As we move into Q2, a number of projects are moving ahead with continued development, and this week’s choices are set to benefit from significant updates and announcements that should strengthen their market positions and benefit their communities. The news should also result in increased amounts of attention to each respective currency over the coming weeks.
1. Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is an open-source distributed blockchain that pioneered smart contract functionality. It operates as a decentralized virtual machine which can execute scripts and be used to transfer its native ether token between different nodes. Although ether can be used as a currency, it is more commonly used to execute smart contracts. The Ethereum blockchain also hosts a number of ERC20 tokens such as BNB, MKR, USDC, and TUSD.
Why Ethereum? Berlin Hard Fork Takes Place on April 14
Ethereum Core Developers have confirmed that the Berlin hard fork will take place on April 14 at block height 12,244,000. The network upgrade will be deployed on four test networks before going live on mainnet, and includes four Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). EIP-2565 addresses ModExp Gas Costs, EIP-2929 covers gas cost increases for state access opcodes, EIP-2718 deals with Typed Transaction Envelopes, while EIP-2930 is related to optional access lists. The hard fork is one of many upgrades along the way towards ETH 2.0, and you can read more about the Berlin hard fork here.
2. Filecoin (FIL)
Filecoin is a decentralized file storage network that facilitates markets for storing and accessing data. Filecoin miners earn FIL coins in exchange for storing files reliably. Filecoin users can select between different miners depending on their specific storage needs – for example, a user might want to pay a higher price for more reliable storage. Filecoin is built on top of the IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) protocol for distributed data storage and sharing.
Why Filecoin? Network Upgrade v11 on April 12
Filecoin is another platform undergoing a network upgrade this week, and the Filecoin network will commence an upgrade at epoch 665280 which is estimated to occur or approximately on April 12 at 22:00 UTC. The FIL network will actually go through a hard fork in order to upgrade however, no new tokens will be created, although FIL holders are advised to refrain from making transfers in the hours leading up to the upgrade. Major exchanges such as Binance have already announced their support for the hard fork and will take care of any technical requirements involved for FIL holders. The upgrade incorporates a mandatory release of Lotus that upgrades the network to version 11, and implements FIP-0014, and you can find out more about the network upgrade and hard fork here.
3. Origin Protocol (OGN)
Origin is a platform for building decentralized marketplaces on the blockchain. The platform facilitates the creation of decentralized e-commerce stores, and artist based sales of digital products such as NFTs.
Why Origin Protocol? Lupe Fiasco’s NFT Airdrop on April 12
The team behind Origin Protocol have announced the launch of Lupe Fiasco’s NFT drop on their NFT Launchpad on April 12. Lupe Fiasco is a Grammy award-winning multi-platinum musical artist, and will launch five open edition NFTs. Each NFT will provide admission to a live performance of Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor concert, hosted on Futurestream.tv, and will also include access to a live meet and greet for concert attendees. Holders of the five NFTs will also have access to limited edition merchandise and premium digital content. The airdrop will go live on nft.lupefiasco.com, and you can find out more about the NFT drop on Origin here.
