In the second half of the previous week, growth began for a number of top coins. The native Ethereum token stood out the most, whose quotes at the moment increased by 35%. Apparently, the news about the imminent transition of the network to the Proof-of-Stake mechanism, which has been expected on the market for several years, affected. In the summer, two test networks have already made the transition, and in August this step should be carried out by the last one –

Goerli, while the transformation of the main network is tentatively scheduled for September 19.

Of course, this information guide cannot serve as a foundation for long-term growth, since, firstly, the transition to PoS is not something unexpected, and, secondly, it has already had an impact on the price of ETH. It is believed that the new mechanism will create deflationary pressure, since it will be profitable for an investor to place coins on a special deposit in order to validate transactions and receive passive income. At the moment, 10% of all issued coins (about 13 million ETH) are already on this deposit, and in the conditions of a price drop of more than 70% from peak values, the desire of investors to place coins for a long time without the ability to sell them quickly has noticeably decreased.

On the other hand, hedge funds continue to actively open new positions to buy the dollar as a protective instrument against the background of expectations regarding problems in the global economy. There are no reasons to change this trend in the foreseeable future. In other words, the demand for risky assets is currently at a low level, which means that large-scale purchases in the cryptocurrency market should not be expected. We expect BTC near $20 thousand.