Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 26 – The calm before the storm? Cryptocurrency price analysis

The cryptocurrency market had a pretty steady day when it comes to price movements. Most cryptos remained at their levels of 1 day ago. Bitcoin is currently trading for $6,652, which represents a decrease of 0.78% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 2.75% on the day, while XRP lost 1.17%.

EDC Blockchain took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 871.81%. On the other side, Swipe lost 12.67% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance has increased over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 67.04%, which represents a 0.39% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization did not move much in the past 24 hours. Its current value is $184.21 billion. This value represents a decrease of $0.14 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Bitcoin mining difficulty dropped by 15.95% in the past 24 hours. This is the second-largest decline in its history. Bitcoin price plummeted more than 50% percent last time a decline like this happened.

Though this is not a surefire way to determine the price direction, it is very much possible that Bitcoin will go down some more in the short-term.

Honorable mention

GRAM

Cardano launched Ouroboros Hydra, its off-chain scalability protocol on Mar 25. This protocol has gone live after five years of development.

The protocol increased scalability greatly for the Cardano blockchain. On top of that, it is using very little storage on the network’s nodes. Hydra could theoretically scale to 1,000,000 transactions per second.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a pretty stale day price-wise, as it did not move almost at all from yesterday. The largest digital currency by market cap is still trading just below the $6,850 resistance level without much fluctuation. While its price is above the weekly 200-period moving average, if the price doesn’t move to the upsidein the next couple of days, we can expect a leg down towards lower $6,000’s, or even lower.


Bitcoin’s volume drastically reduced from yesterday, while its RSI level dropped slightly towards the middle of the value range, currently being at the value of 56.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $6,850                                           1: $6,640

2: $7,085                                           2: $5,960

3: $7,420                                            3: $5,000


Ethereum

Ethereum has almost mirrored the movements of Bitcoin for the past 24 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency had close to no movement on the day, with its price being right below the $139 resistance line. However, the only change from yesterday is exactly the $139 level. While it was undecided whether the price will end up below or above it yesterday, it is quite clear that Ethereum will trade below this level for the time being.


Ethereum’s volume also dropped severely from yesterday, while its RSI level is currently at the value of 51.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $168                                                1: $128

2: $178.6                                            2: $122.5 

3: $185                                                3: $100


Ripple

XRP had a bit more movement than Bitcoin and Ethereum in the past 24 hours. Namely, its price moved down to $0.157 but quickly recovered to its previous level of around $0.16. XRP is trading between the resistance of $0.165 and support of $0.147 for five days now, without any signs of going up or down.


XRP’s volume decreased slightly over the past 24 hours, while its RSI level dropped to 53.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.147

2: $0.19                                              2: $0.1

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 25 – BTC failing to break above $7,000; What to expect next?

The cryptocurrency market attempted to go up and reach new highs but failed to do so as Bitcoin couldn’t break above the $6850 resistance successfully. Bitcoin is currently trading for $6,682, which represents a decrease of 0.63% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 1.48% on the day, while XRP lost 0.02%.

ZEON took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 272.17%. On the other side, Molecular Future lost 11.20% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance has increased over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 66.65%, which represents a 0.26% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased over the past 24 hours, with a current value of $184.35 billion. This value represents an increase of $4.7 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Blockchain analysis firm Coin Metrics found out that even though Bitcoin was experiencing tough times (especially the one when its price had the biggest daily loss in the last seven years), stablecoins bloomed.

This company released its State of the Network report on Mar 23. Stablecoins gained a lot of the market share, which everyone could see. However, spreads on spot and futures markets widened, while transfer fees went up as people rushed to deposit coins.

Honorable mention

GRAM

A United States District Court has ruled against Telegram for the issue of using GRAM tokens without declaring that they are securities prior to the ICO.

Prior to that, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s requested a preliminary injunction, to which the Court answered that it finds that the SEC has shown great likelihood of success in proving the contracts and understandings at issue. This would be including the sale of 2.9 billion Grams to 175 purchasers which netted Telegram $1.7 billion.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin had somewhat a turbulent day, with its price going from all the way to $7,000 and then back down to $6500, only to stabilize at just sligtly higher levels than yesterday. The largest cryptocurrency did not manage to break the $6,850 resistance successfuly, so the bears stepped in and brought the price back down. BTC is now holding below $6,850 and above $6,640. This move might be percieved as a fakeout above $6,850 and the market might look for a leg down towards the low $6,000’s or lower.


Bitcoin’s volume did not increase during the spike, which is quite interesting. Its RSI level is currently at the level of 62.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $6,850                                           1: $6,640

2: $7,085                                           2: $5,960

3: $7,420                                            3: $5,000


Ethereum

Ethereum is currently fighting for where it will go next. Its price is stuck right at the $139 level, not knowing whether it will go up or down. However, a break to any side will not be as significant as the moves that Bitcoin makes, and could only bring the price up or down so far.


Ethereum’s volume is still at extremely low levels, while its RSI level is currently just above the mid-point of the value range, sitting at the value of 57.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $168                                                1: $128

2: $178.6                                            2: $122.5 

3: $185                                                3: $100


Ripple

XRP had a day of virtually no movement. However, this is not quite due to its price, not wanting to move. The third-largest cryptocurrency was trading right below the $0.165 level, constantly failing to break it. This exact thing happened in the past 24 hours as well, as the price kept trying to go above the resistance, failing, and then going back to its previous levels.


XRP’s volume saw no increase or decrease on the day, while its RSI level is currently at 57.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.147

2: $0.19                                              2: $0.1

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 24 – Bitcoin recording double-digit gains as it reaches $6,500

The cryptocurrency market managed to pull its weight to the upside as Bitcoin surged and recorded double-digit gains in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $6,488, which represents an increase of 10.73% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 8.91% on the day, while XRP gained 6.27%.

Bytecoin took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 17.64%. On the other side, Steem lost 1.82% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser. At the moment, it seems that the market moves as a whole (or at least in the same direction) and that not many cryptos differ from this rule.

Bitcoin’s dominance has increased over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 66.39%, which represents a 0.41% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased over the past 24 hours, with a current value of $180.28 billion. This value represents an increase of $3.5 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Democrats in the US House of Representatives are looking to implement the US-made digital dollar in order to streamline payments to its citizens outside of the traditional financial system. This idea has come up as many people were in need of some form of a stimulus package as a response to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Honorable mention

MakerDAO

The MakerDAO (MKR) has recently announced an auction to recover the DAI collateral debt. This auction is almost complete, even with the procedure suffering some technical setbacks. The MakerDAO community largely remains optimistic as they think that Maker is handling the situation quite well.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin managed to pull itself out of the falling price by creating lower lows pattern. The largest cryptocurrency soared above $6,000 once it broke the $5,960 resistance. The price was, however, stopped by the $6,640 resistance. Bitcoin is now consolidating right below this key level, trading at around $6,500 at the time of writing.


Bitcoin’s volume increased slightly during the price surge, while its RSI reached above 60 values on the 4-hour timeframe.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $6,640                                           1: $5,960

2: $6,850                                           2: $5,000

3: $7,085                                            3: $4,300


Ethereum

Ethereum followed Bitcoin price-wise and increased in value as well, though not quite as much. The second-largest cryptocurrency has broken its $128 resistance quite quickly and moved towards future resistances. However, a new key resistance level has formed at the $139 level, which stopped the price from increasing twice in the past 24 hours.


Ethereum’s volume increased only during the duration of the candle, which brought its price over $128, while the rest of the day went by with regular volume. Its RSI level increased and is now at a value of 55.5.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $168                                                1: $128

2: $178.6                                            2: $122.5 

3: $185                                                3: $100


Ripple

XRP increased in price as well over the past 24 hours. However, a pattern that is present for a couple of runs (to the upside as well as the downside) is that XRP did not break any support or resistance levels. XRP couldn’t get past the $165 level and is now trading at the $158.5 level, performing consolidation.


XRP’s volume increased only slightly when compared to the past couple of days. Its RSI level increased to the value of 55.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.147

2: $0.19                                              2: $0.1

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What are CryptoKitties?

-When Satoshi Nakamoto created the blockchain, he had far more far-reaching goals in mind: a secure technology that would power the world’s first cryptocurrency. And indeed, cryptocurrencies are the biggest adoption of blockchain today.

But then came Ethereum, the blockchain that showed us that blockchain was capable of more. On the platform, users can create smart contracts and build decentralized applications (DApps) – which are applications that cannot be censored or controlled by anyone.

Then one team came and utilized DApps in a way that was completely unprecedented – by creating a game that allows people to buy, breed, and trade cats. The game has taken the world, not just the blockchain world, by storm. Enthusiastic players have poured millions of dollars into the game. Several articles have been published about “kitty phenomena.” Even Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin himself has given it a shout out – and that is saying something.

So what’s CryptoKitties? This article sets to exploring the intriguing blockchain-powered “kitty verse.”

The Team behind CryptoKitties

Crypto Kitties is the brainchild of a company called Axiom Zen. This company creates many sorts of projects using novel technologies like virtual reality and blockchain.  

Based in both San Francisco and Vancouver, the “award-winning venture studio” CryptoKitties wants you to “Collect and trade CryptoKitties in one of the world’s first blockchain games. Breed your rarest cats to create the purrfect furry friend. The future is meow!”

What is a Genetic Algorithm? 

A genetic algorithm is a computer science optimization technique that’s inspired by the natural selection process. It works by generating ‘kids’ from a pool of parent solutions that uses bio-inspired operators such as selection, crossover, and mutation. The genetic algorithm represents the genes in the form of numbers. The numbers represent the proteins and other elements that we humans have in our bodies.   

  • Selection: Selection means retaining the best parents with the best genes from one generation to the other. 
  • Crossover: This means taking the two common variables of the two parents and retaining them in the child, just like how real-life people retain features from both parents. 
  • Mutation: This involves taking a parent and randomly mutating some of their ‘genes’ to create a child. 

Why are we talking about the Genetic Algorithm? Because it’s the technology that CryptoKitties uses to create new kitties. By using a crossover mechanism, a child genome is “sired” from the gene pool of two-parent kitties. This child genome is what grows up to be a new kitty. 

