
SAN FRANCISCO: The cryptocurrency industry has endured a terrible year. A devastating crash wiped nearly $1 trillion from the market, draining the savings of thousands of people. Several companies filed for bankruptcy.
Now the industry is fixated on a potential saving grace: a long-awaited software upgrade to the most popular cryptocurrency platform, ethereum, which provides the technological backbone for thousands of crypto projects. The upgrade — known as the Merge — has gained near-mythical status after years of delays that left some insiders questioning whether it would ever happen.