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ICBC, the largest bank in the world, claims that the crypto Ethereum represents the driving technical force of the digital future, defining it as “digital oil”. At the same time, it describes Bitcoin as “digital gold”.
Let’s see all the details below.
Summary
According to the bank ICBC, the crypto Ethereum is ‘the digital oil of the 21st century’
As anticipated, the largest bank in the world, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), is defining Bitcoin (BTC) as “digital gold” and Ethereum (ETH) as “digital oil”.
In a new report shared by Matthew Siegel, head of digital assets at VanEck, the ICBC praises the two main criptovalute by market capitalization.
The report indicates that the market demand for digital assets is robust, driving innovation in the sector.
“The market demand drives the continuous evolution of digital currencies.”
The report compares Bitcoin to gold, highlighting that the cryptocurrency has additional advantages:
“Bitcoin maintains scarcity similar to gold through mathematical consensus, while simultaneously solving issues related to its divisibility, authenticity, and transportability. Its monetary attributes are weakening, while its asset attributes are strengthening.”
Defining Ethereum as “digital oil,” the report praises the various features of the ecosystem of the leading smart contract platform. Although ICBC highlights some shortcomings of the network, it believes that technological progress will resolve them over time.
“Ethereum has consistently improved its technology in terms of security, scalability, and sustainability, providing a technical foundation for the digital future.”
Sustainability, security, and efficiency
Furthermore, the report reiterates how Ethereum introduces Turing completeness with its unique programming language (Solidity) and the virtual machine (EVM).
Allowing developers to create a wide range of smart contracts and complex applications, providing strong support to blockchain technology.
Not surprisingly, says the report, its flexibility is widely recognized in the sectors of decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFT), and it is also expanding to physical infrastructure networks (DePin).
“In essence, the Turing completeness of Ethereum allows it to execute any programming instruction with the necessary resources and correct instructions, but it also poses several practical challenges. Looking to the future, Ethereum developers will continue to work to balance sustainability, security, and efficiency.”
Ethereum under pressure: bear forecasts dominate the market
Ethereum, the second cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is going through a difficult period.
Its price has indeed failed to surpass the threshold of 4,000 dollars, generating concern among traders and investors.
To better understand the current market dynamics, it is useful to observe the behavior of the participants in the futures market, according to CryptoQuant.
An important indicator is the Taker Buy Sell ratio, which measures the relative aggressiveness of buyers compared to sellers.
A ratio greater than one indicates that buyers are more aggressive, while a ratio less than one shows greater aggressiveness on the part of sellers.
Examining the 7-day moving average chart of the Taker Buy Sell Ratio for Ethereum, it is noted that the ratio, which has never exceeded one, has collapsed in recent days.
This indicates that the sellers have been more active in the futures market, continuing to sell short or to cash in the profits from the gains at the beginning of the year.
A drop so marked in the Taker Buy Sell Ratio is not generally a positive sign for Ethereum. In fact, it indicates that the majority of futures traders are bear on Ethereum and expect a further price drop of the cryptocurrency.
In the macroeconomic context, several factors could reverse this trend. Good news, such as new partnerships, technological discoveries, or regulatory approvals, could restore investor confidence and drive up the price of Ether.