The CryptoKitty Smart Contract 

The entire cryptokitty smart contract is broken down into smaller and more manageable contracts. The ‘inheritance tree’ of the contracts is like this: 

  • contract KittyAccessControl 
  • contract KittyBase is KittyAccessControl 
  • contract KityyOwnership is KittyBase  
  • contract KittyBreeding is KityyOwnership  
  • contract KittyAuction is KittyBreeding
  • contract KittyMinting is KittyAuction
  • contract KittyCore is KittyMinting

The KittyCore here is the contract that tracks ownership and transfer of kitties. It’s The one that greenlights the siring of new kitties 

Where Do New Kitties Come From? 

The first cat was adopted on December 2, 2017. Since then, a new cat was born every 15 minutes until November 2018 when the first generation kitties no longer existed. 

The white pa-purr (what the developers really, truly call the white paper) states that only 50, 000 generation-0 kitties will ever exist. 

Of course, CryptoKitties can breed with each other to birth newborn kitties. Any kitty can be a ‘sire’ or a ‘dame’ for a breeding pair. After breeding takes place, the owner of the dame will be given the baby kitty – who will have ‘cattributes’ of their parents, as well as random cattributes. In rare cases, a ‘fancy cat’ with custom cattributes will be born. 

There’s no limit to how many CryptoKitties can exist. On the CryptoKitties market, you can also pay to breed your kitty with another person’s kitty – if you like that kitty’s cattributes. 

How to Buy and Store CryptoKitties?

Before you get started with anything, there are three things that you need:

Before you can begin to buy CryptoKitties, you need to have the following: 

  • Chrome or Firefox Browser 
  • The Metamask Wallet 
  • Ether in the Metamask Wallet. You can exchange fiat currency for Ether from any of several exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, Bitfinex, GDAX, Gemini, and so on. 

Once you have those, it’s pretty straightforward. Go to the CryptoKitties website and choose the kitty of your preference. Don’t you like any? No problem. Simply search for a ‘Gen 0’ kitty under the ‘Gen 0’ tab. 

To sire new kitties, go to the ‘Siring’ tab. On there, you’ll see all the kitties that have been put up for siring. Go ahead and choose the kitty that you’d like to have mated with yours. 

Now, how do you store your kitties? You can keep them in the MetasMask wallet if you’d like to be viewing and also trading them. But if you’d like to HODL your kitties, you can store them in a cold storage wallet that supports ERC-721 tokens e.g., Ledger Nano S.

Gas Consumption of CryptoKitties

CryptoKitties are one of the reasons scalability of the Ethereum blockchain has come into sharp focus. This is because the game became so popular that it clogged up the Ethereum network such that transactions would take days before confirmation. Due to this, the creators of the game had to increase ‘birthing’ fees.

Axiom, the company behind the game, said this in a Medium article:

“The excitement and adoption we’ve seen this week has been overwhelming, and we couldn’t be happier! However, the Ethereum network is completely full. The only way to keep CryptoKitties from lagging is to increase the gas prices so that all transactions can complete quickly. We know that increased gas prices will mean that some of you will need to slow down your breeding regimen, and we are incredibly disappointed by that. But who knows? Maybe this slowdown will just mean that you’ll love the Kitties you already have that much more.”

From this episode, it was clearer than ever that the Ethereum blockchain and, indeed, the current entire blockchain setup is not really capable of handling mainstream demands. That means that they have to work on the scalability issue before they can play the role of a decentralized, peer-to-peer future.

Built on Ethereum 

As of early 2020, CryptoKitties runs on the Ethereum network. Smart contracts oversee every aspect of the buying and selling of kitties. As such, no one can change, remove, or change a kitty once it has been birthed. The person that holds a CryptoKitty can hold it, let it mate with another kitty, or trade it if they feel like. 

The game also uses Ether as the medium for transactions. It’s still not possible to buy CryptoKitties with fiat currency as of now. However, the developing team hopes to make this option available in the future.

Final Musings (Meowsings!)

Whether you’re a cat lover or not, CryptoKitties allows you to immerse yourself in a unique gaming experience of Kitty verse and make lucrative profits while at it. The game is an illustration of what blockchain is capable of. 

Who would have thought that Satoshi’s technology would one day be used for purely recreational purposes? CryptoKitties’ wild popularity just shows that blockchain games can be a hit, as long as they provide some form of value to the masses. More than industry applications, this could be the very pathway to taking blockchain mainstream.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 23 – Bitcoin uncertainty amid worldwide COVID-19 economy shutdown

The cryptocurrency market spent the weekend falling down, possibly indicating a further drop towards the lows of the end of 2018/start of 2019. Bitcoin is currently trading for $5,922, which represents a decrease of 6.28% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 7.21% on the day, while XRP lost 5.67%.

UNUS SED LEO took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 1.62%. On the other side, Hedera Hashgraph lost 16.12% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance has increased over the weekend. Its value is now 65.98%, which represents a 0.55% difference to the upside when compared to Friday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased over the weekend, with a current value of $166.74 billion. This value represents a decrease of $3.03 billion when compared to the value it had on Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Catherine Coley, the CEO of the US branch of Binance, revealed that the coronavirus quarantine in Asia led to increased trade volumes. She announced this statistic during a Bloomberg interview, where she also talked about the increasing correlation between Bitcoin and the S&P 500.

On the subject of the increased correlation between Bitcoin and the S&P 500, Coley said that both the traditional markets as well as the cryptocurrency market are playing out a well-known long-term cycle.

Honorable mention

Tezos

The Tezos Foundation announced that they would settle a $25 million consolidated class-action lawsuit. This will settle more than two years of fighting in court. The foundation chose to settle due to the time and financial expenses that would keep piling up.

The settlement proceedings are currently pending court approval.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

While most analysts claim that Bitcoin has not gone under the $5,900 level and therefore stabilized above it, they fail to notice that it might be more plausible that Bitcoin is facing resistance at the $5,960 level. If this is the case, then Bitcoin fell under one of its key support levels over the weekend. However, this does not signal that it will keep going further down. That being said, the situation in the world economy alongisde the coronavirus outbreak does not bring good news to any market, cryptocurrency included.


Bitcoin’s volume decreased over the weekend, while its RSI level is currently near the middle of the value range, sitting at the value of 47.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $5,960                                           1: $5,000

2: $6,640                                           2: $4,300

3: $6,850                                            


Ethereum

Ethereum, as a cryptocurrency that is highly correlated to Bitcoin and its movement, did not differ much from the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Ether’s price fell under the $128 support level but found its stability near the $122.5 support. Ethereum is now trading in the middle of the range, bound by these two key levels.


Ethereum’s volume decreased over the weekend, while its RSI level is currently at the value of 44.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $128                                                1: $122.5

2: $168                                              2: $100 

3: $178.6                                                


Ripple

XRP fell below its $0.165 support level over the weekend after just briefly going over it. The third-largest cryptocurrency is, again, trading between the levels of $165 to the upside and $0.1 to the downside. The only change in terms of key levels seems to be that XRP now responded to a pre-2017 support level of $0.147.


XRP’s volume is on extremely low levels, while its RSI level is currently at the value of just above 44.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.147

2: $0.19                                              2: $0.1

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Blockchain and DLT

Ethereum Virtual Machine: Everything you’ll ever need to know

Many people acquainting themselves with the Ethereum ecosystem tend to overlook the Ethereum Virtual Machine, yet it provides really interesting tidbits into how the Ethereum ecosystem works.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is the core innovation of Ethereum. It is a Turing complete software that enables anyone to run any program, provided they have enough memory space. The EVM helps developers build blockchain applications faster, more easily, and more efficiently. It provides the platform for creating countless blockchain applications in one single place, instead of having to create a new blockchain for every new application.

The EVM also prevents denial of service attacks – which are attacks targeted at making a network unavailable to users. It also ensures programs running on the blockchain do not have access to each other’s state, thus eliminating any potential interference.

Turing Complete

EVM is a quasi-Turing complete software. Turing complete is named after Alan Turing, the innovator of the Turing machine. A Turing complete machine can solve any problem fed into it, as long as there are enough time and memory space.

EVM is quasi-Turing complete because its computations are bound by gas – which in effect limits the number of calculations that it can solve.

Gas and EVM Bytecode

On Ethereum, transactions are powered by ‘gas,’ which in essence is the fee that users pay. The concept of gas can be seen in two ways: gas and gas price. 

Gas is the measuring tool of how much fee is needed for a particular transaction, while gas price is how much Ether you’re willing to spend to purchase a unit of gas. Gas price is measured in ‘Wei.’

Wei is the smallest unit of Ether – with one Ether comprising 10^18 Wei.  

If an individual wishes to conduct a transaction on Ethereum, they must set the gas limit and gas price attached to that transaction. If they don’t possess the required gas for that transaction, it will ‘run out of gas’ and hence be invalid. 

Gas can limit the number of transactions on the EVM, in this way:

  • Blocks on the Ethereum blockchain have a gas limit, meaning the gas spend on any transaction cannot exceed a particular amount
  • The gas is attached to the gas price, even if the gas limit was removed, it would be impractical to solve just any problem fed into it. 

EVM has its own programming language called the ‘EVM bytecode.’ When a code is written in a higher-concept programming language like Ethereum’s own Solidity, it is compiled in the bytecode so that EVM can interpret it. 

Transaction-based State Machine 

The EVM is a crucial part of the Ethereum infrastructure since it handles internal state and computations, account information pertaining to addresses, balances, gas price, and so on. The EVM must always keep track of the numerous network components so it can support transactions. 

A state machine is a term in computer science that refers to a machine that can read inputs fed into it and then, upon interpreting those inputs, produce certain outputs. This is how transactions on the EVM are carried out. At the start, there is a blank slate. When transactions are occurring, any point in that duration describes the current state of Ethereum. For a state transaction to occur, the ‘inputs’ entered must be valid. A transaction is validated once it successfully goes through the mining process. 

This mining process is referred to as proof-of-work (PoW) and takes place when certain network participants expend computing power so as to verify a block of transactions and add those transactions on the blockchain. Successfully completing a block gets a miner rewarded with Ether – the native token of the Ethereum blockchain. 

Now, onto the components that the EVM must continually keep track of: the Account State, World State, Storage State, Block Information, and Runtime Environment Information. 

