As September 13th, the date of the much anticipated Ethereum mainnet merge approaches, the crypto community believes it will determine the fate of both the Ethereum blockchain and the wider crypto ecosystem. However, there is another event set to take place on the same day that may impact the market, the release of the US CPI and inflation data.
Crypto Analyst: The Merge Will Not Impact The Fate of ETH And The Wider Crypto Market
The reputable crypto analyst, Cred, has evaluated the hype surrounding the upcoming Ethereum Merge event. He concluded that it would have no bearing on the crypto market and ETH price, whatever happens.
The Merge is set to go live on the 13th of September after several test nets have successfully launched. It would finally ease the Ethereum Blockchain off its previous energy-intensive PoW consensus mechanism and onto the PoS mechanism with 99.95% less energy consumption.
The merge has already caused the price of ETH to spike over 40% from around $1000 to $1500 in July. Then it went from $1600 to $2000 mid-August when the final Goerli testnet ran successfully. Supporters of the Merge have proposed that when it completely rolls out, it will cause both ETH and the general crypto market to spike.
Ethereum’s price is currently trading above $1,600. | Source: ETHUSD price chart from TradingView.com The Real Game Changer: CPI And Inflation Data Publication
However, according to Cred, the actual event that would make the difference, happening the same day, is the release of the latest inflation data.
The US Consumer Price Index (CPI) publication and inflation data are also going live on the 13th of September. If the Fed softens its stance and goes dovish, things will look up for ETH and crypto in general. If the Federal Reserve retains its hawkish outlook or stays neutral, the crypto winter might tarry longer.
Cred: The Market Will Credit The Wrong Catalyst
However, the analyst predicts that the crypto community will likely credit the Ethereum Merge for whatever happens rather than examining macroeconomic data. That’s because the last time that ETH rallied was due to the “big counter-trend rally in stocks” caused by “macro” that bounced into Ethereum. Cred believes the same will happen in the merge coinciding with the inflation data print.
According to the crypto analyst,
“if ETH dumps, as a result, everyone will say, ‘Oh look well the merge is priced in. It was obvious.’ If ETH doesn’t dump; as a result, people will say, ‘The merge wasn’t priced in, and it’s just the start.’”
Either way, Cred believes it is a false causality.
Per CoinMarketCap, Ethereum is currently trading at around $1,500.
