the secondlargest cryptocurrency after bitcoin ethereum underwent a technical upgrade on august 5 2021 known as ethereum improvement protocol 1559 or eip1559 this major upgrade has also been dubbed london hard fork apart from using it as a cryptocurrency one can also run smart contracts and build applications using ethereum technically ethereum is the blockchainbased network and ether is the native cryptocurrency that you can mine using the network however in everyday usage ethereum is used to signify the currency itselfthe eip1559 upgrade is a small part of the overhaul of ethereums entire network which is expected to be complete by early 2022 this will see ethereum shift from a proofofwork system to a proofofstake system the latter gives more power to users who will be empowered to verify transactions and earn coins than the former which allowed miners to do so using vast computing powers ethereum is an openended platform which means any miner with insights into blockchain knowhow can mine it eternally this unregulated supply of ethereum will make it volatile and consequently even the transaction fees will tend to vary london hard fork will keep the transaction fees in check the process derives its name not from the immaculate british table etiquette but from the basic changes that engineers could carry out at the block level the building blocks of a blockchain that makes a coin how will it affect the ethereumbitcoin equationone cannot expect overnight changes in the equation between bitcoin and ethereum bitcoin volumes have been capped at 21 million coins there will be no fresh mining of bitcoins the existing blockchain will sustain bitcoin till it reaches its 21 million cap ethereum by activating the london hard fork is more or less making it hard for miners to continue though at present the mining is going on sooner or later all miners will be discouraged from mining ethereum rendering it at par with bitcointhe new measure that ethereum has taken may make the market deflationary the system of ethereum has become more complex with the interest generated by nonfungible tokens nft which are built on ethereums blockchain further to the growth in decentralised finance defi investors are now open not just to ethereum but also to the defi and nfts which both use ethereums blockchainhow is it advantageous for investorsthe enactment of london hard fork will open a few relief routes for investors giving them options over volume and value large volume investors who tend to stack up ethereum may begin rationalising their investments it might not make a difference for bitcoin investors due to the tight price line it maintains over longer periodsventure capitalists have begun a new thought process they admit that it is better to take a personal view of the ethereum and bitcoin debate bill gurley one of the top venture capitalists at benchmark a silicon valley venture capital firm in san francisco california has been quoted by bitcoincom that he was swayed by the arguments of the