Account State

The Ethereum platform comprises many small accounts that can interact with each other, thanks to its message-passing infrastructure. These accounts can be divided into two types: externally owned accounts and contract accounts. Externally owned accounts are controlled by their owners via private keys, while contract accounts are controlled by the contract code.

An externally owned account can send messages to other externally owned accounts and also contract accounts via the use of a private key. Communication between these types of accounts can be considered as just value transfer.

However, passing between an externally owned account and a contract account triggers the execution of the contract account code. This causes the contract account to execute the instructions in the code, for example, transferring or creating new tokens.

Unlike externally owned accounts, contract accounts cannot initiate new transactions by themselves. 

Instead, they are reactive – meaning they can only engage in transactions in response to other transactions that have been passed to them either from externally owned accounts or other contract accounts.

Three elements characterize the account state, and these are as below:

Nonce – For externally owned accounts, this is the value of how many transactions were sent from the account’s address. For contract accounts, this is how many contracts were created by the account.

Balance – This is how many Weis are owned by the account address

CodeHash – This is the immutable hash value of the EVM code for the corresponding account.

World State

This is a ‘global’ state that comprises a mapping between 160-bit address identifiers and the account state. The mapping is maintained in a data framework called the Merkle Patricia Tree – which in turn consists of nodes with:

  • Numerous leaf nodes at the bottom of the tree that houses the underlying data
  • A set of intermediate nodes with each node consisting of two child nodes
  • A single root hash born from the hash of the previous child nodes, representing the top of the tree structure

Storage State

The storage state is state information for specific accounts. This information is maintained on the EVM at runtime.

Block Information

These are state values that enable transactions to take place, and they comprise: 

  • Block hash – which is the hash of the youngest validated block
  • Coinbase – the recipient’s address
  • Timestamp – the current block’s timestamp
  • Number – the number or position of the current block
  • Difficulty – the difficulty value of the current block 
  • Gas limit – the maximum gas that can be spent on the current block 

Runtime Environment Information

This is information that allows for transactions to be executed. It includes the following: 

  • Gas Price – Current gas attached to a transaction 
  • Codesize – The size of transactions’ source code 
  • Caller – The address of the account that is conducting the transaction
  • Origin – The address of the transaction’s initiator   

Outside the Network

The EVM is situated outside the main Ethereum network, making it a perfect testing environment. Individuals and companies that wish to create smart contracts can do so on the platform, and this will not any way affect normal blockchain operations. They can also use the platform to hone their smart contract creation skills so they can eventually create more robust and applicable smart contracts.

Closing Thoughts

Smart contracts are central to a decentralized world – and the EVM is an excellent platform for developers to curate smart contracts that will make the world a better place. Being a free and highly developed tool for this process, we can’t think of a better platform where people can perfect – and ultimately showcase their coding smarts.

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 20 – Cure for Coronavirus found? Crypto surging, Bitcoin above $6,000

The cryptocurrency market had another surprise in its sleeve today. Bitcoin rose above $6,000, while other cryptos followed. Bitcoin is currently trading for $6,164, which represents a staggering increase of 16.2% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 15.57% on the day, while XRP gained 8.52%.

v.systems took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 38.24%. On the other side, Bytecoin lost 6.22% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance has increased over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 65.43%, which represents a 0.76% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased exponentially, with a current value of $169.77 billion. This value represents an increase of $17.41 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

This time, the “what happened in the past 24 hours” section will not be about cryptocurrencies. However, it is connected to the market as it influences it highly. Apparently, a cure for the notorious COVID-19 virus which struck the world has been found.

A drug that treats malaria developed over half a century ago is showing great signs of being the cure for COVID-19, especially in combination with an antibiotic. The study showed great results in treating the virus.

Honorable mention

Tether

The world’s largest stablecoin by market cap has launched its operation on the Bitcoin Cash network. USDT will, at the time of writing, be available on the Bitcoin Cash network. On top of this, it is also available on many other networks, such as Ethereum, Algorand, Liquid Network, EOS, Omni, and Tron.

Tether (USDT) has seen a great surge of interest in recent weeks as the market has been going down. With people not wanting to get out of crypto, but wanting to protect their investments, Tether has been one of the main destinations for their funds.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin experienced a surge in price in the past 24 hours. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap managed to increase in value by over 15%, reaching a price of over $6,000. The resistance level of $5,960 has been broken and became a support level.The price push has ended and Bitcoin is now consolidating at the $6,100 level.


Bitcoin’s volume increased only slightly during the upswing, while its RSI grazed the overbought area on the 4-hour chart, but did not pass it.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $6,640                                           1: $5,960

2: $6,850                                           2: $5,000

3: $7,085                                            3: $4,300


Ethereum

Ethereum followed Bitcoin and had a day with a double-digit increase in price. The second-largest cryptocurrency rose over 15% and managed to tackle the $122.5 as well as the $128 resistance levels, turning them into support.


Ethereum’s volume increased greatly during the upswing but died down as the move ended. Its RSI level also increased, with the value currently being at 61.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $168                                                1: $128

2: $178.6                                            2: $122.5 

3: $185                                                3: $100


Ripple

XRP had a great day, as it increased in price by over 5%. However, its fortune is not as great as the other two aforementioned cryptos. The third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap did manage to gain some value but failed to break the $0.165 resistance level, which plays a crucial role in the future price development of XRP.


XRP’s volume increased slightly during the upswing but is back to normal levels now. Its RSI level is currently at the value of 56.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.1

2: $0.19

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance: A comprehensive guide

A lot can happen in a decade. And in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, a lot has happened – and that’s remarkable, seeing we started using those terms just about ten years ago. From thousands of cryptocurrencies launched to entire organizations coming together to further the blockchain agenda – the industry is growing stronger. 

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) is one of these organizations – and it exists to make it easier for individuals and businesses all over the world to collaborate and build private versions of the Ethereum blockchain for their business needs.  

The alliance has over 150 members – which is impressive, seeing as it only started with 30. 

What is EEA’s Vision? 

EEA is motivated by four goals:

i) Build a standard open-source specification 

EEA will define open-source standards for the operation of Ethereum blockchain across member organizations. 

ii) Address enterprise requirements

The EEA will help member organizations deploy blockchain technology wherever applicable.   

iii) Evolve in tandem with the Ethereum blockchain 

EEA members will get blockchain experts and best practices from the Ethereum blockchain. Hence, both public and private versions of the Ethereum blockchain will grow alongside each other.

iv)Strive for global interoperability 

The EEA will strive to realize the interoperability of the blockchains.

How Does EEA Help the Ethereum Blockchain?

The EEA hopes to help the Ethereum blockchain in these ways: 

  • Governance for Ethereum’s Enterprise Applications

The alliance will design a framework through which smart contracts can be optimized and implemented for companies and businesses. Thanks to this, companies will have an easier task of transferring real-world applications onto the blockchain. 

  • Enhance Compatibility and the Public Ethereum

The EEA will plug in new features based on real-life uses cases and contribute to Ethereum’s smart contracts business potential – and the way businesses conduct business.   

  • Ensure Rapid Technical Innovations

Developers interested in creating smart contracts and decentralized applications on the Ethereum blockchain will have an easier time doing so, thanks to more familiar frameworks and more standardized technical procedures and tools.

Ethereum Enterprise Alliance and Hyperledger 

In October 2018, the EEA and Hyperledger – an umbrella project for open-source blockchain frameworks announced they would be working together for the benefit of blockchain. This was good news for the crypto space since both bodies have a wealth of blockchain expertise between them. The two organizations were being seen as competitors before – but coming together means they can tap the synergies in each other and do great things for blockchain. 

“This is a time of great opportunity. Collaborating through mutual associate membership, provides more opportunities for both organizations to work more closely together,” said Ron Resnick, an executive director of the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance. 

The two organizations will help drive the adoption of blockchain by businesses and companies all over the world and, in the process, bring blockchain benefits to the world. 

The new arrangement will also allow for greater sharing between the two organizations. For example, Hyperledger developers can benefit from EEA’s certification programs, and EEA members working to achieve certain standards can get help from the Hyperledger platform to implement them. 

Members of the EEA

EEA is a collaboration of an eclectic mix of companies. 

Some heavyweights in the alliance are Intel, Microsoft, Santander, ING, Ethereum Foundation, Scotiabank, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Standard Chartered Bank. 

The most interesting member might be JP Morgan Chase & Co. This is because the company’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, has been on record declaring his lack of faith in Bitcoin, Ethereum’s main competitor. His dislike for Bitcoin is so strong that he said he would fire any JP Morgan employee who traded Bitcoin. So, it’s puzzling that he would disparage Bitcoin and throw his support behind Ethereum. 

How to Become a Member of EEA

Anyone can become an EEA member, provided they meet the criteria. Members can be individuals, groups, or organizations. The criteria for joining is as below: 

  • Applicant must be promoting Ethereum-based enterprise applications one way or another. 
  • Applicant must agree to the EEA policies, guidelines – which include Intellectual Property, Non-Disclosure, and Antitrust.
  • Applicant must comply with their country’s laws and regulations 
  • Once a member, applicants must pay an annual membership fee. The fee is as follows: $3,000 for individuals, groups, and companies with less than 50 employees, $10,000 for companies with 51 to 500 employees, $15,000 for companies with 501 to 5,000 employees, and $25,000 for companies with more than $5,000 employees. 

Benefits of the EEA

One of the benefits of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance is events. The EEA organizes several events each year that create great opportunities for members to meet, network, and share and discuss ideas. Anyone that wishes to connect with the Ethereum agenda in a more meaningful way can benefit from those events. The events take place in many places across the world; some events have been held in London, New York, Denver, Hangzhou, and many others. This opens up the opportunity for businesses from diverse areas of the world to attend. 

Another benefit is members can create strong relationships within the Ethereum community. Apart from discussing serious topics like regulations, creating decentralized applications, and so on, there are also sometimes cocktail receptions that bring people together to have fun, bond, and let loose a bit. 

EEA members can also have detailed bios on the website – where they can talk about their company as well as their Ethereum agenda. This makes for increased international visibility for their company – which comes with increased presence and authority in their industry. As well, members can view each other’s information and create mutually beneficial connections.  

Why Organizations Are Joining the EEA

There are several reasons why the EEA has been a hit. 

Ethereum is the most popular cryptocurrency next to Bitcoin. It is the second-largest in market cap and has maintained that position for a very long time. Also, a lot of the most popular cryptocurrencies today started as Ethereum-based projects – think Tron, EOS, Binance Coin, and so on.  

