted its first set of 40 recommendations one year after it was founded. 

The most infamous of these recommendations is the so-called travel rule, which requires financial institutions to collect detailed information about anyone sending or receiving more than a certain amount of money, usually around $1000. Although the FATF doesn't have the power to write national laws, any countries that fail to comply with its recommendations often find themselves on its grey list or, worse, its black list. 

Being on the former makes it difficult to interact with the Global Financial System, and being on the latter makes it impossible. That's why more than 200 countries have chosen to comply with the FATF's recommendations. 

Now, if you're wondering who writes the FATF’s recommendations, the answer is nobody really knows. That's because the FATF consists of unelected officials who hold meetings behind closed doors, where they decide what recommendations to pass and which countries land on which list. 

Image source: Islamabad Post

The FATF officials are also effectively “above the law,” thanks to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities passed in 1961. Under the Vienna Convention, folks like FATF officials cannot be arrested or detained, they cannot be charged with a criminal or civil crime, and they do not have to pay taxes. FATF officials are also not subject to pandemic travel restrictions. 

While it's not precisely clear who decides what the FATF does, it's clear that it has strong connections to the United States, specifically, the United States Treasury Department. As recently as 2018-2019, Treasury served as President of the FATF, and two of the three lead authors of the finalized recommendations for cryptocurrency were from the Treasury Department. The document notes that the United States is the primary driver behind compliance with the FATF's recommendations. 
 
This may explain why the United States isn't on the FATF’s grey list or black list even though up to 40% of all money laundering happens in the USA and why the countries that do end up on the FATF's gray and black lists tend to be at odds with the interests of the United States. 

Given these facts, it looks like the FATF is another financial weapon the United States occasionally uses against its enemies, and it's a weapon that's being used against cryptocurrency as well.  

Having said that, the FATF doesn't actually want to ban cryptocurrency; it just wants no more peer-to-peer transactions and no more privacy and hopes to achieve this by labeling any technology or activity related to these two as high risk. In other words, the FATF wants to turn crypto into another arm of the existing financial system, which the United States, of course, controls. 

However, countries and indeed crypto firms are reticent and slow on the uptake of its crypto recommendations, and it looks like there are a few which might not implement the crypto regulations the FATF wants to impose. This might have to do with the fact that its recommendations don't work in combating illicit Finance. 

The FATF's own statistics suggest it hasn't made a dent in dark money in over 30 years. If this non-compliance by countries continues, it will be difficult for the fat F to achieve its goal in time. After all, if crypto adoption reaches a Tipping Point, it will be impossible for politicians to pass the crypto regulations the FATF wants to see because the people will vote against such politicians. 

It's also possible that by the time compliance starts, the financial system will have fragmented to such an extent that the FATF no longer has any influence. The unprecedented sanctions against Russia have accelerated this fragmentation. 

3: The International Monetary Fund – The World Bank

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are the third institutions trying to cancel out crypto. The IMF was created as part of the Bretton Woods agreement mentioned above in 1944. The Bretton Woods agreement is where the world decided to make the US dollar the world's reserve currency. More accurately, it's where the world decided that the other currencies would be pegged to the US dollar at a fixed exchange rate, and the US dollar would, in turn, be backed by physical gold. 

The IMF's initial job was to ensure the exchange rates between other currencies and the US dollar remained stable. But after the US dollar officially stopped being backed by gold in 1971, the IMF turned its focus to financial stability worldwide. The IMF achieves this financial stability by issuing loans to countries in crisis to ensure that the situation the country is facing doesn't become an international crisis. 

These loans are known for including all sorts of terms and conditions that benefit certain institutions. Whereas the IMF issues loans, the World Bank provides longer-term financial and technical support to developing countries. You can think of the World Bank as the “unofficial” other half of the IMF, as it was also created as part of the Bretton Woods conference. 

It’s clear that the IMF is firmly aligned with the interests of the United States, simply because the USA has the most voting power of the IMF's 190 member countries. Arguably, the IMF's hatred of cryptocurrency has mostly to do with BTC. That's because Bitcoin is starting to be adopted as legal tender by the kinds of developing countries the IMF is trying to control, notably El Salvador and the Central African Republic. 

