Cryptocurrency prices today: Bitcoin below $20,000; ether falls over 8%. Check latest rates
Cryptocurrency prices plunged after the major software upgrade of Ethereum, the most commercially important blockchain in the digital-asset sector. Bitcoin, the world's largest and most popular cryptocurrency was trading more than a per cent lower at $19,736. The global crypto market cap today was above the $1 trillion mark, even as it was down over 3% in the last 24 hours at $1 trillion, as per CoinGecko.
On the other hand, Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain and the second largest cryptocurrency, plunged about 8% at $1,471 after Ethereum's transitioning to proof-of-stake for its consensus protocol, The Merge has been completed after several delays.
The new system will use 99.95% less energy, according to the Ethereum Foundation. The upgrade, which changes how transactions occur and how ether tokens are created, could give Ethereum a major advantage as it seeks to surpass rival blockchain bitcoin.
Ethereum’s revamp makes it vastly more energy efficient and paves the way for it to scale up and become quicker, the network’s developers have said. The move to a so-called proof-of-stake approach from proof-of-work was years in the making and seems to have gone smoothly, though hiccups remain possible.
Bitcoin dropped below the $20,000 level for the first time since Sep 8th as the sentiment around cryptocurrencies remained bearish. The sell-offs occurred as the price broke out of a critical support level of $20,200. On the other hand, Ethereum also slipped below the $1,500 level despite the Merge being a resounding success transitioning from PoW to PoS. However, the Merge may not have any immediate impact on the price action of ETH now as it takes some time for the market participants to digest such significant
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