Ethereum is also home to the ingenious smart contract technology that makes getting into a contract simpler and cheaper than ever before. Smart contracts are self-verifying and self-executing, which removes the need for intermediaries like lawyers, banks, and so on. Many people are interested in technology to see how they can benefit from it.  

Then there are Ethereum’s decentralized applications (DApps), which hold massive potential. DApps are applications that are uncensorable and give users complete control over their personal information – unlike centralized applications like Google, Facebook, etc. For many developers, Ethereum is the go-to blockchain for creating DApps. The reason for this is Ethereum’s solid reputation as the blockchain that made the technology possible. Another reason is the Ethereum Virtual Machine that gives developers access to friendly tools. 

Closing Thoughts

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance has become a formidable organization in the blockchain space thanks to the value proposition of the Ethereum blockchain and powerful companies that are backing it up. EEA also helped Ethereum’s token – Ether to gain a solid footing in the crypto market. This should be good news for Ethereum investors – they’re assured that Ethereum is not a fad cryptocurrency that’s going to disappear with the wind. And, blockchain enthusiasts should also rest at ease knowing that there are organizations out there that are working daily to advance the cause of technology.  

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 19 – BitMEX discussing Central Bank Digital Currencies; Cryptos consolidating

The cryptocurrency market has spent yet another day without much movement. Bitcoin is currently trading for $5,305, which represents an increase of 1.62% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.75% on the day, while XRP lost 2.04%.

Steem took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 95.53%. On the other side, WAX lost 21.91% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased by a slight margin over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 64.67%, which represents a 0.16% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization remained at basically the same place, with a current value of $152.36 billion. This value represents an increase of $0.61 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

BitMEX Research posted a thought that discusses the two approaches that governments can take regarding the issuance of a Central Bank Digital Currency as well as the ramifications for the economy. BitMEX posted its opinion on Mar 18.

The post said that “From a liquidity perspective, the largest deposit-taking institutions in an economy have an almost unconstrained capability to create new loans since the funds loaned out will automatically get placed back into their own bank as a deposit.”

Honorable mention

MakerDAO

The MakerDAO community has locked in an auction in hopes to cover a multi-million dollar hole in the DAI collateral. The funds were “gone” after the sudden Ethereum price crash on Mar 12.

The proceeds from the auction sale will be used to recapitalize and revitalize the system as well as to compensate the losses suffered by the borrowers. They lost their money as their Ethereum collateral got auctioned off for zero DAI.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a pretty quiet day with virtually no price movement. There was, at one point, an attempt made by the BTC bears to push the price below $5,000. However, that push ended up quickly and Bitcoin was back to its previous level in no time.


Bitcoin’s volume is stable at the moment, though on quite low levels. Its RSI level is currently sitting at the value of 47.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $5,960                                           1: $5,000

2: $6,640                                           2: $4,300

3: $6,850                                            3: 3,100


Ethereum

Ethereum had a similar day as Bitcoin, though with some differences. Namely, while Bitcoin had an attempted push to the downside, Ethereum tried to break its upside resistance level. However, that ended up without much effect, and Ethereum is now back to its previous level.


Ethereum’s volume is still extremely low and is keeping these levels. Its RSI level is currently slightly below the middle of the value range, sitting at 43.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $122.5                                             1: $100

2: $128                                              2: $80 

3: $168                                           


Ripple

XRP also experienced a slow day with almost no price movement. However, its price moved a bit more than Ethereum’s and Bitcoin’s price. XRP managed to slide down in price by 2%. It is still kept within the same range, currently trading at just above $0.146.


XRP’s volume is extremely low, while its RSI level is sitting at 45 at the time of writing.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.1

2: $0.19

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 18 – Bitcoin will save the world from crisis, Tim Draper announces

The cryptocurrency market managed stayed at almost the same place as yesterday. Bitcoin climbed above the $5,000 mark and is currently stagnating and consolidating there. Bitcoin is currently trading for $5,341, which represents an increase of 1.3% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.28% on the day, while XRP gained 0.56%.

Dragon Coins took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 62.43%. On the other side, Terra lost 4.53% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased by a slight margin over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 64.51%, which represents a 0.57% difference to the downside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization went up slightly, with a current value of $151.75 billion. This value represents an increase of $5.61 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Right as bitcoin recovered slightly after a number of back-to-back market crashes last week, investor Tim Draper announced another optimistic forecast about Bitcoin.

Draper announced that decentralization powered by Bitcoin as well as other new technologies is one of the tools that has the “ability to transform the biggest industries in the world.”

Honorable mention

NEO

NEO-based DEX Switcheo partnered with the Zilliqa platform to allow trading of Ethereum-based and EOS-based assets on their platform.

According to a Mar 16 announcement, after the launch, Zilliqa holders will have access to Ethereum-based assets for the first time. Switcheo also plans to add Bitcoin (BTC) support soon.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin experienced almost no price movement in the past 24 hours. The price was completely flat while the volume lowered slightly. This area of no movement happened ever since Bitcoin stepped into the $5,300 area.


Bitcoin’s volume is quite low, while its RSI level is in the middle of the value spectrum (currently at 45).

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $5,960                                           1: $5,000

2: $6,640                                           2: $4,300

3: $6,850                                            3: 3,100


Ethereum

Ethereum did pretty much the same as Bitcoin by mirroring its movement (or lack thereof). The second-largest cryptocurrency did nothing but move sideways for the whole day, with the price hovering right below the $122.5 resistance.


Ethereum’s volume decreased further, while its RSI level is currently at 40. There were no changes in key levels due to no movement to the upside or downside.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $122.5                                             1: $100

2: $128                                              2: $80 

3: $168                                           


Ripple

XRP, for the first time in a while, didn’t just follow the general direction of the market but actually mirrored Bitcoin’s and Ethereum’s movement. The lack of volume resulted in sideways trading with no price movement whatsoever. The third-largest cryptocurrency is moving in a range between $0.1 and $0.165.


XRP’s volume decreased even more in the past 24 hours, while its RSI level is currently at the 44 mark.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.1

2: $0.19

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 17 – Bitcoin back up above $5,000 as bulls gather up

The cryptocurrency market managed to recover slightly from the fall it had yesterday. Bitcoin went above the $5,000 mark and regained some confidence. Bitcoin is currently trading for $5,297, which represents an increase of 2.83% on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 0.48% on the day, while XRP gained 1.02%.

WAX took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 29.55%. On the other side, Komodo lost 13.25% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased by a slight margin over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 65.08%, which represents a 0.7% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization went up slightly, with a current value of $146.14 billion. This value represents an increase of $5.38 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The fight against the Coronavirus pandemic is even present in the sphere of GPU mining, as the US chip manufacturer NVIDIA proposed for all users to use their computers to help the cause.

This initiative will accept donations of unused GPU computing power and then distribute it to an international processing power network. This will, in turn, be used to research COVID-19.

Honorable mention

Cardano

Earlier today, March 16, The Cardano Foundation made announced on its website that Z/Yen Group Limited (based in the UK) has initiated legal proceedings against the foundation.

Z/Yen Group Limited is a fintech company (think tank) as well as a former research partner of the Cardano Foundation.

_______________________________________________________________________

Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

After breaking $5,000 to the downside, Bitcoin bulls managed to gather and push its price back up. After struggling for a whole day, Bitcoin finally managed to break the $5,000 barrier and to reach consolidation above it. The largest cryptocurrency is now trading near the $5,250 area.


Bitcoin’s volume increased slightly during the breakout but quickly returned to normal. Its RSI level on the 4-hour chart is approaching the middle of the value range, currently being at around 44.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $5,960                                           1: $5,000

2: $6,640                                           2: $4,300

3: $6,850                                            3: 3,100


Ethereum

Ethereum, unlike Bitcoin, did not move much in the past 24 hours. While it tried to replicate Bitcoin’s movements to the upside, the bull presence wasn’t strong enough to push the price above the $122.5 mark.


Ethereum’s volume is quite low, which is one of the main factors contributing to ETH not breaking the $122.5 resistance level. Its RSI level on the 4-hour chart is currently slightly above the oversold area.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $122.5                                             1: $100

2: $128                                              2: $80 

3: $168                                           


Ripple

Our yesterday’s report said that XRP was in a better spot at that moment as it did not break any support levels during the price drop. This is true (but to the upside now) in today’s case as well. XRP gained some value as the bulls gathered up for a push, but the third-largest cryptocurrency did not break any significant levels (now to the upside).


XRP’s volume is quite low at the moment, while its RSI level on the 4-hour chart is currently 44.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.1

2: $0.19

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Is Neo an Ethereum Killer? 

If you’re active in the crypto space, then you’ve definitely heard of Neo, a.k.a Ethereum Killer, a.k.a Ethereum of China. Ethereum seems the common denominator in both tags – probably because the two platforms have so much in common so much that China sees it as the challenger and the Asian equivalent of Ethereum. 

However, the platform has taken a different path from Ethereum in some ways, and it’s those ways that merit it some closer examination. 

The name Neo is Greek, and it means new, young, fresh, recent.

Is Neo really fresh? And is it worth the unofficial crown of Ethereum Killer? There is a lot of hype surrounding Neo, but when you lift the lid, you find there are actually some interesting things to discover.

What is Neo?

History of the Neo Blockchain

Neo is the brainchild of Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang. The two have extensive experience in blockchain, having previously formed Onchain, a successful blockchain research, and development company. The Neo project was funded by two ICOs, the first one which happened in a 10-days span in October 2015 and raised $555,000, while the second ICO raised $4. 5 million. 

Components of the NEO System

Neo has a few interesting technical features that make up the Neo ecosystem. These are:  

A Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (DBFT) algorithm – Neo uses a DBFT consensus mechanism that enables the network to resist malicious attempts 

Neo Contract – A mechanism through which developers can create smart contracts in a safe, scalable and high-performance environment using a variety of programming languages 

NeoFS – A decentralized storage that utilizes distributed hash table technology  

NeoQ – a cryptographic mechanism that creates problems that are unsolvable by quantum computers, ensuring the Neo blockchain is quantum-proof. Quantum computing poses a real threat to the blockchain. Many experts agree that it could unravel the blockchain as we know it. NeoQ aims to prevent quantum computing from destroying the Neo ecosystem.   

