Mark Cuban: “I’m a fan of the merge”
Ethereum is the second biggest cryptocurrency by market value, and “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban just told Fortune that he is still “very optimistic” about it.
Mark Cuban, a billionaire investor, is among those who favor the “merge” of Ethereum, a long-awaited improvement to the blockchain that would greatly lessen its negative impact on the environment.
When the merging upgrade is live, in less than a month, Ethereum’s power usage will drop substantially, by a factor of 1,000. Cuban considers this to be a “significant” point that might bolster the bull argument for Ethereum. Since the millionaire can’t foresee how the price of Bitcoin would respond to the merging upgrade in the immediate term, he abstained from offering any definite price predictions. Cuban is certain that the second-largest network will gain traction as a result of the applications it supports.
“I’m a fan of the merge,”
“I’m a fan of The Merge.” the Shark Tank investor and the owner of the Dallas Mavericks said according to an interview to Fortune magazine. The problem of energy use is crucial, in his opinion.
Indeed, on September 15 (when the merging is expected to take place), Ethereum will transition from a proof-of-work consensus method to a proof-of-stake one. Whereas under proof of work, miners use considerable energy to create new blocks and validate transactions, with proof of stake, a network of validators does so. As a result, once the merging takes place, Ethereum mining will be virtually eradicated, resulting in a 99.9% reduction in the network’s total energy usage.
For this reason, Cuban has said that he thinks the switch to proof of stake is a good thing. But it’s for the long haul. I have no idea whether or when it will be increased,” he said.
Cuban, who is still quite enthusiastic about Ethereum, stated, “I believe the applications that drive adoption will be there.” Whenever asked about why he likes Ethereum so much, Cuban always brings to the network’s versatility and usefulness as an explanation for his enthusiasm. Smart contracts, which are collections of code that carry out a predefined set of instructions on a blockchain, have been the primary topic of his discussions.
When asked what had altered the landscape, he answered, “Smart contracts,” which was in March of that year. The advent of smart contracts paved the way for the development of decentralized financial systems and NFTs. This was the turning point that altered the playing field.
Where does Bitcoin fit in?
The owner of the Dallas Mavericks, who previously said that bananas are more practical than Bitcoin, has come around to the idea of Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency.
Cuban has Ether in his cryptocurrency portfolio alongside Bitcoin and the meme-inspired Dogecoin. In addition to Ethereum, his portfolio includes a few NFTs and investments in blockchain firms.
He now sees Bitcoin as a rival to gold as a kind of monetary storage. Nonetheless, Cuban continues to have serious doubts about Cardano, a major Ethereum rival. Even though Cardano’s smart contracts have been available for more than a year, he recently said that he thought Dogecoin has more practical use cases.