Ethereum Has Officially Merged

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gm, it's the merge has finally happened. What an incredible day for the entire space. 

• The Ethereum merge from proof of work to proof of stake occurred officially at 2:43 AM EST today.

• Web 3 security and asset management startup Fireblocks reaches a huge milestone just four years after its inception. (fireblocks)

• Virtual trading cards are GameStops' next push towards becoming a respectable marketplace. (cnbc)

• NFT renting startup Rentable unfortunately closes its doors today due to lack of activity. (decrypt)

• NFTs are thriving in China despite government regulations on crypto. Here is a video explaining all you need to know. (coindesk)

• New comics by 2142 allow for purchasable panels and even pages, a sick concept in our eyes, we're huge comic fans. (@2142_ad)

• Do Kwon, the founder of Terra, has had a warrant put out for his arrest, the charges regarding potential fraudulence. (bloomberg)

• Legendary gaming company Atari is coming to The Sandbox metaverse. (ismguide)

• Degen Ape Academy partners with AssetDash. Degen Ape holders can now access hundreds of deals on their platform, including some juicy discounts on gift cards and subscriptions. (@DegenApeAcademy)

• Solana COO on the Merge: We Want to See Ethereum Succeed. (coindesk)

THE MERGE HAS ARRIVED 🙌

The time that we’ve all been patiently waiting for is finally upon us: the Merge has arrived. But, a lot of people don’t really understand what that entails. Let’s dive into it.

First, the Merge is the Ethereum blockchain upgrade that promises to move the network from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS). This will enable the network to boost its security and allow developers a better foundation to build upon, thus increasing the sophistication and scalability of the solutions built on the network. PoS will employ the Beacon Chain, the network running in tandem with Ethereum since 2020, to decrease the environmental impact and energy consumption by almost 99.95%. The Merge is the combination of Ethereum and Beacon. Get it? Merge?

So, what do you have to do to be a part of it? Absolutely nothing. Your NFTs and Ethereum automatically converted last night to the new “merged” blockchain. But for some time, you should be wary of scams. We can already foresee scammers tweeting, “Go to this website to convert your NFTs to ETH2.0.” Please, don’t do it. There is no human interaction needed for the conversion because everything is happening with the chain itself; not your individual assets, per say.

The Merge is the biggest moment in blockchain technology, thus far. In 20 years, no one will even be thinking about the Merge. People won’t even know about it. But, you. The one that is present in the current market. YOU will know what happened. YOU will know the impact of this technological feat. WAGMI, mergers.

AssetDash DashDeals Announcement 💰

Yesterday AssetDash announced a new feature on their NFT portfolio tracking app that has never been done before. DashDeals allows holders of NFT collections to receive exclusive rewards (FOR FREE). Do you own an NFT in one of the collections below?

If so you can receive rewards from Discord, Apple, Uber Eats, Amazon, Disney Plus, and many more (see the full list here).

Track your entire portfolio and start receiving rewards with AssetDash today

W3BX Vegas Is Fast Approaching 🎰

W3BX will host the inaugural “Web 3 Expo” on October 10-13th, at the Wynn Las Vegas. This 4-day conference will offer an extraordinary platform for relationship building with both existing and prospective institutional and private investors. The event will feature senior executives from over 100 private and public companies all within the growing Web3 sector. Guess who's a sponsor of this amazing event? Ya boy The Drop. Our team will be there so for sure to come out and say hi. Get your tickets HERE.

Some HUGE names are speaking at this event: Kevin O'Leary, Zeneca, Scott Melker, Ryan Carson, Raja Rajamannar (CCO, CMO of Mastercard), Josh Ong, CryptoVondoom, Myself (Gannon), and many more - see the full list here

Magic Eden Launches MetaShield 🚀

The zero and/or custom royalties are currently an ongoing debate in the NFT space. Many have provided reasons as to why NFT royalties are important and helpful to projects, while others are led with reasons for choosing to trade OTC. Despite it all, and with valuable feedback from the top projects in Solana, Magic Eden has partnered with Coral cube to develop a tool to address the issues of bypassing royalties- MetaShield.

MetaShield is built to identify NFTs listed or traded on marketplaces that bypass creator royalties. With this tool, creators can “shield” or take actions as they see fit. This action includes updating metadata, flagging the NFT, or blurring the image.

The announcement seems to have sparked controversy in the community as those closely associated with Solana didn't buy into what the marketplace was selling, and instead labeled it as “a centralized concept.”

Magic Eden responded to the speculation with a Twitter thread to further share their thoughts and identify clear misconceptions about MetaShield. Magic Eden executed this by releasing statements explaining they are not centralizing NFTs any more than the original technology, and that MetaShield does not punish buyers, but instead it warns potential buyers that they're not honoring the creator royalty.

The complete guide on MetaShield and how to repay royalty debts is available here. Please do well to share your thoughts on NFT royalties with us.

Sponsored Content: Assetdash is a partner of The Drop.

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Disclaimer: The Drop DOES NOT provide financial advice. All content is for informational purposes only. The Drop is not a registered investment, legal, or tax advisor or a broker/dealer. Trading any crypto-related asset is extremely risky and could result in significant capital losses. 

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Gannon Breslin, Kayla Kilbride, CryptoVonDoom, Naveed Lalani, Alex Reed, Naman Patel, Big Tuna

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