The Neo Smart Contract System

Neo’s smart contract system comprises three parts: NeoVM (Neo Virtual Machine), IntereopService, and DevPack. Let’s take a closer look at each: 

  • NeoVM

NeoVM is a lightweight virtual machine that’s similar to a virtual CPU and executes smart contracts on the Neo platform. 

  • InteropService 

This is a function that helps smart contracts on the platform have more utility. It enables smart contracts to interact with data from outside the Neo blockchain without putting the system at security risks. This data couple be either transaction, asset, or contract information, and so on. InteropService also hosts smart contracts as storage.

  • DevPack 

This a language compiler that enables developers to create contracts in various languages. 

Neo: Tokenomics

As of March 6, 2020, Neo was trading at $12.28 and ranking at#19 with a market cap of $858, 998, 683. It had a 24-hour volume of $800, 365, 774, a circulating supply of 70, 538, 831, a total supply of 100m, and a maximum supply of the same value. Its all-time high was Jan 15, 2018 (Jan 2015), while its all-time low was $0. 072287 (Oct 21, 2016)

Neo’s Smart Economy

Neo wants to facilitate what it refers to as the “smart economy.” The smart economy comprises these components: 

  • Digital assets
  • Digital identity 
  • Smart contracts 

Digital Assets

A digital asset is anything that’s formatted in a binary form and comes with the right to use it. A digital asset must include the right to use, so it is considered as one. 

Blockchain has enabled a safer environment where individuals own digital assets. With technology, digital assets can be stored in a decentralized, secure, trusted, and third-party-free environment. 

There exists two forms of digital assets that an individual can utilize: 

  1. Global assets 
  2. Contract assets 

Global assets are recognizable by other smart contracts and clients in the system, while a contract asset is recognized only by the smart contract owner. 

Neo Blockchain and Digital Identity

IGI Global defines digital identity as “the data that uniquely describes a person or thing and contains information about the subject’s relationships.”

Digital identities are essential for the digitization of assets to work. 

The Neo platform utilizes the X.509 digital identity standard as well as the Web of Trust point-to-point certificate issuance models. 

Neo verifies identity-based on these features: 

  • Facial features
  • Fingerprints 
  • Voice activation 
  • SMS and others 

Smart Contracts 

Smart contacts that are contracts that take place on a blockchain – making them digital, trustless, and borderless. These contracts are coded so that they will self-execute when specific conditions are met. 

A smart contract must be immutable (unalterable) and be able to run on multiple computers without compromising the integrity of the network. As such, a smart contract needs to have the following qualities: 

  1. Deterministic
  2. Terminable
  3. Isolated  

What does each of these mean? Let’s get a closer look: 

Deterministic: This means that a program will always produce the same output to a given input. E.g., if 4+2=6, then 4+2 will be six every single time. Deterministic systems are designed to eliminate randomness out of a system.  

Terminable: This means that a contract should be able to come to completion after a set period so that it doesn’t go into an endless loop that will waste time and drain resources.    

Isolated: This means that individual contracts will be kept isolated in case of any bugs and malware that they may contain, knowingly or unknowingly. This is so to save the system from being affected by such bugs. 

Is Neo Similar to Ethereum?

Both Neo and Ethereum inevitably have several things in common, but they also differ in some key ways. 

Similarities 

  • Both blockchains provide a platform for developers all over the world to create smart contracts and decentralized applications
  • Both have native coins that power transactions: Ethereum has Ether, and Neo has GAS. 
  • Both have Turing complete, meaning any problem can be solved as long as the machine has enough memory space 

But what makes Neo interesting is not its similarities with Ethereum, but the differences. Neo is one of those projects that get branded “Ethereum Killer” since they do way better than Ethereum in regard to certain functionalities. 

For example, developers can use any codebase out of so many in the Neo platform, including C#, VB.Net, F#, Java, Kotlin, and more. Ethereum, on the other hand, only supports Solidity, its proprietary programming code that requires developers to master it before they can create applications on the platform. This is sort of a barrier to entry that could lock out many developers from the Ethereum ecosystem. 

The Two Tokens: Neo and Gas

The Neo ecosystem has two native tokens: Neo and GAS. These tokens serve different but complementary roles. 

Neo tokens are used to transfer value in the network. Having Neo tokens gives you a stake in the Neo blockchain. Users need to hold Neo tokens to be rewarded with GAS.

GAS tokens are used to enable seamless transactions in the Neo network. You pay GAS for using the Neo blockchain, e.g., subscription fees.  

Is Neo the Ethereum of China? 

Neo is often called the Ethereum of China due to its similarities with Ethereum. It is known in the crypto space that the Chinese government – which is well-known for its chilly attitude towards cryptocurrency – has warmed up to Neo and seeks to position it as the smart contract and DApps industry leader. Of course, this attitude could be a double-edged sword: it could legitimize the platform, but it could also alienate it from the rest of the world.  

How to Buy and Store Neo

You can buy or trade other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum in popular exchanges such as eToro, Coinswitch, Huobi, Changelly, Kucoin, Binance, Bitfinex, and so on. 

Some platforms allow you to purchase Neo with fiat money, while others only allow crypto.

Once you’ve bought Neo, it is recommended that you don’t let it sit on the exchange since exchanges are prone to hacking and other attacks. And since crypto transactions are irreversible, once your crypto is gone, it’s gone. 

We recommend storing your funds in tried-and-true wallets such as Guarda, Atomic wallet, NEON Gui – the official Neo wallet for desktop, and so on. Hardware wallets are always the safest option, though, and we recommend Ledger Nano X and Ledger Nano S. 

Neo: Final Thoughts

Neo is certainly ahead of other blockchain and cryptocurrency projects even if just by virtue of its unique Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance Mechanism or its getting ahead of the potentially harmful quantum computing. It excels yet again by allowing individuals to digitize assets and developers to build decentralized apps on its network using super-versatile tools. Perhaps Neo is ‘fresh’ after all. The question is, will it keep fresh? Its cheerleaders are banking on that. 

 

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 16 – Bitcoin under $5,000, how far down can we go?

The cryptocurrency market had yet another meltdown of epic proportions today. Bitcoin fell under $5,000 while most altcoins witnessed a price decrease that even goes into double digits on the daily. Bitcoin is currently trading for $4,847, which represents a staggering 7.93% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 11.82% on the day, while XRP lost 7.65%.

Dragon Coins took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 117.84%. On the other side, Ren lost 27.37% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased greatly over the weekend after falling over 5% in just one day. Its value is now 64.38%, which represents a 4.98% difference to the upside when compared to Friday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization went down significantly yet again, with a current value of $140.72 billion. This value represents a decrease of $12.8 billion when compared to the value it had on Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Coinbase, which is one of the biggest US exchanges, recently revealed a new feature on its platform called Bitcoin batching. This feature is designed to save users money on transaction fees.

This move was taken by Coinbase in order to improve the customer experience, as it will allow single on-chain crypto transactions to be bundled into one.

Honorable mention

Tezos (XTZ)

A digital asset marketplace Binance.US will list Tezos’s XTZ token on March 16th. According to the announcement on Binance’s website, XTZ/USD, as well as XTZ/BUSD trading pairs, will be available to traders on Monday, March 16th.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

After a pretty stable weekend of trading just above $5,000, Bitcoin’s price experienced some turbulence. At first, it seemed that the bulls have taken the lead and Bitcoin started moving up. However, the move slowed down as Bitcoin aproached $6,000. This newfound resistance got confirmed as Bitcoin’s price bounced back to $5,300, and then began falling even further. The largest cryptocurrency managed to go under the major support level of $5,000, which is a major psychological point. If the price continues going down this way, we can expect a major pinpoint to be the low of $3,100.


Bitcoin’s volume is average, except during the times of the price increases or decreases when it goes up. Its RSI level is currently in the oversold territory on the 4-hour chart.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $5,000                                           1: $4,300

2: $5,960                                           2: $3,100

3: $6,640                                            


Ethereum

Ethereum shared a similar faith to Bitcoin. The second-largest cryptocurrency went above the $128 resistance level, but the bullish move quickly got shut down as bears took over. Ethereum then fell under the $128 and $122.5 support levels and is now trading just under $110.


Ethereum’s volume is quite low, while its RSI is in the oversold area on the 4-hour chart.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $122.5                                             1: $100

2: $128                                              2: $80 

3: $168                                           


Ripple

Even though XRP almost mirrored the move that Ethereum made as far as price movement goes, it is in a much better spot at the moment. The third-largest cryptocurrency tried moving up but got stopped at the $0.165 resistance level. Right after that, the price started falling, and XRP reached the price of around $0.135. However, the price is slowly recovering, and the move to the downside didn’t break and support levels.


XRP’s volume is low, while its RSI level just went out of the oversold area on the 4-hour chart.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.1

2: $0.19

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic Cryptocurrencies

Ethereum Vs Ethereum Classic

Crypto newcomers will immediately notice two types of Ethereum in the space: Ethereum and Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. What they won’t know is the unfortunate story, turned intrigue, that spawned the existence of these two cryptocurrencies. Ethereum, the most popular blockchain after Bitcoin, was forced to split into Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC) in one of the most pivotal events in blockchain and cryptocurrency history. 

What is Ethereum? 

In broad strokes, Ethereum is an open software blockchain platform on which developers can build and deploy smart contracts and decentralized applications. 

Smart contracts are digital contracts that are self-verifying, self-executing, and do not require intermediaries to represent the contracting parties. Smart contracts are run and are deployed on the blockchain, and they automatically self-enforce when conditions of the agreement are met. Since they run on a blockchain, smart contracts are immune from censorship, fraud, and any sort of outside interference.

Decentralized applications (DApps) on their part are applications that run on a decentralized, peer-to-peer, and deregulated platform. DApps allow the user to retain their personal data, as opposed to centralized applications where user data is in the hands of the organization. Smart contract is the technology that connects DApps to the blockchain.

Enter DAO 

The formation of Ethereum and Ethereum Classic can be traced back to an organization called DAO, or the Decentralized Autonomous Organization. 

DAO was an automated and decentralized organization. It was a sort of venture capital fund that ran without the organizational hierarchy that’s typical with normal organizations. DAO was going to fund DApps built on the Ethereum blockchain. 

