The Ethereum Beacon Chain, the “coordination mechanism” of the new network that’s responsible for creating new blocks and ensuring these are valid, has experienced a 7-block deep reorganization (reorg).

JPMorgan has said cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are now the bank’s preferred alternative asset after a major sell-off in the cryptocurrency space hurt digital assets more than other alternative investments.

Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (“a16z”) has announced the launch of a $4.5 billion fund to take advantage of opportunities created in the cryptocurrency space by the bear market, as the VC firm believes crypto is entering its “golden era.”

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Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Ethereum Beacon Chain Experiences 7-Block Reorg
• Crypto Becomes JPMorgan’s Preferred Alternative Asset
• Andreessen Horowitz Launches $4.5 Billion Crypto Fund
• What is Staking?
• Sponsored: Get 5 BUSD & Stand a Chance to Win 1 Bitcoin in Token Voucher with Binance Card!

Ethereum Beacon Chain Experiences 7-Block Reorg

The Ethereum Beacon Chain, the “coordination mechanism” of the new network that’s responsible for creating new blocks and ensuring these are valid, has experienced a 7-block deep reorganization (reorg).

A block reorganization refers to an event in which one or more blocks that were part of the chain get knocked off due to a competing block. According to blockchain data, on May 25 seven blocks from number 3,887,075 to 3,887,081 were knocked out of the Beacon Chain. Block reorganizations can occur as a result of malicious attacks, or as a result of software bugs. Block reorganizations unintentionally lead to a fork of the blockchain, as kicking a block off means part of the chain is briefly out of consensus.

Developers believe the reorganization was an issue caused by circumstance rather than a security issue or fundamental flaw in the network. The “proposer boost fork,” which refers to a method in which proposers are given priority for selecting the blockchain’s next block, was highlighted in particular.

Preston Van Loon, a core Ethereum developer, suggested the reorg occurred over a “non-trivial segmentation” of new and old client node software. -The client development community is set to release a post-mortem later on.

Crypto Becomes JPMorgan’s Preferred Alternative Asset

JPMorgan has said cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are now the bank’s preferred alternative asset after a major sell-off in the cryptocurrencyhurt digital assets more than other alternative investments.

The sell-off in cryptocurrency markets seen earlier this year suggests there’s more room for cryptos to rebound, JPMorgan strategists wrote in a note, adding:

“We thus replace real estate with digital assets as our preferred alternative asset class along with hedge funds.”

Alternative assets, it’s worth noting, are assets that don’t fall into typical categories such as stocks and bonds. Cryptocurrencies, real estate, private equity, and private debt all fall under this category.

Despite now preferring bitcoin and other cryptoassets over other alternative investments, the bank is less keen on these alternative investments, switching their ranking from “overweight” to “underweight.”

Andreessen Horowitz Launches $4.5 Billion Crypto Fund

Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (“a16z”) has announced the launch of a $4.5 billion fund to take advantage of opportunities created in the cryptocurrency space by the bear market, as the VC firm believes crypto is entering its “golden era.”

Andreessen Horowitz wrote in an announcement that since “the advent of computing in the 1940s” there have been major computing cycles every 10 to 15 years, with past cycles being PCs in the ‘80s, the internet in the ‘90s, and mobile computing in the ‘00s.

The firm added it believes that “blockchains will power the next major computing cycle, which we call crypto or web3. It explained most computing cycles have “golden eras” formed by a mix of talent, community knowledge, and viable infrastructure, and added:

“We think we are now entering the golden era of web3. Programmable blockchains are sufficiently advanced, and a diverse range of apps have reached tens of millions of users. More importantly, a massive wave of world-class talent has entered web3 over the last year.”

Andreessen Horowitz's $4.5 billion fund is its fourth focusing on the cryptocurrency space. Of the $4.5 billion, it noted that $1.5 billion will be dedicated to seed investments, while the rest will be allocated to venture investments. In total, the firm has raised $7.6 billion in crypto funds, with its first crypto fund being launched during the so-called crypto winter.

What is Staking?

Put simply, staking is a way to earn interest on your crypto holdings by locking cryptoassets to help validate transactions on their underlying networks.

Staking is similar to mining on Proof-of-Work (PoW) networks with the advantage of being less resource-intensive. Staking coins directly on the blockchain may be complicated for some users, but several cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets now offer services simplifying the process.

Staking on-chain is only possible with cryptocurrencies using a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. PoS networks are often more energy-efficient than PoW networks and are able to maintain a certain degree of decentralization. Some use a modified version called Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS).

Learn how staking works and more via CryptoCompare’s guide on it.

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