We saw some slight signs of recovery on the cryptocurrency markets during the first few days of Q3 2021 as total market capitalisation of the sector rose back to $1.5 trillion. After several weeks of red numbers, the majority of top 100 cryptos finally ended the week in the green again. But what is next? Which cryptocurrencies are poised to continue following the uptrend? You can find three ideas for your potential investments in Week 27 in this article.
1. Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Ethereum Classic emerged through a hard fork of the Ethereum blockchain in 2016 following the controversial debate around how the community should respond to the DAO hack, in which $50 million worth of ETH were stolen. Most of the community voted that the stolen funds should be reimbursed and the chain in which the illicit transaction was reversed lives on as the Ethereum main chain. However, some Ethereum developers and users believed immutability was a crucial aspect of blockchains and that hard forks should not be used to reverse the transactions that happened on the Ethereum blockchain. This camp did not reverse the DAO hack transactions in the hard fork and their chain became known as Ethereum Classic. Widely regarded as the only Ethereum fork of significance, Ethereum Classic maintains the continuity of the Ethereum blockchain using Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm and there are currently no plans to transition to Proof-of-Stake. As opposed to ETH, the total supply of ETC is capped at 210 million ETC.
Ethereum Classic to Undergo Magneto Network Upgrade on July 7
The Ethereum Classic developers have confirmed that Magento Upgrade is coming to the Ethereum Classic Mainnet at block number 13189133, which is estimated to be mines on July 7. The Magento upgrade, which will need to be deployed in the form of a blockchain hard fork, includes four Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP) that were a part of the Ethereum’s Berlin upgrade earlier this year. The EIP’s are aimed at optimizing the network’s security while saving gas at the same time as well as improving the interoperability of the Ethereum Classic network. Beta testing of the upgrade on Ethereum Classic’s testnets began already in June. As no major issues occurred, the Magento is now scheduled to be deployed on the mainnet. Developers warn node operators to upgrade their clients to their Magneto-ready versions. At the moment, Hyperledger Besu v21.1.7 and Core Geth v1.12.2 are Magento-ready, while Magento-compatible version of the Mantis client is still awaiting release.
2. Helium (HNT)
Helium aims to build a decentralized wireless internet infrastructure owned not by telecom conglomerates, but by the people – hence the name “the People’s Network”. Anyone who wishes to contribute to a more connected future can join the decentralized machine network by setting up a wireless network in their city and operating a Helium Hotspot, for which the operators are rewarded in HNT tokens. The People’s Network utilizes two units of exchange: HNT and Data Credits and their circulating supply is determined based on a Burn-and-Mint Equilibrium token model. The Helium blockchain also relies on a special Proof-of-Coverage (PoC) algorithm to verify that Helium hotspots are located where their operators claim.
Helium to Enable HNT Staking and Network Validators Election on July 7
The Helium developers have revealed that the HNT staking process will be activated on Helium mainnet on July 7. In addition to running wireless internet access points and mining HNT, it is now possible to stake HNT and have a chance to get elected to become a validator node and earn HNT rewards. Users will be required to stake 10,000 HNT and have enough technical skills to run a full node to become an independent validator. Nevertheless, users can also stake smaller amounts of HNT through staking providers. Already more than 600 nodes are in operation with a combined total of over 6,000,000 HNT staked. If you wish to join the Helium Mainnet validator community, you can find more information here.
3. Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA) and eCash (XEC)
Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA) is a blockchain that has forked away from both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash ABC emerged after November 2020’s Bitcoin Cash fork triggered by a dispute in the mechanism of funding the blockchain’s development. Bitcoin Cash developer Amaury Sechet advocated for an 8% developer tax on all newly mined Bitcoin Cash coins. Needless to say, the majority of the Bitcoin Cash community did not agree with the tax and Bitcoin Cash ABC turned out as the minority chain of the hard fork.
Bitcoin Cash ABC rebrands to a faster and Proof-of-stake powered eCash
Bitcoin Cash ABS project re-launch as eCash on July 1. The new, rebranded and improved blockchain has an integrated proof-of-stake consensus layer “Avalanche”. In addition to introducing staking, eCash aims to significantly increase the speed of transactions as compared to the old blockcahin. Bitcoin Cash ABS’s users BCHA holdings will be converted to XEC at a ratio of 1 to 1.000.000 once the plan is intiated. At the same time eCash will reduce the number of decimal places down from eight to two. According to eCash lead developer Amaury Sechet, this is because “no other money has eight decimal places” and “cryptocurrencies with a lower unit price also enjoy higher bull market appreciation”. However, in our opinion, it the switch to PoS that is could notably boost the coin’s appreciation. Chinese media outlet Wu Blockchain, noted the project is also planning to integrate EVM-compatibility and facilitate interoperability with the Ethereum’s flourishing DeFi sector. BCHA is dropped by 16% since the rebrand and is currently trading at around $30,00 per coin. The drop pushed BCHA out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies. Will eCash manage to regain the lost value of BCHA?
