At press time, the second-largest cryptocurrency and the number one competitor to bitcoin has fallen by roughly $13, and is now trading for $477. Many analysts were certain $500 was in Ethereum’s midst, and it’s unclear if this is a short-term correction, or if the $490-mark Ethereum struck yesterday was some sort of fluke.
A lot appears to be happening with Ethereum. While at a blockchain conference in Morocco, Google co-founder Sergey Brin admitted that he and his son have been mining Ethereum. He also stated that while Google has been relatively slow to explore blockchain technology, he considers it “mind-boggling” and “extraordinary.”
“A year or two ago, my son insisted that we needed to get a gaming PC,” he exclaimed to his audience. “I told him, ‘Okay, if we get a gaming PC, we must mine cryptocurrency,’ so we set up an Ethereum miner on there, and we’ve made a few pennies, a few dollars since.”
Brin currently serves as the president of Google’s parent company Alphabet, and states the search engine really missed the boat when it came to the blockchain.
“[Google] already failed to be on the bleeding edge,” he admits. “However, blockchain technology is really mind-boggling. I see the future as taking these research-y, out-there ideas and making them real.”
Brin isn’t the only person talking about Ethereum. Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk recently took to Twitter to express his feelings towards the currency’s scam bots. Musk wrote, “I want to know who is running the Ethereum scam bots! Mad skillz…”
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin immediately responded, showing his disappointment that Musk’s first tweet about the currency had to do with alleged attempts to scam people. Buterin then asked for assistance in creating level two security for Ethereum to ensure no one sends ETH to any phony accounts.
Musk has been spotted holding books on cryptocurrency in the past. He has also debunked myths that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the alleged creator of bitcoin, and states that he’s a hodler of approximately 0.25 worth of bitcoin, which a friend gifted to him several years ago.
Lastly, Augur – an Ethereum-based blockchain prediction platform that allows users to bet on virtually anything – is launching today July 9, 2018. It is one of the earliest applications built on the Ethereum blockchain. Executives say they are looking to garner more customers by potentially lowering fees and allowing users to build their own bets.
In an official statement, Buterin (who serves as an advisor to the Augur team) praised the platform and explained, “I have been excited about the possibility of prediction markets on Ethereum for a long time.”
