Ethereum Celebrates 9 Years
It's been nine years since the launch of the Ethereum mainnet and the creation of its first genesis block. Developers and participants of the network celebrated this important date by congratulating each other on the holiday. On July 30, 2015, Stefan Tual, then the CCO of the Ethereum Foundation, published a blog post in which he officially announced the launch of the blockchain.
In the nine years since then, the Ethereum network has become one of the leading ecosystems in the industry, and its native coin has become the second-largest crypto asset by market capitalization, reaching $403 billion.
Happy Birthday, Ethereum!
Tether H1 Profit Report
Tether, the company that issues the USDT stablecoin, achieved a record net profit of $5.2 billion for the period January-June. According to the report, operating profit amounted to about $1.3 billion, mainly due to interest income from US Treasury bonds. Direct investments in these instruments exceeded $80.9 billion, and taking into account cash and other equivalents, including repo transactions, reached $97.6 billion.
In this indicator, Tether overtook countries such as Germany, the UAE and Australia, taking 18th place. In terms of the pace of purchasing US Treasury bonds, the company took third place after the UK and the Cayman Islands. Management sees the potential to reach a leading position, as stated in the press release.
The remaining part of the net profit in the amount of ~$3.9 billion was obtained due to the increase in the value of positions in bitcoin ($4.7 billion) and gold ($3.8 billion). Tether's equity increased to $11.9 billion from $11.37 billion as of March 31. The level of excess reserves decreased from $6.26 billion to $5.3 billion.
The company reinvested profits into strategic projects such as ecosystem development, AI infrastructure, P2P communications, renewable energy, and mining, for a total of $3.5 billion ($4.7 billion as of March 31). Tether did not disclose details. The issuer also reported an increase in supercollateralized loans in the second quarter from $4.7 billion to $6.6 billion. The volume of USDT issued in the second quarter increased by $8.3 billion, reaching $118.4 billion.
Solana Overtakes Ethereum in Monthly DEX Turnover
In July, the Solana ecosystem surpassed Ethereum in decentralized exchange trading volume for the first time, reaching $55.8 billion versus $53.8 billion. This figure does not include second-layer solutions. Total revenue from protocol fees approached $80 million, reaching a record $2.3 million on July 31.
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Increases by 10.5%
As a result of the latest recalculation, the mining difficulty of the first cryptocurrency increased by 10.5%, reaching a record high of 90.67 T. The average hashrate for the period since the previous change was 933.84 EH/s, and the interval between blocks was reduced to less than seven minutes. According to Glassnode, the 7-day moving average of computing power peaked at around 637 EH/s. Immediately after the difficulty update, the hash price fell to $48.25 per PH per day, according to the Hashrate Index.
First Transaction in 9 Years from Ethereum ICO Participant
On July 30, an Ethereum ICO participant activated his assets for the first time in nine years, moving 2000 ETH (~$6.6 million) to two new addresses. The coins were received on July 30, 2015, when the price of Ethereum was about $0.31, more than 10000 times lower than the current quotes. The user first made two test transfers of 1 ETH each, after which he sent transactions of 10, 100, 1000, and about 738 ETH to one of the new addresses, as well as 100 and 50 ETH to the other.
Pantera Capital: Women Earn More Than Men in Crypto Industry
Women working in the cryptocurrency industry earn more than their male counterparts, according to a study by Pantera Capital. The survey, conducted in June and July among 502 cisgender Americans, found that the median base salary for women was $1.15 for every dollar earned by men. In comparison, women in non-crypto companies earned 84 cents on the dollar.
The study also found that the Web3 industry is one of the highest-paying industries, behind only doctors and executives. The average weekly base salary for women in this field exceeds $3000.
The authors of the study note that the sample is limited, and it is not appropriate to draw conclusions about lower salaries for men in the Web3 industry based solely on gender bias, as the number of women in this field is still small. Additionally, a Pantera Capital survey last year found that only 3% of blockchain employees are paid in cryptocurrency.
