Ethereum could outperform Bitcoin after the launch of spot ETFs in the US. This is according to a new Kaiko report. The launch could happen as soon as July 23. The report focuses on the Ethereum to Bitcoin Price Ratio. This metric measures how much BTC you need to buy one ETH. Right now, it's at 0.05. That's up from 0.045 before the SEC greenlit spot Ether ETFs. Ethereum's 1% market depth is another factor to watch. It's pretty low at the moment. This could lead to higher volatility. But it could also fuel a bull run. The Ethereum Exchange Reserve is at multi-year lows. This metric tracks how much Ether is available on exchanges. Low reserves could signal a supply crunch coming. Institutional demand for Ethereum ETFs might drive prices up. It's a big deal. Eric Balchunas, a Bloomberg ETF analyst, predicts a July launch. He says the SEC asked for amended S-1 forms by July 16. Tom Dunleavy, an institutional investor, has some bold predictions. He told Cointelegraph he expects $10 billion in inflows. That's roughly $1 billion per month. Ethereum's regulatory status has been a hot potato. Is it a commodity or a security? The SEC dropped its investigation into Ethereum in June. Laura Brookover, a Consensys attorney, reckons they did it to save face. The CFTC has thrown its hat in the ring too. Its chairman, Rostin Behnam, argues that ETH is a commodity. He thinks it falls under his agency's jurisdiction. All this buzz is creating a perfect storm for Ethereum. Low liquidity, potential ETF approval, and regulatory clarity could send prices soaring. But as always in crypto, it's anyone's guess. Investors are on the edge of their seats. July 23 could be a game-changer for Ethereum. Will it live up to the hype? Only time will tell.

The TON Application Chain (TAC) is teaming up with Polygon Labs. Their goal? To make the TON ecosystem play nice with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It's a big deal. TAC is building a Layer-2 network for TON. This blockchain is known for its ties to Telegram, the messaging app. Why does TON need this Layer-2 integration? It's simple. They want to tap into Ethereum's massive developer community. The new Layer-2 chain will use Polygon's tech. It'll leverage Polygon CDK and Agglayer, an interoperability protocol. This combo will let EVM-compatible decentralized apps (DApps) run on TAC. Pavel Altukhov, TAC's CEO, spilled the beans to CoinDesk. "We're going with Polygon for a few reasons," he said. "EVM compatibility, easy liquidity access, solid support, and their EVM know-how." What's in it for developers? A lot, actually. They can port their Ethereum-based apps to TAC without breaking a sweat. And they'll get access to Telegram's huge user base. Altukhov's pretty stoked about recent developments. He pointed to USDT's integration on TON and the success of Notcoin, a popular Tap-to-Earn game. The numbers are looking good. TON's got 5.8 million monthly active on-chain wallets on Telegram. That's nothing to sneeze at. Here's a kicker: TON recently beat Ethereum in daily active addresses. On June 3, it hit 568,300 DAAs and it's worth noting that Ethereum - second most popular crypto in the world - hasn't seen those numbers since September 2023. The Layer-2 race is heating up. Coinbase launched Base last August. It's built on the OP Stack and has already locked in over $6 billion. Other players like Blast, Optimism, and Arbitrum are in the mix too. With TON joining the fray, things are bound to get interesting. It's a young man's game, and TON's playing to win.

