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In the Unchained podcast, BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes talked about The Merge – and why Ethereum has real value.
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Arthur Hayes – bullish on The Merge
In Laura Shin’s Unchained Podcast, journalist and BitMex founder Arthur Hayes explains why he changed his mind about Ethereum. He also believes that the ETHPoW fork will fail. Hayes explains: Utility is the main difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin.
Notice
The Crypto Entrepreneur:
“Ethereum is not money… Ethereum has utility… Bitcoin has no utility, it’s just money.”
.@CryptoHayes don’t worry about Ethereum being deflated after Merger or not. Here’s how he thinks it compares to Bitcoin.
🤭 “Ethereum is not money… Ethereum has a use… Bitcoin has no use, it’s just money.” https://t.co/dedGK28pJH pic.twitter.com/MsQslKp5j1— Laura Shin (@laurashin) September 6, 2022
Hayes emphasizes how he didn’t see the value of Ethereum during the original ICO because investors “didn’t get anything useful.” He claims that the lack of scarcity or fixed supply was not compared to what Bitcoin offered. In fact, he wrote at the time that Ethereum was “total dog shit”. A statement he would no longer make today.
The development of dApps built on top of Ethereum and the “Summer of DeFi 2020” helped change Hayes’ views on the value of ETH. To support his change of heart, he describes the Ethereum DeFi revolution as “reconfiguring the way people want to do finance on the internet.”
Additionally, Hayes cites the development of NFTs, ENS domains, TVL DeFi, and social utility as core technologies that will change the landscape of the internet. However, these technologies would take longer to become a “true value driver” for the Ethereum network.
When asked about the possible deflation of Ethereum after The Merge, Hayes replied, “Does that matter on a macro level?” Although he believes it would be better if it went deflationary, it is not critical to success. The “huge reduction in the amount of ETH issued” is more important than signs of deflation, according to Hayes.
Hayes admits he’s still worried The Merge won’t happen. The historic delays and difficulty of the upgrade make Hayes question whether The Merge will actually happen in 2022. He argues: Religion is like the markets. This in turn means that a successful merge is not fully priced in Ethereum.
Referring to Ethereum’s proof-of-work fork, Hayes argues that Ethereum’s value is based on the use cases available to ETH holders. However, the new ETHPow chain will lack real utility as none of the major Ethereum dApps will support it.
Hayes reveals that he is interested in trading ETHPoW when the price is above zero because it is “free money”. It will sell any ETHPoW coins it receives at a “very convenient time.” Maybe that’s as soon as they come out.
As long as ETHPoW tokens cannot be used, Hayes does not expect them to succeed. The lack of node operators, exchanges and active dApps will make the forked chain obsolete.
The entire podcast is available on the Unchained Podcast website.
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Text credit: Cryptoslate
Last updated on September 8, 2022
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