Image source: Cointelegraph

This is why the IMF included a clause in its debt deal with Argentina to discourage cryptocurrency adoption. Something that I'm sure is going to become more common as more countries start adopting crypto and BTC in particular. By the way, the clause didn't work, as Argentinians are still adopting BTC and stablecoins to protect themselves from inflation. 

The IMF's report about the decline of the US dollar stated that the IMF knows that central banks around the world are slowly ditching the greenback in favor of alternative currencies and why it's possible other countries could adopt BTC. 

Case in point, the chairman of the Central Bank of Switzerland recently noted that it could hold BTC on its balance sheet once it becomes big enough. At that point, it's only a small step to legal tender status. It's safe to say this is something the IMF doesn't want to see in any developed countries, which is why the institution has seemingly focused its attacks on BTC.

Lately, these attacks have centered around Bitcoin’s energy use, with the IMF claiming CBDCs are superior because they use less energy. What the IMF won't tell you is that Bitcoin’s energy use is negligible in the grand scheme of things. 

4: Wall Street

The fourth institution trying to invalidate crypto is Wall Street, which is more of a collection of established financial institutions rather than a single entity. As almost everyone around the world knows, Wall Street’s power is truly unprecedented, and most of this power resides in a handful of asset managers like BlackRock and Vanguard and mega banks like JPMorgan and Bank of America. 

Notably, the only reason why these asset managers and banks were able to become so prominent is that they're pretty much first in line at the Federal Reserve money printer. They also have unbelievable influence over politics and regulations in the United States and elsewhere.

You may recall that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegedly destroyed documents about the 2008 financial crisis when it was supposed to investigate the asset managers and big banks that caused it. 

A 2012 article from The Huffington Post also notes that Wall Street spent more money on lobbying than any other industry between 1998 and 2011. A spending streak that has now been overshadowed by big tech giants like Meta and mega-corporations like Amazon, which are now the biggest lobbyists. 

The IMF even published a paper in 2019 about the regulatory capture of bank lobbying and how it led to the global financial crisis. While the authors argued that regulations resolved these issues, I think it's apparent to the average person that Wall Street has only become more powerful. 

Like the central banks at the BIS, the asset managers and banks on Wall Street do not want to be replaced by cryptocurrency, which is why most of them have historically been anti-crypto. The thing is that the asset managers and banks on Wall Street also don't want to be replaced by Central Bank Digital Currencies either, and these are quickly becoming a more significant threat than crypto. 

Image source: Markets Insider

It’s already been determined that they would effectively cut commercial banks out of the equation. Even though the CBDC Systems proposed by central banks often include commercial banks at the front end, the BIS and its central banks have admitted in multiple reports that it would be next to impossible for commercial banks to remain profitable under such a system. 

Furthermore, the roles asset managers and banks play could easily be filled by companies in the financial technology sector, such as Revolut and PayPal. It's even possible that crypto companies like ConsenSys could play this role. 

Now this leaves only one option for the asset managers and banks: to take control of the crypto industry and leverage its technology to ensure they remain profitable and ideally leverage it to the point that they can continue to compete with fintech companies. So, how can asset managers and banks take control of the crypto industry?

Well, besides investing heavily in centralized projects with close ties to their constituents, asset managers and banks are also trying to control crypto by forcing it to comply with their ESG agenda, which stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance; in other words, total control. 

The inability to control Bitcoin under this framework is ultimately why Wall Street dislikes Proof-of-work. On the other hand, the Proof-of-stake protocol allows them to procure a controlling stake in any crypto project since they have the capital. 

A scary scenario is that they will be able to implement whatever rules they see fit. If everyone ends up using Proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, the asset managers and mega banks would finally have total control of the financial system, eliminating governance, politicians, and their accountability. 

I think it’s fair to say many crypto companies would oppose such a takeover from the privileged few, but it's essential to be aware of the game being played and the influential people sitting at the table.

5: The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is the fifth institution trying to eradicate crypto. A non-governmental organization or NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland. Klaus Schwab founded the WEF in 1971, and he has served as its executive chairman ever since. 

 As its website states, the WEF’s purpose is to “ shape global, regional and industry agendas. The WEF has the power to do this because it consists of over 4,000 of the world's most influential individuals and institutions, including all the ones mentioned in this article. 

In a previous article, I explain its plans for the world, and they are intensely at odds with the average person. It has astonishing ideas such as “you’ll own nothing and be happy,” which comes directly from the technocratic brain of Klaus Schwab himself. 