DAO was set up to give investors decision-making power over which potential DApp projects would receive funding. Investors would need to purchase DAO tokens – which gave them a stake in the DAO system. DAO tokens were purchased using Ether. 

For a DApp to be green-lit for funding, it had to be whitelisted by ‘curators’ who were basically reputable figureheads in the Ethereum space. Next, the approved DApps would be voted on DAO investors – or the token holders. If the proposal received a 20% approval, it would receive funding, so it gets started. 

This flexible process, together with the transparency and the overall potential of the DAO, was unprecedented, and scores of investors jumped in, hoping to get a piece of the action. In a record 28 days, the project had raised over $150 million of ether. 

Of course, that was all fine and dandy, but what if an investor wanted to get out? What if an approved DApp did not exactly tickle your fancy, was there a way to opt out? As with anything blockchain, the DAO was a democratic process, so yes, there was a way out – called the “split function.”  

Using this function, you could not only get back your ether, but you could also create your version of DAO known as “Child DAO.” If enough DAO token holders joined you, you could even start accepting your own proposals. The only condition was you had to hold out on spending your ether for the next 28 days.  

But it was this same Split Function that brought DAO to its knees. It exposed a huge loophole in the system that could be manipulated by a bad actor. Many people pointed this out, but DAO creators brushed it aside as not a big issue. Except it was, and it was exploited, and the aftermath was the undesirable split of Ethereum into Ethereum and Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. 

The Big and Bad DAO Attack 

The reckoning came on June 17, 2016. A person, or persons, exploited the Split Function and managed to siphon $50m dollars. And because hindsight is 20/20, it’s very clear to see how straightforward the attack was, and how it could have easily been avoided. 

Now, if one wanted to opt-out Of DAO, all they had to do was to submit a request. The Split Function would then do the following: 

  • Refund the user their ether in exchange for their DAO tokens 
  • Update the transaction in the blockchain, as well as the internal token balance 

What the attacker did was they made a recursive function of the request – meaning they made the request repeatedly for the same amount of DAO tokens 

  • The split function happened this way: 
  • DAO receives DAO tokens and gives the user the requested ether 
  • Before DAO can update the transaction, the user makes other requests for the same amount of Ether, making the code repeat the process over and over. 

By the end of it all, $50 million worth of ether was transferred to a child DAO. As you can imagine, the entire Ethereum and DAO community was sent into a panicking frenzy after it was discovered what was going on.   

Now’ it’s very important to point out that the attack took place courtesy to loopholes in the DAO and not Ethereum. 

DAO ran on Ethereum, and DAO had issues. Ethereum was merely the host of the DAO. 

Dao Attack: The Aftermath

Now after the attack happened, people naturally had questions about whether Ethereum and cryptocurrencies, in general, could be trusted. Even though Ethereum was not to blame, a lot of people couldn’t pick apart between it and DAO. Ether nosedived from $20 to $13. 

Now despite the hacker executing the attack, they couldn’t get access to the funds since the DAO smart contract had enforced the 28-day rule – that you couldn’t spend the ether after exiting DAO. This gave the community three options moving forward: 

  • No step would be taken: Some people were against making any changes since that would mean contravening the immutability tenet of blockchain. These people took the “code is law approach.”
  • Execute a soft fork: The majority of the community voted to implement a soft fork. The idea was to segregate the blocks that were involved in the hacker’s transactions so they wouldn’t be able to move the funds. However, this posed another problem: a soft fork opened way for a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, which meant an attacker could manipulate miners to perform malicious transactions. 
  • Implement a hard fork: A hard fork was now the only way to go. Hard forking meant a section of the Ethereum blockchain would branch out at a particular point – which was the point just before the DAO attack. 

After the fork, two completely different chains were born. The new chain went with the name Ethereum, or ETH. A section of the Ethereum community that was against the fork remained ‘loyal’ to the old chain, which in turn took up the name Ethereum Classic (ETC).  

The fork enabled DAO to refund investors the money that had been taken away. For every 100 of DAO, DAO token holders would be given 1 ETH. This caused a sharp disagreement, which added more fuel to the Anti-Hard Fork drive and contributed to the formation of Ethereum Classic.

You need to understand the magnitude of this hard fork. Remember, Ethereum was the most important cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. A hard fork shook not just the Ethereum community but the entire blockchain and crypto space. Gavin Wood, Ethereum’s co-founder, called this moment “the single most important moment in cryptocurrency history since the birth of Bitcoin.”

ETC vs. ETH – An Ideological Split 

The Ethereum split came down to a difference in ideology. The people that stuck with the old chain believed that cryptocurrency is supposed to be resilient against the whimsical decisions of people. According to them, a hard fork was a sellout, a betrayal of what cryptocurrency stood for. If you were splitting the Ethereum blockchain, you were defeating the very purpose of its existence – to represent a non-corrupt finance system. 

ETH Vs. ETC

Because these two are a split of the same chain and given the contentious history between them, it’s only natural that comparisons will be drawn. 

The biggest problem with ETC is that it is not backward compatible with the ETH hard fork. Also, the movers and shakers of the Ethereum community went with the new chain. This means users of the old chain will not have access to any updates on the new chain, like the upcoming move from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. 

For ETH, the issue is the new chain violated the “code is law” principle. There is also the glaring question of: how can we know the chain will not be capriciously hard forked again in the future? Are there already hard forks forming different versions of ETH? Even though the latter is conspiracy theories, it creates a climate of distrust in the public, which could lead to a devaluation of the coin.    

Having said that, let’s look at the pros and cons of each cryptocurrency: 

ETC

Pros

  • Adheres to the immutability tenet of blockchain 
  • Has the support of some big-time loyalists 

Cons

  • Users cannot enjoy any updates on ETH
  • The support of the vast majority of heavyweights in the community moved to ETH

ETH 

Pros

  • Has the support of the majority of the earliest big-time developers including Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin 
  • It is possible to update the software with new changes 
  • Enjoys a higher hash rate
  • Has the backing of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA)  

Cons

  • Betrayed the philosophy of immutability 

How Do ETH and ETC Stack Up in the Market? 

As of February 06, 2020, ETH is the more successful cryptocurrency of the two coins – at a market rank position #2 next only to Bitcoin. The crypto is trading at $236.42, while ETC is trading at $8.17 while ranking at #18. ETH has a market cap of 26 billion, while ETC stands at $950 million. 

ETH has enjoyed an all-time high of $1.432.88 (Jan 13, 2018), while ETC’S all-time was only $47.77 (Dec 21, 2017). 

ETC Vs. ETH – Final Words

In the never-ending ETC vs. ETH competition, ETH always comes out the winner as the vast majority of Ethereum developers, users and supporters have stuck by its side. ETH may have violated some blockchain principles, but the community bundled together and made something great out of the absolute disaster that was the DAO hack. That is a victory it will always have up in its notch. 

ETC, on the other hand, remains stained by the DAO attack, and the argument that it’s held together by sympathizers, blockchain loyalists, and pure market speculation. 

What’s for certain is that both chains have their loyal bases, and each of them has clout that’s unique to them. As for the battle between them, the common phrase, “it’s not over yet,” applies.

 

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 13 – Cryptos staring into the abyss as Bitcoin drops to $3,800

The cryptocurrency market had a meltdown of epic proportions today. Almost every single cryptocurrency dropped over 20% in value. However, almost all the other markets are bleeding heavily as well due to the halt of the economy, which is caused by the Coronavirus outbreak. Bitcoin is currently trading for $5.025, which represents a staggering 34.29% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 29.15 % on the day, while XRP lost 24.74%.

Multi-collateral DAI took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 7%. On the other side, Synthetix Network lost 49.74% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased greatly over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 59.4%, which represents a 5.95% difference to the downside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization melted down, with a current value of $153.59 billion. This value represents a decrease of a whopping $63.64 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it would provide a $135 billion stimulus to the market. This number certainly dwarfs Bitcoin’s entire market cap. This move is not unique, as similar efforts have been shown from the US Federal Reserve on Mar 10.

In an effort to combat currently struggling markets, The European Central Bank made a decision to not cut interest rates any further, but to rather allocate 120 billion Euros to its asset purchase program.

Honorable mention

Enjin (ENJ)

Blockchain-based gaming ecosystem Enjin has just launched its Multiverse Program. The platform is now seeking applications coming from interested developers.

The Multiverse program is designed to attract developers to enter and explore Enjin’s Multiverse platform, which is a gaming platform supporting the creation of in-game digital assets. These assets can be transferred as well as used across multiple games that are hosted in the multiverse.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price had quite a meltdown in the past 24 hours. All technical analysis seems to be out of the game as BTC’s price went down from $7,400 to $3,830 in a matter of hours. The price broke every possible line and anchor it could hang onto and dropped to the lows of $3,830. However, the price quickly moved back up to just over $5,000 which is where it is at the moment.


Bitcoin’s volume increased greatly due to the selloff, while its RSI is deep in the oversold territory on every chart except for the weekly chart.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $6,640                                           1: $5,000

2: $6,850                                           2: $4,300

3: $7,060                                            3: $3,100


Ethereum

Ethereum took a big hit as well, alongside other altcoins. In a price drop led by Bitcoin, Ethereum lost over 20% of its value in the past 24 hours. Its price fell to a staggering $90 all the way up from above $185 levels. The price has stabilized since and is trading at around $125. Unlike Bitcoin, though, Ethereum found resistance closeby, which is at the $122.5 level.


Ethereum’s volume increased due to the selloff, while its RSI level is oversold on every single chart except for the weekly chart.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $128                                                1: $122.5

2: $168                                              2: $100 

3: $178.6                                            3: $80


Ripple

XRP was no different than other altcoins in terms of price development over the past 24 hours. Its price dumped as well, dropping to lows of $0.1. The price has recovered since and is now trading and consolidating near $0.14. However, XRP might be in the worst position out of the top3 cryptocurrencies as it does not have an anchor point to the downside.


XRP’s volume increased greatly, while its RSI level dropped to deeply oversold levels except for the weekly chart, where it is nearing the oversold area as well.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.165                                            1: $0.1

2: $0.19

3: $0.2                                              

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 12 – The US creating AmeriCoin? Altcoins plunging while Bitcoin increases its dominance

The cryptocurrency market moved down yet again in the past 24 hours. However, Bitcoin held up much better than most cryptos. Bitcoin is currently trading for $7,728, which represents a 2.1% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 7.18 % on the day, while XRP lost 4.57%.

