Ether declines 7% post-merge, making Ether futures more sensitive to staking yields

The Merge has made ether futures more vulnerable to staking yields, which could keep the curve "backwardated."

The price of Ether went down by 7% in the last 24 hours after the Merge, a software update in which the Ethereum blockchain successfully switched from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. The price of the cryptocurrency briefly went up by 3% and then went back down.

IntoTheBlock wrote in a research note on Friday that "It seems likely that a mix of still-high correlations and investors who wanted to "sell the news" led to ether's big drop despite reaching a milestone," IntoTheBlock wrote in a research note on Friday.

David Scheuermann, a trader at Crypto Finance AG, said that it will take time to see the full effect of the merge on the price of ether, but that the effects should be clear once we are "out of this bear market."
Ethereum Classic was also down 10% for the day, and Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency in the world, was down 2%.

Chainlink's LINK token went up 5% after the project said it would work with bountyblok, a platform for engagement. It added Chainlink Verifiable Random Function (VRF) to Chainlink's giveaway and distribution tools on Polygon's mainnet to replace its centralised randomizer service (random.org).
Bountyblok tweeted, "This makes it possible for winners to be chosen in a way that is fair and can't be changed."

Chilliz (CHZ), the token that powers socios.com, a blockchain-based fan and rewards platform, went up 10% after Chilliz tweeted on Thursday that it would introduce a fan token made in Brazil on its launchpad.
Futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.9% in traditional markets. Contracts for the Nasdaq 100, which focuses on technology, went down by 1%.

In other news, Celsius Network, which is in the process of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has asked the court for permission to sell its stablecoin holdings so that it can get cash to help pay for its operations.

And exchange giant FTX is in the lead to buy the assets of Voyager Digital, the cryptocurrency lender whose bankruptcy filing worsened the industry's crisis this year. However, a person with knowledge of the situation says that higher offers could still come in the next few days.