The WEF is where ESG standards were established. The recent annual meeting in Davos included a few crypto companies and personnel and a series of panel discussions about crypto-related topics. Seemingly, the WEF had cryptocurrency on its radar since 2013, when crypto bull runs started to occur. However, the WEF isn't all that interested in cryptocurrency per se. Its interest is in the powerful technology that cryptocurrencies use. 

A historical example is the WEF’s Tipping Points Report from 2015, highlighting Smart contracts as a point of interest. Note that this report was published not long after Ethereum was created. A more recent example is this year's Davos meeting, where the Metaverse was almost as big a topic as ESG, with multiple discussions and articles produced by the WEF. 

What the WEF wants is to use technology, like Blockchain, Smart contracts, and the Metaverse, to create the dystopia its constituents want. Regarding the Blockchain, the WEF wants to use it for digital ID, social credit scores, and tracking everything and everyone. Also, tokenizing real-world assets so that their ownership can be controlled and engaging in “stakeholder capitalism via proof of stake consensus mechanisms.” 

If you're wondering who the stakeholders will be, Klaus has stated in many interviews and speeches that he created the WEF so that stakeholders could gather. Let that sink in. 

Image Source: World Economic Forum

Now, when it comes to Smart contracts, the WEF wants to use them for things like automated censorship to prevent the purchase of specific goods and services and to create the kinds of incentive structures the WEF wants to see—for example, artificially increasing meat prices to decrease meat consumption.  

When it comes to the Metaverse, the WEF wants to use it to limit population growth, pacify people in developing countries, and in the words of Schwab's closest advisor, Yuval Noah Harari, “…to give all the useless people something to do.” 

Image source: Mind Matters

The 99% Wake Up And Withstand

Fortunately, the world is starting to wake up to what the WEF is trying to do with cryptocurrency and other technologies intended to free rather than enslave the average person. There's no shortage of individuals and institutions starting to push back, including from the world of crypto and the next giants in social and market media, where freedom, liberty, financial sovereignty, and the entrepreneurial spirit are paramount. 

The few that think they have the right to control every living soul are trying their best to extinguish the entrepreneur and oppress their spirit.  A path to self-sovereignty is here with Markethive and brings a whole new level to empower people. Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of liberty and freedom; liberty and freedom are a gift from God. In today’s world, Markethive is a blessing and unrivaled by any other platform out there today.

Reference: Coinbureau.com

Tornado Cash Whirlwind: Fed Prohibits U.S. Citizens From Using the Service.

Cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash has been blacklisted in the U.S. Now, this has created a whirlwind in the crypto community. It is essential to understand exactly what's happening here as it will have important implications for the industry. However, this is not the first time the U.S. government has imposed a ban on crypto-related companies.

Tornado Cash's blacklisting sparks outrage in the crypto community as the U.S. Treasury sanctions the Ethereum hybrid protocol. The developers working on Tornado Cash and the log itself have been removed from the popular code hosting site Github. Vitalik Buterin has publicly admitted that he used the protocol in good faith, and his supporters have condemned censorship as unconstitutional. At the same time, someone started sending illicit Ethereum from Tornado Cash to a range of celebrities, from Jimmy Fallon to Jake Paul.

Tornado Cash is a firm that allows customers to conceal the origin of their cryptocurrency transactions. The U.S. Treasury Department has banned all Americans from using the website because it played a crucial role in laundering billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies. It is one of the main tools hackers use, most notably the $625 million breach of Axie Infinity's Ronin network by North Korea's Lazarus Group in March.

Before I go further, let's dive into the ecosystem of Tornado Cash to understand what the network is about and its functionalities.

Image source: Moralis Academy

What is Tornado Cash?

The blockchain transactions of Ethereum and Bitcoin, the two largest cryptocurrencies in the world today, are fully public and visible. Thanks to this high level of transparency, almost anyone can use their public address to track users' spending behavior. If they wish to disclose their transaction history, they only need user data for a single transaction that occurred.

Of course, the anonymous nature of public addresses doesn't necessarily mean they know users' personal information. Still, this leaves a lot to be desired for more privacy-conscious crypto users. Various privacy-conscious solutions and protocols have been developed to address the "problem" of transparent pseudonyms, but arguably none have been more successful than transaction mixers.

