The analyst stated that market optimism had been considerably raised by the excitement surrounding the Ethereum Merge and its intense price action with Capriole Fund founder Charles Edwards. After the event, the cryptocurrency market started to decline, with the price of Bitcoin (BTC) trading below $20,000 and that of Ether (ETH) trading below $1,500. Investors are now wondering what the subsequent market trending development would look like after the Ethereum Merge has passed. New stories and market trends will eventually appear, and if the fundamentals are sound, traders will rebalance their positions when these new leaders take the helm.

Valkyrie Chief Investment Officer Steven McClurg talks about how macro trends are affecting the crypto markets and the implications of Ethereum’s Merge https://t.co/JetAV9ONrf pic.twitter.com/tMd0AGDtHt

— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) August 25, 2022

What will happen to the old ETH miners?

The Ethereum network has successfully switched to a proof-of-stake (PoS) architecture, which means that miners are no longer in control of their GPUs and ASIC mining equipment but may still have them. Some miners can decide against selling their equipment and instead choose to mine on a different chain.

They haven’t decided on a specific chain yet, but the front-runners appear to be Ravencoin, Flux, Ethereum Classic, and Ergo. Each network’s hash rate reached new all-time highs before the Ethereum Merge, as indicated below. Each alternative coin’s price increased during the past month, with Ravencoin (RVN) rising 169%, Ergo (ERG), Flux (ZelCash), increasing 156%, and Ethereum Classic (ETC), rising 135% over the previous 90 days.

Intriguingly, only ZelCash and RVN seem to be recovering as of the time of writing after the hash rate and price both fell precipitously on September 15. Observing which network miners emerge will be intriguing, conceivably choosing as their new home over the coming weeks and months and how this affects the coin’s price.

The Cosmos is still growing.

The Cosmos ecosystem is still growing, which seems to be drawing more users to the platform (ATOM). The price of ATOM has increased by 137.5% since bottoming out at $5.50 on June 18 and is now trading above $16. According to analysis, the launch of Cosmos Hub 2.0, the usage of ATOM as collateral for stablecoin minting, the impending launch of liquid staking, and the ultimate recovery of decentralized finance (DeFi) in general are all seen as positive long-term drivers for the price of ATOM.

Purchase the drop or buy the rumor and sell the news?

Even while ETH’s price action right now isn’t as bullish as Merge advocates and ETH bulls might have wanted, the switch to PoS seems to have gone well overall, and possibly in the future, the advantages of PoS will result in bullish price movement from ETH. According to Ben Lilly, co-founder of Jarvis Labs, the “Joe Cool move” for ETH investors, is not to “get caught up in the upcoming day’s miner is the main character who is most prone to engage in any form of bizarre behavior. And that’s a one-time thing that will pass quickly.

Lilly clarified this:

“Sitting there and supporting any dynamic movement is the Joe Cool move. After that, relax and take it easy.

Ether may eventually encounter a supply shock and go through a deflationary phase. Staking guarantees returns on deposited assets and also safeguards the network. Finding a stable, predictable yield in a downturn-prone market can become more alluring. Lilly is essentially saying that it will take time for the excitement surrounding the Merge to go down and for investors to start profiting from the advantages the PoS Ethereum network might provide.

Also Read: Joe Lubin & Other Experts Discuss the Effects of the Ethereum Merge

Bitcoin, what about it?

In this week’s Bitcoin analysis, I talked about how the price of Bitcoin hasn’t changed all that much. Its price has been range-bound for the past three months between $17,600 and $24,400. Since March 29, all price increases out of each range high have been stopped by an overhead resistance trendline and the 200-day moving average that runs from Bitcoin’s all-time high of $69,400 in November 2021.

Altcoins may benefit from further consolidation inside the present range, but macro tensions may continue negatively impacting the cryptocurrency and stock markets. The Federal Reserve of the United States may raise interest rates more aggressively due to the strong consumer price index reading from September 12, and the potential ripple effect on stock prices may have an even more pronounced impact on cryptocurrency values.

Due to investors’ continued aversion to risk, it’s feasible that subsequent retests of the $19,000 support level and repeated rejections at the long-term declining trendline might finally lead to a fall below the annual swing low. Big Smokey will publish market insights, trending how-tos, analysis, and early-bird research on major new developments in the cryptocurrency market every Friday.