The Merge: Ethereum's Netscape moment? 🤯; Goldman Sachs again reminds us that FinTech is hard 😳; Vertical neobanks keep raising millions 💸

FinTech is Eating the World, 15 September

Good evening Everyone,

And Happy Thursday! Today’s issue is undoubtedly one of the most important ones since I launched this newsletter. Today’s key focus is on The Merge and why it could be Ethereum’s Netscape moment (+ the risks we should be aware of), Goldman Sachs which once again reminds us that FinTech is hard (this time with Apple card & one read as a bonus) and vertical neobanks that keep raising millions (could this be the future of challenger banking?). Let’s jump straight into the hot stuff:

The Merge: Ethereum's Netscape moment? 🤯

It’s DONE ✅ Ethereum network has finally completed The Merge, a historic feat anticipated by the crypto community for over five years. 

With no hiccups, Ethereum has moved from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), the upgrade that has forever changed both how ETH is created and how transactions on the Ethereum network are validated.

More on this 👉 In short, Ethereum has transitioned from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. That means so-called gas fees, or transaction costs, will come down (eventually), and the network will be able to process transactions faster (eventually). 

PoW verifies transactions through mining (like Bitcoin), which consumes massive amounts of energy. PoS picks out validators based on the "stake" they have in the blockchain, or how much of that token has been committed. This is 99.9% more energy efficient than PoW.

What’s the impact? 🤔 As the CEO of Stripe put it, it's one of the coolest examples of sustained, ambitious, and technically difficult open source developments ever completed.

More importantly, not only it's the world's biggest blockchain upgrade ever, but also it's one of the most significant events in crypto's history. Here’s the takeaway as to why this could be Ethereum’s Netscape moment (+ the risks):