With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? - Ep. 389

Unchained

Travis Kling, Chief Investment Officer at Ikigai Asset Management, talks about how ETH changes after the Merge, what factors are going to affect its price action, and whether it can decouple from traditional assets.

Show highlights:

• how the supply and demand dynamics of ETH will change after the Merge
• why he believes the Merge is the most significant catalyst in crypto history
• what the risks are in terms of price action
• whether there is an estimate of how much ETH will be locked up and how this lockup resembles Mt. Gox’s BTC
• the impact that being a deflationary asset will have on the price of ETH and whether it will actually become deflationary after the Merge
• how activity levels have been decreasing in the Ethereum network
• whether ether is underpriced or overpriced, and how to evaluate it
• how institutional money is sitting on the sidelines at the moment after all the de-leveraging events that happened this year
• how the Merge affects BTC’s narrative and value-proposition
• how institutions have never been more interested in ether
• what the futures market is saying about the price action of ether
• whether ETHPoW has any value and how to trade it
• how macroeconomics has been impacting the crypto markets and whether ETH can decouple from the macro setups

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Travis

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Travis_Kling

ETH Post-Merge ETH Dynamics:

• Ultra sound money dashboards: https://ultrasound.money/
• Dune dashboards on the Merge: https://twitter.com/DuneAnalytics/status/1562021273575751680?s=20&t=HELDvcJ6gI3Z5RmVsGHdiA
• Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the Merge: https://res.cloudinary.com/drw/image/upload/v1661351279/comm-cumberland/uploads/The_Ethereum_Merge_-_Derivative_Market_Opportunities_Changes_to_SupplyDemand_Dynamics_1_zwearq.pdf
• Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge: https://twitter.com/milessuter/status/1560070819518234624?s=20&t=qjolzcydMY_nTU__vZNciQ
• Robert Leshner on the Ethereum Merge: https://twitter.com/rleshner/status/1559727104903757826?s=20&t=cKkI7b_Hj7dDe0DKmgP13g
• The triple point asset: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/ether-a-new-model-for-money
• Previous coverage of Unchained:
  • Is ETH on Its Way to Becoming Ultra-Sound Money? Yes, Says Justin Drake: https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-eth-on-its-way-to-becoming-ultra-sound-money-yes-says-justin-drake/
  • Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-kevin-zhou-believes-ethereum-will-have-3-forks-after-the-merge-ep-381/
  • Why Ethereum’s Merge Was Delayed and Why It Won’t Reduce Gas Fees Much: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ethereums-merge-was-delayed-and-why-it-wont-reduce-gas-fees-much/

ETH Trade

• Whether Ethereum’s Merge is priced in: https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/08/22/is-ethereums-merge-priced-in/
• Arthur Hayes on the ETH trade: https://blog.bitmex.com/eth-flexive/
• ETH flips Bitcoin open interest: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/08/01/ether-flips-bitcoin-in-options-market-for-the-first-time/
• “Max bidding” by Arthur Hayes: https://cryptohayes.medium.com/max-bidding-7a1c56c1cd07
• Gauntlet’s view on the Merge: https://medium.com/gauntlet-networks/gauntlets-view-on-the-merge-7c79e39e4b59

Macroeconomics

• Arthur Hayes on USD liquidity conditions and how it affects assets:https://cryptohayes.medium.com/teach-me-daddy-33e7a66dfe76
• Adam Cochran on the Fed’s QT: https://twitter.com/adamscochran/status/1562077260819173378?s=20&t=Jh2DRYu-nr2mRg_4kJEFqA
• Pantera Capital’s newsletter: https://panteracapital.com/blockchain-letter/ethereum-tightening-more-than-fed/

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