Transaction mixers essentially pool the funds of multiple users with their transactions: before each transaction reaches its intended destination, it is "shuffled." Once this shuffling process happens, it's complicated for anyone to track whose money went where and how much.

In practical use of transaction mixers, the developed protocol increases transaction anonymity by sending numerous random transactions across multiple addresses. However, these transactions can still be tracked in the public ledger, so this is not an entirely successful solution.

Tornado Cash aims to solve the privacy issues of transparent blockchains through private transactions. A fully decentralized, custody-free protocol increases transaction privacy by breaking the chain connection between sender and receiver addresses. To improve privacy, Tornado Cash uses smart contracts to accept ETH and other tokens from one address and allow them to be withdrawn at another.

These smart contracts work as a package, mixing all the deposited funds and generating a private key to prove that you have completed the deposit process. The sender can then use this private key to withdraw the deposited funds to any address at their chosen time. Tornado Cash has grown in popularity due to the rise of cryptocurrency events. It has also become a place to store stolen funds and a haven for many hackers.

Feds Blacklist Tornado Cash

The U.S. Treasury has added Ethereum mixing service to its list of Specially Designated Nationals. In a Press Release published by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the body added the Tornado Cash website and a long list of Ethereum addresses to its list of Specially Designated Nationals and banned U.S. citizens from using the tool or doing business with the firm.

The announcement added that the state-backed North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group used Tornado Cash to launder more than $96 million after it hacked Harmony Bridge in June. It also said criminals used Tornado Cash to launder money, with $7.8 million stolen in the Nomad Bridge hack.

The Treasury Department's announcement lists some Ethereum addresses related to the Tornado Cash community, including addresses where people can donate money. According to Nansen researcher Andrew Thurman, the list of blocked addresses includes addresses that received funds from Gitcoin, an Ethereum-based platform used to fund open-source projects.

The Treasury Department said the measure was taken because criminals used Tornado Cash to launder money. In April, Tornado Cash said it used a tool from blockchain tracking firm Chainalysis to block U.S. government-approved addresses from using privacy apps. This is not good enough for the U.S. authorities. Brian E. Nelson, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, added:

"Despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular basis and without basic measures to address its risks."

Ethereum is the network behind the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with thousands of tokens running on its blockchain. The native token ETH is trading at just under $1,897 and has a market cap of over $219 billion at the time of this writing.

As a result of this ban, all U.S. individuals and entities are prohibited from interacting with Tornado Cash or any Ethereum wallet addresses associated with the protocol. Anyone who does so faces criminal penalties.

Tornado Cash announced in July that it had fully open-sourced its user interface code as part of its goal of complete decentralization and transparency. Mixer's website includes a compliance tool that allows users to view the source of each transaction.

Image source: Coindesk

Sanctions may not prevent the operation of Tornado Cash itself. Co-founder Roman Semenov explained that the privacy service is designed to work without central control. When he and his team write and release code, the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) must approve any changes.

He told CoinDesk:

"If the DAO doesn't like what we are doing, then we will be forced to change our approach, and we cannot do it in a way that would satisfy the DAO's demands or expectations… The DAO has no way of forcing us to make those changes because our code base runs on a decentralized network where we don't have to talk to anyone else or ask for permission."

Is the U.S. Government in a Crypto War?

Given the ensuing avalanche of blacklists, does that mean Tornado Cash will only be used by criminals to launder money? Due to the transparency inherent in the blockchain, Tornado Cash offers many other less "illegal" use cases that are common when using traditional fiat currencies.

Recently, defenders of Tornado Cash have launched their offensive against the decision in various ways. First, they drew attention to a glaring logical flaw in the decision: anyone interacting with the Tornado Cash contract was illegal. Individual users cannot reject incoming transactions. Small amounts of cryptocurrency have been sent to well-known public wallet addresses – including those associated with Jimmy Fallon and Shaquille O'Neal – a concern that challenges the Treasury to take action to seize the entire Community.

Congress is deliberating a measure that permits the U.S. Treasury broad authority to prohibit or freeze certain digital assets, particularly if they relate to foreign banking institutions, transactions or if one or more types of accounts are of primary money laundering concern.

