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GM. We’re back and feeling fresh as a daisy after a nice, quiet weekend. Hopefully, yours was as well. Enough chitchat; let’s get into it. Metamask owners liken crypto to gambling, and Ethereum’s Merge may have a new timeline.

Are we all pawns in the long-con that is Bitcoin? Most of the more popular cryptocurrencies are legit, but there are a lot of projects out there that are essentially Ponzi schemes, ready to take your money at a moment’s notice. MetaMask co-founders Aaron Davis and Dan Finlay have plenty to say on the subject.

Today's Topics:

• Thoughts on crypto from MetaMask co-founders

• Ethereum ready for the Merge

• Quick Links

Closing Pandora's Box

Aaron Davis and Dan Finlay - co-founders of the popular Defi MetaMask wallet - are quick to point out the flaws of the current cryptocurrency ecosystem. Finlay, for example, speaks about the recent crypto crash when he says, “There are so many different kinds of failure that are happening all the time.”

Davis is a little more reserved with his sentiments, yet he still suggests that “putting your money in cryptocurrencies is gambling.” Not exactly the words you want to hear from a pair that created a crypto wallet used by 30 million people. Still, their words do have some truth to them.

Specifically, Davis compares the currency crypto ecosystem to opening Pandora’s box. Where before, if you stole digital information like emails or credit card numbers, you needed a buyer to cash out. Now, if you’re able to find a security hole, you’re stealing cash. The only middleman needed is an anonymous exchange, and plenty of those exist in the market.

That’s not to say Davis and Finlay aren’t trying to do their part to flush out illegitimate projects and protect users. The pair are working to make it harder for unreputable projects to gain credibility by not auto-detecting airdropped tokens. This makes it harder for phishing attacks to succeed.

However, there’s only so much MetaMask can accomplish within the current system. Especially when people take risks on unverified projects. Davis and Finlay believe much of this can be attributed to a lack of education, especially when it comes to user keys.

“They (the user) are truly in control,” says Finlay. Which is exactly what we want - to be in control of our finances. So be smart out there, or someone might take control of it for you.

Semi-Final Timeline Forming for Ethereum Merge

A new timeline is starting to come into focus for the Ethereum Merge, even if it isn’t 100% finalized. The expectation is that the network will move from its current Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to a much more environmentally friendly Proof-of-Stake on September 19th. 

Beacon Chain community manager @superphiz tweeted out, “The merge timeline isn’t final, but it’s extremely exciting to see it coming together!” 

We wholeheartedly agree.

As Ethereum moves from one consensus mechanism to another, it will leave behind the world of miners and enter the world of validators. To be a validator, you must hold at least 32 ETH on the Beacon Chain, which is the Proof-of-Stake version of Ethereum running in parallel to the current Proof-of-Work mainnet.

Like many other Proof-of-Stake platforms, validators must continue to confirm transactions. If they fail to do so, some of their ETH can be confiscated. On the other hand, so long as they maintain a high uptime, which helps prevent nefarious activity on the network, they’re likely to earn more ETH.

Either way, we’re impatiently waiting for the Merge to take place.

Quick Headlines

USD or BTC? - The New York Yankees have partnered with DIGNY to let employees convert their paychecks to BTC. 

Saw it Coming - Tezos co-founder Kathleen Breitman says that she saw the Celsius bankruptcy coming from a mile away.

Strange Bedfellows - Skeptics are quick to point out that NFTs’ are “useless” and have no intrinsic value. The fashion industry didn’t get the memo.

Is this heaven? - If you’re heavy into crypto mining, you might want to consider moving to Paraguay.

Crypto Gaming:

Guess Who’s Back - Axie Infinity is looking to bounce back in the GameFi market by re-engineering its economics.

Stepn redux - One user’s interesting perspective on Stepn’s usefulness has prompted us to once again add it here for your viewing pleasure. It may not be worth what it once was, but it’s 

Scams:

Pump it up - Do you know how to identify a crypto Pump-and-Dump scheme? If not, check out this guide by Arijit Sarkar for more info.

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Disclosure: We are a newsletter for information only. We are not financial advisors nor do we claim to be. Consult your legal, investment or tax advisor. Crypto is risky. Do you own research.