Aave took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with whopping gains of 35.9%. On the other side, WAX lost 20.15% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased greatly over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 65.45%, which represents a 1.52% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization lost a lot of value over the past 24 hours due to altcoins plunging. It is currently valued at $217.23 billion, which represents a decrease of $7.83 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Adam Kokesh, the first libertarian US 2020 presidential election candidate, just appointed Alastair Caithness as his personal chief blockchain policy advisor. The main purpose of Caithness’s role is to work on the development of a US-made sovereign cryptocurrency, better-known as AmeriCoin.

Caithness will focus on developing a cryptocurrency that is pegged to all the assets of the Federal government. The assets included will be the US government’s substantial land, gold, energy, timber, and mineral reserves.

Honorable mention

Basic Attention Token (BAT)

Brave purchased a whopping amount of 534,441 Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) on Mar 9. The event of purchasing BAT tokens happens just one day before Brave made an announcement of a partnership with TAP Network. This partnership will enable convertibility of BAT tokens into “gift cards from hundreds of national brands”.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin is slowly continuing its price drop as bears took over the market. The biggest cryptocurrency by market cap fell under the $7,760 support level, but did not go too far down from it. BTC is currently trading between $7,600 and $7,700, with the next significant support level standing at $7,420.


Bitcoin’s volume has maintained levels it had yesterday, while its RSI value is declining towards oversold again.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $7,760                                           1: $7,420

2: $8,000                                           2: $7,085

3: $8,650                                            3: $6,850


Ethereum

Ethereum took a big hit in the past 24 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap fell under the support level of $198 as well as the $193.5 level. The next support, which is sitting at $185, held up quite well and held back the bears for now. However, the short-term outlook is certainly not positive.


Ethereum’s volume is low when compared to the previous days, while it is keeping the levels of the beginning of March. Its RSI level is on the verge of reaching oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $193.6                                             1: $185

2: $198                                              2: $178.5 

3: $217.7                                             3: $167.8


Ripple

XRP followed the daily trend of altcoins underperforming Bitcoin. The third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap lost almost 5% on the daily, but still outperformed Ethereum. XRP’s price fell below the support level of $0.2 but did not reach the $0.1985 level yet.


XRP’s volume is quite low when compared to the past couple of days, while its RSI level is approaching the oversold area, hovering around the value of 34.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.221                                            1: $0.2

2: $0.227                                            2: $0.1985

3: $0.235                                             3: $0.19

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 11 – Youtube crypto ban; XRP’s price rises

The cryptocurrency market had a pretty slow day when compared to the past couple of days. Bitcoin is currently trading for $7,838, which represents a 1% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.88 % on the day, while XRP managed to gain 1.78%.

Contentos took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with whopping gains of 330.4%. On the other side, Swipe lost 6.49% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to decrease slightly over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 63.93%, which represents a 0.63% difference to the downside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization maintained its levels over the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $225.06 billion, which represents a decrease of $0.47 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

In another attempt of censorship, social media giant YouTube has deleted two posted videos form two crypto channels.

Ivan on Tech, a crypto reporter and programmer, posted a tweet about YouTube deleting one of his videos on Mar 9. The Moon, a (mostly) cryptocurrency technical analyst and news reporter, also told that the content platform deleted one of his videos on Mar 10.

Honorable mention

Ethereum (Synthetix)

Ethereum-based asset issuance platform is currently adding new features, which even include derivatives trading.

In a Mar 10 blog post, the Synthetix platform announced plans for trading binary options in Q3 of this year. Binary options are a form of derivatives where the buyer is down to two outcomes: they either receive a payout or they lose their investment.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s spent the day mainly trading between the support of $7,760 and $8,000. The price managed to break $8,000 at one point, even reaching $8,150, but quickly dwindling back below $8,000. The $7,760 level has proven to be quite stable and the bears are not able to break it at the moment.


Bitcoin’s volume is slowly declining while its RSI level has risen above oversold levels.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,000                                           1: $7,760

2: $8,650                                           2: $7,420

3: $8,825                                            3: $7,085


Ethereum

Ethereum, just like Bitcoin, had a pretty slow day. The second-largest cryptocurrency found a strong support near the$198 level, which held up quite well. Its current price moves are narrowing down and might form a triangle pattern in the near future.


Ethereum’s volume is quite low at the moment, while its RSI level is just below the oversold line.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $217.7                                             1: $198

2: $225.5                                            2: $193.6  

3: $240                                                3: $185


Ripple

Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, who mostly consolidated, XRP ended up gaining some value in the past 24 hours. The third-largest cryptocurrency bounced off of the $0.2 support and tried to move its price up, which it succeeded. The price slowly moved up over the past day and reached $0.216, where it stopped and started consolidating. XRP is currently trading near the $0.21 level.


XRP’s volume is extremely low, while its RSI level is in the 40’s range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.221                                            1: $0.2

2: $0.227                                            2: $0.1985

3: $0.235                                             3: $0.19

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 10 – Crypto markets consolidating, Bitcoin still under $8,000

The cryptocurrency market spent the past 24 hours consolidating after a severe price drop. Bitcoin is currently trading for $7,898, which represents an 0.72% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 3.96 % on the day, while XRP lost 1.92%.

Loopring took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 16.05%. On the other side, Swipe lost 12.25% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to increase slightly over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 64.56%, which represents a 0.37% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization maintained its levels over the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $225.53 billion, which represents a decrease of $7.18 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The VIX volatility index, one of the stock market’s main risk indicators, showed a value of 55 on March 9. This is the highest level it was on since 2009. In the meantime, the international oil price went all the way down to $36.20, down 20% from the previous session.

The Dow Jones tanked 6.9% as it was heading for its biggest daily loss ever to be recorded. On the other side, the UK’s FTSE went down 7.7%. Japan’s Nikkei ended up 5.1% below Friday’s close.

Honorable mention

Libra

Marc Bhargava, the co-founder of Tagomi, a company that has recently joined the Libra Association, spoke about the current market cryptocurrency downturn. Since Tagomi is well connected with some of the biggest exchanges as well as some of the biggest crypto traders, he may see the market movement from another perspective.

Bhargava believes that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven asset. This goes against the beliefs of other analysts. “BTC as well as crypto are currently a risk-on asset, more alike tech and VC rather than gold.”

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price got destroyed over the weekend. After falling to the $8,000 levels, many analysts thought that this price level would hold up. However, Bitcoin continued its drop and ended up stopping at the $7,760 support level. The price bounced there and Bitcoin is now trading in a range between the support of $7,760 and the $8,000 resistance level.


Bitcoin’s volume decreased as the price began to rise, while its RSI level is still in the oversold area.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,000                                           1: $7,760

2: $8,650                                           2: $7,420

3: $8,825                                            3: $7,085


Ethereum

Ethereum, just like Bitcoin, went into consolidation mode. Its price started to recover a bit earlier than Bitcoin’s but suffered another bear move, which ended at the $193.6 support level. Ethereum has recovered since and is currently trading above the $198 support level.


Ethereum’s volume decreased greatly since it stopped the downturn, while its RSI level left the oversold area.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $217.7                                             1: $198

2: $225.5                                            2: $193.6  

3: $240                                                3: $185


Ripple

XRP ended up consolidating and finding anchor points as well in the past 24 hours. The third-largest cryptocurrency found a bottom to the downturn at the $0.1985 level and quickly recovered to above $0.2 levels. It is currently stable and trading just above this support line.


XRP’s volume decreased greatly once the move to the downside stopped, while its RSI level just left the oversold area and is hovering around 34.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.221                                            1: $0.2

2: $0.227                                            2: $0.1985

3: $0.235                                             3: $0.19

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 9 – Blood on the streets, BTC under $8,000

It is quite a good statement when we say that the crypto market is bleeding over the weekend. Cryptocurrencies dropped in price a great amount as bears took over the market. Bitcoin is currently trading for $7,953, which represents an 8.98% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 9.72 % on the day, while XRP lost 9.66%.

UNUS SED LEO took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 3.08%. On the other side, Swipe lost 26% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to increase slightly over the weekend. Its value is now 64.19%, which represents a 0.4% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped severely over the weekend. It is currently valued at $232.71 billion, which represents a decrease of $26.49 billion when its value is compared to the value it had on Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Boeing has partnered with a multinational aerospace conglomerate Honeywell in order to use its GoDirect blockchain-based platform to track and sell $1 billion worth of airplane parts that they don’t need.

The partnership got revealed at the Hyperledger Global Forum 2020, which took place in Arizona. All the airplane parts were uploaded to the GoDirect Trade marketplace over the last weekend.

Honorable mention

Bitcoin (start of the bear trend)

Bitcoin began its sudden crash (which, in turn, brought all other cryptos down as well) due to another giant selloff coming from the PlusToken pyramid scheme.

According to various online Blockchain data sources, participants in the $2.9 billion pyramid scheme are attempting to sell their BTC holdings again. Ergo, the Twitter account that tracks PlusToken’s activities, showed that 13,000 BTC or roughly $210 million were involved in this sale.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price got destroyed over the weekend. Many analysts said that the sharp move to the downside will end at above $8,000. However, BTC dropped under it and can not get above again. This price drop was, as we mentioned above, caused by a pyramid scheme PlusToken giant attempting to get rid of its Bitcoin holdings.


Bitcoin’s volume increased as the price-drop occurred. Its RSI level is currently deep into the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,000                                           1: $7,760

2: $8,650                                           2: $7,420

3: $8,825                                            3: $7,085


Ethereum

Ethereum also lost a great deal of its value but managed to spring back a bit (sooner and a bit more than Bitcoin). Its price went from $253 all the way down to $196.5. However, bulls took over and brought the price above the $198 support and slightly above (to around $208 at the moment of writing).


Ethereum’s volume increased greatly during this bear trend, while it is dropping at bulls took over. Its RSI level is just above the oversold territory on the 4-hour trading chart.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $217.7                                             1: $198

2: $225.5                                            2: $193.6  

3: $240                                                3: $185


Ripple

XRP was no exception to the bleeding market. Its price dropped severely as well. The third-largest cryptocurrency dropped from $0.2454 all the way down to $0.2, where bulls took over. The price is currently rising at a slow pace, with XRP being traded for around $0.211 at the time of writing.


