Ether dropped about 1% Wednesday, ahead of a technical adjustment made to its underlying Ethereum blockchain. This would change the process for transactions.
According to market players, the revamp will be live in most time zones on Thursday, which is a bit later than originally expected.
The upgrade will technically occur after the 12.965,000th block has been verified.
The ethereum network is the foundation of many projects in crypto, including non-fungible tokens, (NFTs), which are crypto assets that represent intangible digital items such as images, videos, or in-game items. It also supports many applications in decentralised finance (DeFi).
Ether has seen a 40% increase in value since the upgrade. This is compared to a low of just 15 days ago. While the token’s value has tripled this year, it is still significantly lower than bitcoin, which is the largest cryptocurrency in the world.
The Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559 (EIP 1559) is an upgrade that will change the way transactions work and give you clearer pricing.
It will also decrease the supply of ether tokens and likely to dramatically increase their price.
The Reuters Global Markets Forum heard this week from Dan Morehead, Chief Executive of Pantera Capital. He stated that the changes will make ether trade more like a fixed investment and more appealing as a store for wealth.
Binance and OKEX, cryptocurrency exchanges, stated earlier this week that the upgrade was expected to take place at 11:55 GMT on August 5.