What's new on Nextrope’s blog?
Hi,
This is Maciej Zieliński from Nextrope’s Insights. Today’s newsletter takes a quick look at cases that appeared this week on our blog. From Ethereum actualization to exotic car tokenization - check what we’ve prepared for you this week:
Ethereum 2.0 🔥
Car tokenization 🏎
Cryptocurrencies on Mars?! 🚀
Ethereum 2.0 - the change we all have been waiting for
Ethereum 2.0 is a long-awaited update to the Ethereum network, that will significantly improve the security and scalability of perhaps the most popular Blockchain protocol in the world. First of all, it will reduce energy consumption and enable the network to process more transactions. The most important technical improvements are the transformation of Ethereum into a proof-of-stake blockchain and the introduction of shard chains.
If you are a Dapp user/developer or ETH holder, you can keep calm because Ethereum 2.0 will be fully compatible with the Ethereum 1.0 network you use today. Furthermore, you will be able to use your ETH also after the update.
Source: ethereum.org
Current limitations
After the launch in 2015 Ethereum quickly became the most widely used Blockchain protocol. The open public system allowed for the creation of completely new kinds of software applications and generated millions of dollars in value. However, to fully realize its potential, Ethereum still has to deal with a few limitations:
relatively low speed
high energy consumption
limited scalability
What's new in Ethereum 2?
The technical updates are mainly focused on:
Shard chains 🔗
Shard chains are parallel blockchains that take over the relevant part of the network processing work. They allow nodes to be distributed into subsets corresponding to network fragments. By that, each node doesn’t have to process and store transactions from the entire network, but only those from its subset.
Proof-of-stake 💰
In Ethereum 2.0 Proof-of-work will be finally replaced by Proof-of-stake, which will drastically reduce the energy consumption of the entire network. It’s a key step towards further scaling of Ethereum and increasing its environmental sustainability.
Beacon chain 🚨
The Beacon Chain brings staking to Ethereum and will eventually coordinate the new system.
Car tokenization
Exotic cars have played a vital role in the world of digital assets for years. However, anyone who thinks that their only use is to emphasize owner status is wrong. Research shows that they can be an exceptionally accurate investment alternative. According to a Knight Frank report, investments in vintage cars recovered over 330% in the 10 years to 2017. Surpassing by far other alternative assets such as diamonds, jewelry, or art. However, for obvious reasons, not everyone can afford this form of investment. Such a car remains simply too expensive for most. But what if we could purchase only a part of it?
CT1, which is the result of cooperation between the CurioInvest MERJ Exchange, is one of the newest tokens whose value is secured by collectible cars. Both companies believe that the tokenization of luxury goods will make them available to a wider group of investors.
“When you look at fine art, collectible cars, they have been perceived historically as safe-havens,” said Fernando Verboonen, founder of CurioInvest. “They’re held by very few and by bringing a different technology, we’re making it truly possible for everyone to benefit from those features or traits that define the asset class as a whole.”
Source: CurioInvest
Last year, companies released 1.1 million tokens secured by Ferarri F12TDF CTI. For just one dollar we could become shareholders in a supercar worth 1,1 million of them. The two firms are planning to bring as many as 500 collectible cars worth over $200 million onto the exchange. The cars will be stored in their garage in Stuttgart so the token buyer won't have to worry about their transport or maintenance.
Luxury cars aren't the only alternative assets that can be tokenized. Recently, there are more and more projects that secure the value of their tokens in pieces of art, wines, or even cans of sardines.
Cryptocurrencies on Mars?!
In late December, the internet exploded when Elon Musk announced that "Mars's economy will run on crypto." Interestingly, the cryptocurrency mentioned in the thread: Marscoin has already been created. Launched on the Nova Exchange in 2014, it had a short-lived spike in popularity during the cryptocurrency boom in late 2017, after which its price plunged sharply and the coin was soon withdrawn from Nova.
Recently Musk, currently the richest man in the world, often expressed his interest in cryptocurrencies. Last month he publicly pondered if Tesla should invest billions of dollars in BTC as was suggested by CEO of Microstrategy, Michael J. Saylor. However, his interest seems to go much further than Bitcoin. His single tweet: "One word: Dodge" was enough to increase the value of this cryptocurrency by a third. Many observers indicate that Dogecoin is the coin that the billionaire sees as the future currency of Mars.
Do you want to know more details?
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