Ethereum developer Tim Beiko announced in his blog that Ethereum ’s London hard fork will launch on August 4 between 13:00 UTC and 17:00 UTC with block 12,965,000. Previously, the launch date was set for the end of July.

Following a successful release on three testnets (Ropsten, Goerli, and Rinkeby), the update will become yet another step towards the full implementation of Ethereum 2.0, which will move the popular blockchain network from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake.

In a note to investors on Tuesday, Goldman Sachs analysts have theorized why Ethereum could ultimately become a better store of value than Bitcoin.

They believe that Ethereum currently seems like the asset with the highest real-use potential, as it is the most popular platform for developing smart contracts.

Bitcoin may have a stronger brand, given its reputation as a pioneer, however, BTC lacks some of Ethereum's real-world use cases. This is partly due to the low transaction speed.

Goldman Sachs’s analysts have also claimed that none of the crypto assets can compare with gold as a store of value, arguing that the high volatility of digital currencies makes it difficult for them to compete with the precious metal.

Meanwhile, the ETHUSD rate is in the stage of temporary consolidation. The swing is limited by resistance (see fig. 1) - high volume around 2350 - and support (see fig. 2) - high volume around 2230. The upcoming ETH update should encourage a bullish breakout. In this scenario, the likelihood of ETH growth to 3k increases.

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