Staking and the Investing Environment: What Will Gary Gensler Do (WWGGD)?

Mar 3, 2023

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What is the purpose of staking? And what is the motivation?

On this episode of “Money Reimagined,” Michael Casey and Sheila Warren will be exploring the ever-evolving world of staking with CoinDesk Ethereum protocol reporter Margaux Nijkerk.

Some are calling it the Shanghai upgrade. Others say that technically, it’s the Capella upgrade. Still, others are merging the two and calling this the Shapella upgrade.

Whatever you call it, this week’s “Money Reimagined” episode is tackling one of the more important changes to Ethereum’s core code since last year’s successful Merge to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. The key part of is the 32 staked ether each validator was required to lock up before and after the Merge to bootstrap the system is now being unlocked.

This might sound like a nerdy topic. But thanks largely to the excellent, clear explanations of Margaux Nijkerk, the episode makes it clear that everyone should care about this as the upgrade opens up some important questions that go to the heart of crypto’s core principles:

How to democratize blockchain systems so all users, not just the whales and corporate entities, have a stake (literally) in their governance and validation mechanisms

Whether the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent crackdown on Kraken’s staking-as-a-service offering in the U.S. will make it easier or harder for individuals to participate

What all this means for arguably the most important principle of all: the goal of decentralization, the idea that a cabal of big players can’t ever collude to censor transactions

You’ll also hear a discussion of what unlocking such a large amount of ether might mean for the token’s price, get some education on how blockchain developer communities coordinate such upgrades and are invited to contemplate what all this means for the future of crypto.

Shanghai + Capella = 'Shapella': How Ethereum Devs Now Refer to Upcoming Upgrade

Michele Musso produced and edited this episode with announcements by Adam B. Levine and our executive producer, Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “Shepard.”

Are you building the next big thing in Web3? Apply to pitch your project live on stage at the CoinDesk Pitchfest Powered by Google Cloud at Consensus, the industry’s most influential event happening April 26-28 in Austin, Texas. Apply by March 31 for a chance to be among the twelve finalists selected to pitch. Visit consensus.coindesk.com/pitchfest for more information.

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