But the decision has drawn backlash from many in the crypto community, who see it as a government offense that runs counter to its core values ​​of privacy and autonomy. Crypto attorney Collins Belton tweeted:

"arguably the most significant legal action that has occurred in crypto" and warned that it could produce "absolutely gargantuan ripple effects."

However, this action also suggests that OFAC sanctions, which are intended to more broadly push the introduction of cryptocurrencies into the world's financial system as a way to make payments without going through a trusted third-party financial institution should ultimately bypass it.

A bigger fight may be on the horizon: some prominent crypto lawyers have already begun to float the idea of ​​challenging the decision on constitutional grounds. "Banning software publication is banning speech," said Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, at a cryptocurrency conference in Las Vegas.

He also said:

"Even laws that unreasonably chill speech are constitutionally suspect and can be challenged even before enforcement."

The sanctions were particularly notable because they were placed not on a person or particular digital wallet address but on the use of a smart contract protocol, which in the most basic form is just information. The precedent set by these actions is not favorable for open source software development in the sector.

Bottom Line

The Feds’ actions shocked the crypto community just as it was starting to relax and enjoy a summer rally led by Ethereum and the promise of its coming upgrade, The Merge.

The news that the U.S. Treasury Department has banned all Americans from using Tornado Cash crypto-mixing service or any Ethereum wallet addresses tied to the protocol after North Korean hackers allegedly used it to launder stolen crypto funds has once again heightened doubts on the stability of the whole sector.

This news highlights the cryptocurrency market's fragility and the regulators' ability to crack down on service providers for various reasons, particularly national security. While general market conditions appear to be slightly improving, despite contrasting economic data, this news casts a shadow over the cryptocurrency market. It may discourage further investments from people fearing their coin may be the next one to be targeted.

Ethereum 2.0 and the Merge: What You Need to Know About the Transition.

The Ethereum Merge has been one of the hottest topics in the cryptocurrency community lately. In this article, you will get to know about it and when Ethereum 2.0 will appear. Ethereum, the most popular altcoin and second most traded cryptocurrency, is planning a major software update that could affect your crypto investments.

After years of being the #1 smart contract blockchain, Ethereum is transitioning to a less energy-intensive technology. You may have heard of the planned update for Ethereum 2.0 or Eth 2.0, but the Ethereum Foundation is now calling it the Ethereum merger.

The move is expected to reduce Ethereum's power consumption by 99% while reducing the net issuance of the asset. Many expect the issuance of ETH to be a net negative, earning it the nickname "ultrasound currency."

The following focuses on the details of the merger, some brief technical details, and a timeline, and debunks some of the most common misconceptions.

What is The Merge?

As mentioned above, "The Merge" describes Ethereum's transition from a proof-of-work consensus algorithm to a proof-of-stake algorithm.

Ethereum gives a precise definition of the term here:

"The Merge represents the joining of the existing execution layer of Ethereum (the mainnet we use today) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer – the Beacon Chain."

Source: Ethereum.org

This is to handle the energy-intensive mining process while securing the network with staked ETH. The move aims to ensure greater security, sustainability, and scalability for the Ethereum network.

Let's dig deeper into the technical aspects for greater clarity and understanding.

Beacon Chain: ETH 2.0 Processing Engine

The Beacon Chain is the important feature of the Ethereum 2.0 architecture. It exists and operates in parallel as an independent blockchain of the Ethereum network. It does not process transactions on the main network but achieves consensus on its own. This is done by agreeing on active checkers and their account balances.

Unlike the Ethereum network, which still operates through proof-of-work, the signal chain is powered by a consensus algorithm. It was developed on December 1, 2020.

In short, the Beacon Chain has so far served as the de facto testnet for Ethereum 2.0, but all of this will change with the merger.

As shown in the diagram above, the merger represents the moment when two systems (Ethereum mainnet currently running on PoW and the beacon chain running on PoS) come together. This merge will replace the PoW consensus algorithm with Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

This holds up some substantial implications for the network, but the crucial considerations include:

• No history will be lost
• Funds are safe
• No more mining of ETH

When Will the Merge Happen?

It's worth noting that Ethereum 2.0 has been in development for years, and the exact date of the "merger" always looks like something might happen in the not-too-distant future.

All of the delays ended on July 14, 2022, when a member of the Ethereum Foundation shared a timeline showing what came to be known as a "soft" timetable for the merger.

