Beyond Shanghai: Ethereum’s future after major update

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Hello reader,

When I first started investing, I did the responsible thing and did my own research.

It may not have been as much research as I should have done, but I did enough of it. But I soon stopped digging too deep while investing in individual stocks because I felt like a lot of research didn’t always seem to work the way I expected it to.

Stock prices often fluctuated in seemingly illogical ways. For example, some negative news about a firm might have been reported over the weekend, and you’d expect its stock price to fall when markets opened – but it would go up instead.

Or in the case of crypto, perhaps a particular token was launching a new feature in its ecosystem. Sounds good right? Except the price would drop the next day.

It’s really difficult to predict the effect of major events on the price of a single stock or token, which is why I stuck with robo advisors. Today’s story explores one such major event for the Ethereum blockchain. Read on to find out what this event – known as the Shanghai upgrade – could mean for Ethereum’s future.

Today we look at:

• The future of Ethereum after the Shanghai upgrade
• An Indian digibank unicorn laying off 47 people for performance-related reasons
• Other newsy highlights such as a Singapore-based company raising a US$10.8 million series B round and Ankiti Bose filing a defamation suit against an angel investor.

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All aboard the roller coaster

Image credit: Timmy Loen

On April 13, the Shanghai upgrade went live on the Ethereum mainnet. Also known as Shapella, the Shanghai upgrade will activate new features for the blockchain, such as the ability to withdraw – or unstake – tokens.

• Open the floodgates: Enabling unstaking means that over 18 million ether – worth roughly US$34.5 billion as of April 11 – is now available to enter the market.
• Prepare to drop: With so much potential movement in the market, volatility is expected, with ether prices certain to drop in the short term. That said, not everyone will be looking to sell off immediately – some users may continue to stake as selling might realize their losses, while others may simply be hoping for another bull run.
• Less flatulence: One of the biggest features of the new upgrade is its reduction in gas fees. This could encourage greater activity on the blockchain and make it more affordable for new users to access non-financial Web3 services.

Read more: Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade: prepare for short-term volatility, prepare for long-term growth

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