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<p>22 HOURS AGO By <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/toronto-receives-its-first-ethereum-atms-targeting-mainstream-adoption#">Jon Buck</a></p>
<h1>Ethereum Announces Metropolis Hard Fork Coming Late September</h1>
<p>54797 Total views 1527 Total sharesFORKWith all the hubbub about Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in the news, Ethereum has been overlooked by some.However, the Ethereum Developer team has just <a href="https://steemit.com/ethereum/@joshbreslauer/ethereum-metropolis-upgrade-in-late-september">released</a> word that the Metropolis hard fork is set to occur in late September of this year.</p>
<h2>Road map ahead</h2>
<p>The hard fork has been widely anticipated after the Ethereum <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereums-2017-roadmap-flexibility-pow-to-pos-improving-ecosystem">road map</a> for 2017 was released earlier this year. The map indicated that the coming release would contain some major upgrades for the platform.The announcement earlier in the year indicated a three to six-month window for release, and late September is right on the cusp of a full six months.While the timing is later than many had hoped, the news is a welcome encouragement for those seeking Ethereum upgrades.</p>
<h2>Anticipated upgrades</h2>
<p>The new hard fork should enable some significant upgrades.First, increasing anonymity will come with new ‘zk-SNARKs,’ or Zero-knowledge proofs. Users will be able to perform anonymous transactions at higher levels than in the past.Second, programming and smart contracts will be made far easier with the new upgrade, relieving some of the pressure on current programmers. Gas will also be adjusted for bill settling.Third, masking for security enthusiasts will allow users to determine the address for which they have a private key. This will increase security on the network, even against quantum computer hacking.Finally, the upgrade includes a ‘Difficulty-Bomb’ intended to make mining exponentially more difficult.The bomb is designed to be an intermediate step in the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-to-mine-after-ethereums-pos-worlds-first-bitcoin-mining-pool-adds-zcash-support">transition</a>from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) on the network. This has often been referred to as the ‘Ethereum Ice Age.’ </p>
<h2>Price response?</h2>
<p>It remains unclear whether the upgrade will cause prices to increase or decrease. As mining slows, the price may fall.However, the upgrades should increase the amount of users on the system overall, causing the price to rise.Regardless, Metropolis is the penultimate stop on the road map - Serenity, the next upgrade, should produce an increase in stability, causing greater <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/is-ethereum-getting-ready-for-mass-adoption">investment</a> and price support.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tags/ethereum">Ethereum News</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tags/hard-fork">Hard Fork</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tags/bitcoin-cash">Bitcoin Cash</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tags/smart-contracts">Smart Contracts</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tags/pow">PoW</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tags/pos">PoS</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tags/investments">Investments</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/toronto-receives-its-first-ethereum-atms-targeting-mainstream-adoption#">Comments (7)</a>5 HOURS AGO By <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/toronto-receives-its-first-ethereum-atms-targeting-mainstream-adoption#">Joseph Young</a></p>
<h1>Toronto Receives its First Ethereum ATMs, Targeting Mainstream Adoption</h1>
<p>6643 Total views 216 Total sharesLocalCoinATM, the Ontario-based bitcoin and Ethereum ATM manufacturer, has installed its first batch of Ethereum ATMs in Canada. These were installed over the past week in three different locations: Toronto, Brampton and Etobicoke. All of the ATMs were launched in branches of Hasty Market, a popular convenience store chain in Canada.LocalCoinATM released an official <a href="http://www.localcoinatm.com/first-ethereum-eth-crypto-atm-toronto-localcoinatm/">statement</a>:</p>
<blockquote><em>“We’re excited to announce that we’ve added support for Ethereum on all our Bitcoin ATMs in Toronto and the GTA. We are the first Ethereum ATM providers in Toronto. Ethereum has revolutionized the crypto industry with its smart contract features.”</em></blockquote>
<p>Through the two-way ATMs of LocalCoinATM, Ethereum users and investors can easily purchase and sell Ethereum for fiat. Similar to how Bitcoin ATMs work, Ethereum ATMs display an Ether deposit address for sellers and require buyers to enter the addresses of their Ethereum wallet to purchase the cryptocurrency with Canadian dollars.</p>
<h2>What is Ether?</h2>
<p>Within the cryptocurrency sector, Ethereum and its native token Ether are not really considered a cryptocurrency but rather a crypto-asset. Technically, Ether is utilized as gas to fuel decentralized applications on the Ethereum protocol. Hence, the vast majority of users do not use Ether as a currency but as a fee to applications in the Ethereum network.However, since 2016, an increasing number of investors and traders have started to purchase Ethereum as a long-term investment and store of value, considering its rapid and exponential rise in value within a relatively short period of time. In fact, many regions in Asia including Japan, China and South Korea have demonstrated a surge in demand for Ethereum from both casual and professional traders.</p>
<h2>Why are Ethereum ATMs necessary?</h2>
<p>Most cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bittrex, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/breaking-news-bitfinex-fires-us-customers">Bitfinex</a>, Bithumb, Coinbase, GDAX and Kraken provide professional investment tools and high liquidity for investors, creating an efficient and secure environment. But such exchanges require compliance to strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) laws and as a result, users have to undergo a complicated process of verification and account approval.For users, traders and investors seeking to purchase small amounts of Ethereum, it’s not practical or efficient to purchase Ethereum through exchanges. Ordinary consumers and beginner users can instead utilize Ethereum ATMs which simplify the entire process. Such ATMs avoid the strict AML/KYC laws by limiting transactions to relatively small amounts.In South Korea and Hong Kong, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tags/bitcoin-atms">Bitcoin ATMs</a> have been quite popular for this very reason. Buyers and sellers trading small amounts of Bitcoin or Ethereum are reluctant to undergo an arduous and invasive verification process.In the upcoming years, as global adoption of Ethereum increases due to rising development activity around the smart contract-based Blockchain protocol, Ethereum ATMs will be useful channels for casual users and investors.</p>
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