Ethereum staking has reached a new milestone. Over a third of the total supply is now staked and some experts say it is time to start worrying about network's centralization. Can Ethereum be seen as truly decentralized blockchain if so much of the tokens are in hands of a relatively small group of people, one might ask. Not an easy question by all means. The figure for staking stands at 47.36 million ETH. That's worth about $147 billion at current prices. A whopping figure to say the least. This marks a significant increase from two years ago, when Ethereum finally switched from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, which was supposed to speed the network up and lower the gas fees. Back then, only 10.9% of the supply was staked. Santiment shared these findings on social media platform X. They highlighted the rapid growth in staking participation. "The ETH2 Beacon Deposit Contract, used for staking deposits for Ethereum 2.0, now holds an all-time high 47.36 million ETH," Santiment reported. Staking is a key feature of Ethereum's new consensus mechanism. It allows token holders to earn rewards by validating transactions. Ethereum made the switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in September 2022. This move was a game-changer for the network. The transition brought several benefits. It made Ethereum faster and cheaper to use. It also significantly reduced the network's energy consumption. Another major impact was on ETH issuance. The Ethereum Foundation estimated that daily issuance would drop from 13,000 to 1,600 ETH. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $3,143. It's seen a slight uptick in the last 24 hours. In a separate note, Santiment also ranked crypto gaming projects. They looked at non-redundant daily development activity over 30 days. The top contenders included MultiversX, Decentraland, and Immutable X. Skale and Root Network also made the cut. This surge in staking participation is a big deal for Ethereum. It shows growing confidence in the network's future, but it also raises questions about liquidity and centralization risks. We see blockchain as secure no only because of the cryptography, but because of all the decentalization either. As more ETH gets locked up, it could impact market dynamics. Reduced circulating supply might lead to increased volatility. On the flip side, it could also create upward pressure on prices. With less ETH available to trade, any increase in demand could have a magnified effect. For now, Ethereum's staking experiment seems to be paying off. But as with anything in crypto, it's worth keeping a close eye on how things unfold.

Solana (SOL) is currently in bearish territory. Prices are up at spot rates. The downtrend persists. Bulls need to push prices above $155, then $190, to change this outlook. One analyst on X is bullish on SOL. They predict significant gains in coming months. The analyst sees parallels with Ethereum's 2018 performance. SOL might outperform the broader market. The analyst targets at least $2,800 in the next bull cycle. This forecast is based on SOL's recent price action. Ethereum hit $1,400 in 2018. It then crashed below $100. Solana peaked at $240 in 2021. It later plummeted to $8 in November 2022. FTX's collapse worsened the dump. The analyst noted ETH's sharp rally after its crash. It surged over 20X within 660 days. SOL's retracement depth mirrors ETH's 2018 drop. This similarity fuels the bullish prediction. Several factors drive this optimism. Solana's rising prominence is key. Developers are flocking to the network. Low fees and high scalability are the main draws. Meme coins are booming on Solana. BONK and BOME, worth billions, run on the platform. This trend is boosting Solana's profile. At some point Solana might turn out to be the ultimate place for all the leading meme coins to live, and that's going to be a really big deal. Recent ETF developments are another positive sign. VanEck and 21Shares have applied for spot Solana ETFs. These filings are still early-stage. The SEC will review them rigorously. Hopes are high due to recent spot Ethereum ETF developments, though nobody can tell for sure that this is about to happen with a high level of certainty. If approved, a spot Solana ETF could be a game-changer. It would allow institutional exposure to SOL. This institutional interest could push prices higher. The analyst's $2,800 target suddenly doesn't look so crazy. But as always in crypto, only time will tell.

Celo, the mobile-first blockchain, has taken a big step. It's launched its Dango Layer 2 testnet. This move kicks off Celo's plan to join the Ethereum ecosystem. The decision wasn't made overnight. Celo voters gave the thumbs up last July. They wanted to turn their Layer 1 network into an Ethereum Layer 2 chain. It took eight months to figure things out. In the end, Celo chose Optimism's OP Stack. This tech will power their Layer 2 network. With this choice, Celo joins the "Superchain" club. It's now in the same league as Base, Zora, and Mode. These are all Ethereum Layer 2 networks. What's in it for Celo users? For starters, they can still use USDT and USDC for gas fees. But there's more good news. Bridging tokens between Ethereum and Celo will be a breeze. Speed is another perk. Celo claims transactions will be zippier. They're talking about a 50% boost in throughput. Block time will drop from 5 seconds to 2 seconds. Marek Olszewski, CTO at cLabs, shared his two cents. "For most EVM-compatible chains, it's increasingly hard to justify a standalone positioning," he told The Block last year. "Ethereum's scaling roadmap is proving itself." The Celo team isn't wasting time. They're eyeing a mainnet launch in "early winter 2024". This move shows Celo's willingness to adapt. It's betting on Ethereum's growing dominance in the blockchain space. Will this gamble pay off? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure - Celo's not sitting on its hands.