The Superphiz timeline shared on Twitter includes a specific client release date and the so-called The Merge date. Despite the date, Superphiz also stated that "this merger timeline is not final," The developer stressed that people should "consider it as a planning timeline, and keep an eye out for any official announcements. The call, titled "PoS Implementers' Conference Call" Document #91 – 2022-07-14" states that the "proposed" timeline for discussion is as follows:

• Goerli/Prater client releases 27th or 28th of July.
• Announce 28th/29th.
• Prater Bellatrix on the 8th of August
• Goerli Merge on the 11th.
• ACD 18th August plan mainnet Merge:
• Bellatrix early September;
• Merge two weeks later (week of Sept 19th).

As shown above, the merger is scheduled to take place on September 19, 2022, barring unforeseen events, including "the Goerli merger won't blow up." That date is not set in stone, though; delays may occur if complications arise.

Get Ready for The Merge?

This is one of the most significant events in the entire history of the cryptocurrency industry, so many bad actors will likely try to take advantage of it and scam innocent people.

Hence, it is essential to know that ETH users and holders do not need to do anything with their funds or wallets before merging.

The entire history of Ethereum – dating back to its creation, will remain unchanged and intact after the transition to PoS. Even after the merger, all funds in the wallet will still be accessible, and there is no need to upgrade on behalf of users and holders. 

Moreover, as part of the preparation for regular traders, it’s imperative to know that you are not expected to take any action for the upgrade. Beware of scammers who would want to rip you off your coins.

Ethereum Network After the Merge

One of the major promises of Ethereum 2.0 is that of scalability, and Vitalik Buterin claimed that the network would be able to process 100,000 transactions per second. However, The Merge is just the first stage of five from the protocol’s incoming development. These phases will see ETH 2.0 evolve into a full-fledged platform capable of handling millions of daily users.

It means there will be many more potential uses for the cryptocurrency than just smart contracts, like an app store or even gambling sites. If the Ethereum developers want ETH 2.0 to become one of the significant blockchains used worldwide, they need to ensure that the tech is scalable enough to handle all the projects on their roadmap.

The five developmental stages are as follows:

The Merge
This is the proof-of-work to proof-of-stake conversion discussed hereafter, merging Ethereum's current mainnet with the beacon chain.

The Surge
At this stage, this is what sharding brings to the protocol. A scaling solution divides the network into separate partitions called "shards" to spread workloads across the main network.

The Verge
This phase refers to the introduction of the so-called "Verkle tree." It includes an upgrade to Merkle Proofs designed to optimize data storage for Ethereum nodes.

The Purge 
Also, this upgrade affects validator data storage and reduces the disk space required by validators, optimizing network congestion.

The Splurge
This is the last upgrade in the pipeline and is intended to provide various progress updates to ensure the network's overall smooth operation.

Misconceptions About the ETH 2.0

As with all highly anticipated major events, the cryptocurrency community has had many common misconceptions floating around for some time now. Below are five of the most common.

It needs to stake 32 ETH to run a node
There are two kinds of nodes on the Ethereum network – the ones that can propose blocks and those that cannot. Those not required to commit ETH do not propose blocks, but they are also an integral part of network security, as they hold all block proposers accountable.

Gas fees will be reduced after the merger
The merger will change the general consensus algorithm and will not increase network capacity – and, therefore, will not result in lower gas tariffs. However, scaling solutions are being developed to do this, most of which are layer 2.

Transaction speed will be greatly improved
Transaction speeds on the merged mainnet will remain relatively unchanged, albeit with some minor changes.

Consolidation will cause downtime for the entire network
Merge upgrades are designed to avoid downtime. The network should always behave as expected except for minor issues, which are usual with software installation.

All staked ETH will be withdrawn after the transition
Validators leaving the network are rate limited. This is for security reasons. There is a limit to allow withdrawals of around 43,200 ETH per day. As of this writing, more than 13 million ETH has been staked in ETH 2.0.

Summary 

All in all, The Merge is undoubtedly one of the most important moments in the history of cryptocurrencies, as one of the greatest protocols is about to undergo a huge change. Now that the timetable is in place, all of this has been tightened considerably, albeit "softly." However, there are still many details we don't know yet, and no doubt they will be revealed in due course, so it's best not to get too excited or nervous yet.