Ethereum price rises on software upgrade, Bitcoin slides
Ethereum is about to undergo a technical adjustment that will significantly alter the way transactions are processed
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Ethereum was trading higher Friday morning with the cryptocurrency gaining more than 4%.
The price was around $2,380 per token. Bitcoin was lower at $38,990 per coin, according to Coindesk.
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A big change is coming to the second-largest blockchain network.
Ethereum is about to undergo a technical adjustment that will significantly alter the way transactions are processed, according to Reuters.
The change will also reduce the supply of the ether token and sharply boost its price.
The change is expected to go live next Wednesday.
The upgrade is called Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559. Analysts describe it as being similar to a bitcoin "halving" event in which periodic adjustments reduced the supply of bitcoin.
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Each halving helped propel bitcoin's price to higher records.
The software upgrade will fundamentally change the way transactions are processed on Ethereum by providing clear pricing on transaction fees in ether paid to miners to validate transactions and "burning" a small amount of those tokens. The burned tokens will be permanently taken out of circulation.
In other cryptocurrency news, the International Monetary Fund needs to ramp up its resources as it seeks to "monitor, advise on, and help manage this far-reaching and complex transition" to digital money, according to an IMF paper published Thursday.
Digital money can make payments more accessible, faster and cheaper, the paper said. But to make that happen, policymakers must step up to key challenges: Digital cash must be trustworthy, must protect domestic economic and financial stability, and the stability of the international monetary system should remain, as reported by Reuters.
"The Fund has a critical role to play to help its members harness the benefits and manage the risks of digital money," the paper said.
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Importantly, digital money "must be regulated, designed, and provided so countries maintain control over monetary policy, financial conditions, capital account openness, and foreign exchange regimes."
The paper, dated in March, was discussed by the IMF board in April and published Thursday.