Court documents served as an NFT on blockchain … what’s next?

In this week’s crypto and blockchain update, eToro’s Simon Peters discusses Bitcoin’s bounce, Ether’s spike and how one UK judge is accepting court documents to be served as NFTs.

Bitcoin and ether bounce

Ether – the cryptoasset associated with the Ethereum blockchain – has bounced on the revelation that The Merge now has a provisional date to go live. The cryptoasset has spiked above US$1,400, its highest level in more than a month, having traded down close to US$1,000 at points last week.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, also jumped to its highest level in a month, trading around US$22,000 this morning, in a sympathetic rally with the ether revelations. The bitcoin token had traded below US$19,000 at one point last week on the eToro platform, but appears to be making significant gains.

The reversal of recent capitulations in the cryptoasset space is a very encouraging indicator that there is still value being realised by investors as new information and cycles take hold. 

The events of the past few days have shown cryptoassets moving above the gain lines of equities, with major indices relatively flat. While not necessarily showing a decoupling of recent performance mirroring, divergence over a longer time frame could mark a significant shift.

Ether spikes on Merge date

The price of ether has spiked on the news that The Merge of the Ethereum blockchain now has a provisional date. The price of ether began to spike on Thursday as the Ethereum Shadow Fork went live. 

This fork was the latest in a series of tests for the Ethereum network’s upcoming ‘merge’ and was implemented to test the update on a more intensive network. The final test is now pencilled in for August 11 and the merging of the mainnet is now scheduled for September 19.

The positive price jump was directly correlated to the news spreading that the test had been a success. This is a good indicator of investor sentiment around The Merge, which has been touted as a major gamechanger for the blockchain and its related token.

Moving to a proof-of-stake network has the theoretical potential to make ether deflationary and investors seem to be setting out their positions ahead of this. 

Polygon picked for Disney accelerator

Blockchain firm Polygon has been picked for the Disney Accelerator program – a business development program aimed at highly innovative ventures. In its announcement, Disney said it wanted to focus on augmented reality, NFT and Web3 technology in its latest round. 

It is extremely encouraging to see a hugely culturally-influential firm such as Disney step into the development of businesses which champion these themes. Time and again we’ve seen that despite market adversity, major players are still willing to back and develop up-and-coming projects, a real indicator of the ongoing potential for the sector. 

Polygon will benefit from input from a big and mature business that knows how to make the most of digital and creative media. The firm, which provides blockchain technology for the building of decentralised apps (DApps) and utilises the MATIC cryptoasset, has a variety of projects on its chain already focused on entertainment, sports and games which will greatly benefit from Disney’s input.

Read more: Disney’s Web3 accelerator fund invests in Polygon blockchain

UK courts approve NFT court summons

Court documents made public last week show a UK judge allowed legal documents to be served as an NFT via blockchain. The event is a tantalising glimpse at what NFT technology is capable of beyond digital art, for which it has recently become synonymous.

NFTs hit it big in 2021 thanks to major collections such as the Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC), which itself spawned a cryptoasset, Apecoin. But valuations have been hit hard in the downturn leaving many questioning the usefulness or popularity of the technology.

The serving of documents via NFT on the blockchain points to a fascinating area for NFTs that are still little explored. Effectively, anything can be turned into an NFT, be it documents or ownership certificates for anything from property to traditional stocks. A court allowing this to go ahead is a fascinating precedent and underlines the fact that the space has a lot of potential in the future.