Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade, Staking Service Ban, And Super-Bowl-Ads Price Indicator

What happened this week in the crypto space??

GM! This is Mateusz Kara.

And you've just found the best place in the crypto space to know more about the blockchain industry. I'm also giving you updates on my biz.

In Today's edition:

• What is the Ethereum Shangahi Upgrade?
• Why Super Bowl banned crypto ads?
• Will crypto staking be banned in the US?

Sounds interesting? I think so.?

Let's dive deeper into the crypto rabbit hole:

1/ Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade is Coming Soon!?

Ethereum Shanghai is making headlines in the crypto world! Currently, there is over 16 million ETH being staked, with a total worth of over $26 billion. This staked ETH helps keep the network secure, process transactions and store data, but the best part is that it's all locked up. However, that could all change soon as developers have successfully completed the first simulation for withdrawing staked ETH.?

This is a major step forward for investors who have been waiting to unlock billions of ETH.

The next steps for Ethereum Shanghai include testing the withdrawal process on Sepolia and Goerli test networks over the next few weeks. If all goes well, the much-anticipated Shanghai upgrade will go live, and users will finally be able to withdraw their staked ETH.

This upgrade is being hailed as the biggest one for Ethereum since it underwent the Merge last year. With billions of dollars' worth of ETH about to be unlocked, the crypto community is eagerly anticipating what will happen to prices.

Some predict that prices will skyrocket as more people stake their ETH once they know they can unstake it later, leading to less sell pressure and a price increase. Others believe that prices may crash as people rush to sell their unlocked ETH, resulting in more sell pressure and a price decrease. Only time will tell!

My take:

The price depends on the fact if the validators decide to sell or not. Some of them will probably do it as they bought ETH at $4k. However, some of them will hold as ETH is now a deflationary token.?

2/ Super Bowl Bans Crypto Ads?

Last year, the prevalence of crypto ads during the Super Bowl was so noticeable that it was dubbed the "Crypto Bowl," as some of the biggest names in the industry, including FTX, Coinbase, eToro, and Crypto.com, ran flashy commercials to promote cryptocurrency adoption. However, the struggles faced by the crypto ecosystem in recent months, especially the role played by FTX, likely contributed to the decision by Fox to exclude crypto advertisements this year.

According to Mark Evans, Executive Vice President of ad sales for Fox Sports, the only category excluded this year was crypto companies. Two crypto advertisers had commercials "booked and done," and two others were "on the one-yard line," prior to the downfall of FTX. Once the exchange went under, Fox decided to cancel all crypto adverts.

Most Super Bowl ads sold much earlier than usual this year, with more than 90% of the ad inventory bought up before the end of summer. The spots that didn't sell took longer to offload due to the implosion of the crypto space and general advertiser concerns about the global economy.

This year's Super Bowl is the premier annual stage for advertisers, with a 30-second spot costing upwards of $7 million to reach over 100 million viewers. The biggest advertiser this year is Anheuser-Busch, which purchased three minutes of national airtime. Other big advertising categories include packaged food, movie studios and streaming services, automakers, and tech companies.

3/ Will Staking Be Banned in the US??

The crypto industry is facing a potential ban on digital-asset staking in the United States, as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged crypto exchange Kraken for failing to register its staking program as securities. Kraken has ended its staking program and agreed to pay $30 million to settle the charges.

Staking is a feature of proof-of-stake blockchains, such as Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Polygon, and Cosmos. It allows users to earn rewards by using their existing holdings of tokens to verify transactions. This feature is a source of income for many crypto exchanges, as they offer staking services and take a commission fee from rewards earned by users.

The SEC's move has created uncertainty in the market, as it is unclear whether the regulators will only target centralized staking service providers like Kraken or ban staking in any form in the US.

The potential ban could be a huge hit for proof-of-stake blockchains, depending on their decentralization level and how many users are based in the US.

The recent charges brought by the SEC against Kraken and the potential ban on staking are causing a temporary fud in the crypto market. However, it's important to remember that crypto has already died 10 times in the last 2 months, and the fundamentals of the crypto industry remain strong.?

My Take

Despite the temporary FUD caused by the recent charges and potential ban on staking, the crypto industry remains strong and resilient. The fundamentals of the crypto industry are solid and the temporary challenges will not stop its growth and development.

The crypto community will continue to evolve and grow, regardless of the regulators' actions.

ARI10 COMPANY UPDATE ??

The Gateway Product Update

he Ari10 Gateway will soon go through essential product updates.?

What’s coming soon?

• New front-end version?
• New KYC-service provided
• New Blockchain integration
• New KYC threshold (already implemented)

Stay tuned!

Ari10 x Gatenox

We're proud to announce the partnership with gatenox as our KYC provider for onboarding new clients! ??

Delivering seamless and secure KYC for our B2B and B2C customers will be possible through Gatenox technology.

Products such as Ari10 Gateway will benefit the most as all KYC processes there will be more effective. ??

Gatenox is a next-generation company created for Web3 needs and combines the best of decentralized and centralized technologies.

Their solutions allow for increasing the compliance of companies in the market with regulations, which is very important for us.

And that’s all for today. Thanks for your time, investors & Crypto Geckos! ?? ????

Please rate this newsletter with a reaction

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Thanks for your feedback and see you next week!?

Mateusz Kara