Bitcoin Hovers Over $21K in Weekend Trading; India Crypto Industry’s Challenging Year

Ether, the second largest crypto by market value, was recently trading slightly above $1,600, a more than 2% gain over the previous 24 hours, although far removed from the $2,000 threshold it held a week ago. Investors’ enthusiasm for next month’s scheduled Merge, the Ethereum blockchain’s shift in protocol from proof-of-work to faster, more energy efficient proof-of-stake, has cooled – at least temporaily. Other major altcoins spent Sunday well in the green with RVN and BNB recently up over 9% and 6%, respectively. SHIB’s recent roller coaster ride continued with the popular meme coin rising nearly 5% at one point.