XRP’s volume increased immensely during the selloff but dropped down closer to normal when the bulls took over. Its RSI level is currently just slightly in the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.221                                            1: $0.2

2: $0.227                                            2: $0.1985

3: $0.235                                             3: $0.19

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 6 – Bitcoin above $9,000; Steem performing a network takeover

The crypto market managed to push up once again, with Bitcoin leading the way as it crossed the $9,000 mark. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,061, which represents a 2.15% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 1.31% on the day, while XRP gained 1.92%.

ABBC coin took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 24.58%. On the other side, v.systems lost 7.02% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to increase slightly over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 63.79%, which represents a 0.19% difference to the upside when compared to yesterday’s value.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $259.2 billion, which represents an increase of $3.75 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

While multiple countries are testing and theorizing about the validity of a central bank digital currency, the US dollar remains physical and still sits in a place of dominance. However, how long will the dollar be so dominant if it doesn’t get digital? ING economist Carlo Cocuzzo said that “The dollar is the dominant currency today,” on a panel at London Blockchain Week, but added that “90% of forex turnover is in dollars, so the US stands to lose in this game.”

Honorable mention

Steem

The Steem blockchain experienced some problems recently, where the blockchain’s entire governance system had a couple of disturbances. Tron founder Justin Sun, who now owns the Steemit social network which is based on the Steem token, seems to have successfully executed a takeover of Steem tokens by leveraging not only the tokens that were directly controlled but also the tokens held on several major exchanges. If this is true, then the customers of these exchanges most likely had their funds used without their consent.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin bulls managed to gather up for another push, which brought BTC above the $9,000 psychological mark. Bitcoin broke the $8,980 resistance without much effort, and continued to push up on the way to $9,115. However, the move ended with bulls getting exhausted at the $9,170 mark.


Bitcoin’s volume increased slightly when compared to yesterday, while it’s still considered average when compared to the rest of the week. Its RSI level is currently near the higher end of the value range on the 4-hour chart.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,115                                           1: $8,980

2: $9,250                                           2: $8,825

3: $9,580                                            3: $8,650


Ethereum

Ethereum gained some value as well in the past 24 hours but did not break any major resistance levels. Ethereum moved within the range bound by $225.5 to the downside and $240 to the upside. Its price did drop below $225.5 earlier during the day, but quickly got back above and increased to $235.


Ethereum’s volume is extremely low, while its RSI is near the middle of the value range, sitting at around 53 on the 4-hour chart. There were no changes in the upside or downside levels.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP also made some gains today. Its price went from right below $0.235 to almost breaking $0.2454 at one point in time. However, the bull pressure was not as strong, and the price could not pass this resistance level. XRP is now trading at around $0.24.


XRP’s volume is currently far below average, while its RSI level is slightly above the value range, sitting at around 57 on the 4-hour chart. There were no changes in the upside or downside levels.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 5 – Bitcoin uncertainty leading to a lack of buying or selling pressure

The crypto market had a green day, with only a few cryptocurrencies ending up in the red. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,882, which represents a 0.95% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 0.53% on the day, while XRP lost 0.05%.

Energi took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 27.96%. On the other side, Bitcoin SV lost 4.56% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to increase quite a lot over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 63.6%, which represents a 0.98% difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $255.45 billion, which represents an increase of $2.45 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Andrew Bailey, the next governor of Bank of England, expressed his sentiment towards crypto yesterday in London. He argued that anyone putting money into Bitcoin should prepare to lose everything.

Bailey shared his thoughts on Bitcoin to members of the U.K. Parliament at a Treasury Select Committee hearing, which happened on Mar 4. Bailey expressed his dislike towards Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a whole before saying that:

“If you want to buy Bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money… [Bitcoin] has no intrinsic value.”

Honorable mention

Cardano

The legal leader at Big Four’s PwC, Gunther Dobrauz, recently expressed his opinion about Cardano and showed open support to the people responsible for Cardano’s development.

Dobrauz claimed that decentralization is the future, and that the Cardano Foundation and the team surrounding the IOHK CEO and founder Charles Hoskinson are certainly a “huge part of this” future in a tweet on Mar 3. IOHK is the blockchain company behind Cardano as well as Ethereum Classic.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a slow day with quite predictable price movements. Buyers and sellers bound its price between $8,400 and $9,000. Bitcoin has been staying in this range for some time now with no real pressure to go up or down. When compared to the yesterday’s price, Bitcoin did manage to gain some value, breaking the $8,825 line, but quickly stopping at the $8,980 one.


Bitcoin’s volume is slightly below average when compared to this week, while its RSI level is starting to increase slightly. It is currently sitting at a value of 58.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,980                                           1: $8,825

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,650

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,535


Ethereum

Ethereum is in the same position as Bitcoin, as its price has been ranging for some time now, as well. There has been no sign of pressure towards any side. Ethereum is currently trading above the $225.5 line, bound by it to the downside and the $240 resistance to the upside. However, all pressure to the upside seems to fade far before Ethereum’s price reaches $240.


Ethereum’s volume is quite low, while its RSI is near the middle of the value range, sitting at around 52.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP is the only crypto out of the top3 that ended up in the red. Its price is also bound in a range, sitting between $227 and $2454. XRP’s price is not pressured to any side and is trading freely within this range. However, with fading volume, the volatility is fading as well, and the up and down movements seem smaller and smaller. XRP is now trading slightly above the $0.235 support line.


XRP’s volume is currently below average, while its RSI level is near the middle of the value range, sitting at around 53.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 4 – Bitcoin and Altcoins Recover, Look for Further Strength

The crypto market had a pretty quiet but effective day. Most cryptos that were going down yesterday ended that move and gained some value. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,808, which represents a 0.24% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.47% on the day, while XRP gained 0.84%.

Matic Network took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 21.46%. On the other side, Kyber Network lost 9% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to decrease slightly over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 62.62%, which represents a 1.12% difference to the downside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed at the pretty much same spot from when we last reported. It is currently valued at $253 billion, which represents a decrease of $1.43 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The tax bureau of Beijing made an official announcement that it will start implementing invoicing via blockchain within the city on March 2. Beijing wants to bring transparency, traceability as well as immutability by using blockchain invoicing.

The Beijing tax bureau will slowly and gradually carry out the promotion of the blockchain invoicing service throughout the city.

Honorable mention

MakerDAO

Major decentralized finance (or DeFi for short) player MakerDAO established a partnership with the payment processor Simplex. This partnership came to life to create a fiat on-ramp for MakerDAO’s Dai decentralized stablecoin.

The partnership allows people to buy Dai with the credit and debit cards that Simplex’s partner firms issued.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a pretty slow day. However, the downtrend price movement that happened yesterday ended and Bitcoin moved up slightly. After the whole day of price going down, BTC bounced off of its $8,650 support and changed direction. Bitcoin is now right below the $8,825 which is did not manage to pass yet.


Bitcoin’s volume is slightly below average when compared to this week, while its RSI level is in the middle of the value range, sitting at around 51.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum had a slow day as well. However, its price movement did not make it to the green side when compared to the price of 24 hours ago. The slight downwards-facing move seems to have ended, and Ethereum stabilized right above the $225.5 support level.


Ethereum’s volume is quite low, while its RSI is in the middle of the value range, sitting at around 49.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP also made a similar move as Bitcoin and Ethereum did. Once the bear pressure was weakened, bulls took over and brought the price above $0.235. XRP is now consolidating in the middle of the range, bound by $0.235 level to the downside and $0.2454 level to the upside.


XRP’s volume is slightly below average, while its RSI level is in the middle of the value range, sitting at around 50.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 3 – Cryptocurrencies back to bear cycle? Argentina suspending its blockchain registering system

The crypto market ended its one-day uptrend and backtracked a bit from the gains it made over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,761, which represents a 1.7% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.02% on the day, while XRP gained 1.7%.

Aragon took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 17.41%. On the other side, Aragon lost 7.56% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance managed to increase slightly over the past 24 hours. Its value is now 63.8%, which represents a 0.15% difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed at the same spot from when we last reported. It is currently valued at $251.57 billion, which represents a decrease of $0.36 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The government of Argentina made an announcement that its national blockchain-based mechanism for registering new companies will be suspended for a period of 180 days.

This measure, according to the statements made by the head of General Inspectorate of Justice Ricardo Nissen to La Nación, is made so Argentina could reorder the registration of new companies so that the inspectorate could also participate in the entire process.

Honorable mention

EOS 

Block.one released EOSIO 2.0 in January 2020 as an upgrade to the protocol. Some cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase announced that there was trouble with the performance of the network once the new set of protocol improvements was installed. This implementation slowed down or even stopped deposits and withdrawals.

In the meantime, the EOS community voted to slash the network inflation from 5% down to 1%, which marked this event as the blockchain’s second massive token burn event ever since Q2 of 2019.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin ended its one day long upswing which managed to reach all the way to $8980 before crashing slightly. The biggest cryptocurrency by market cap broke the $8,825 resistance and rushed towards price levels of above $9,000 but failed as bears kicked in. Bitcoin’s price is now dropping, currently trading just around the levels that BTC has when we last reported.


Bitcoin’s volume is quite average when compared to the past and this week, while its RSI level is just below the middle of the value range, sitting at around 48.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum more or less mirrored the actions of Bitcoin in the past couple of days. Its upswing also ended after price not being able to push above $235. ETH is now slowly dropping in price, possibly testing the support level of $225.5. However, so far, the price is safe above this support level.


Ethereum’s volume is quite low, while its RSI is just below the middle of the value range, sitting at around 48.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP also moved in the same direction and played out the same patterns as Bitcoin and Ethereum. After its upswing ended, XRP started to move to the downside. However, the bear presence was strong, and XRP is now testing the $0.235 support. It is still unknown whether the price will end up above or below it as the fight for the level is continuing. However, there is a good probability that XRP will continue its path to the downside in the short term.


XRP’s volume is slightly below average, while its RSI level is just below the middle of the value range, sitting at around 46.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Mar 2 – Cryptos regaining pre-weekend prices; Watch out for crypto-stealing Trojans

The crypto market had a pretty slow weekend, with prices at almost the same place as they were on Friday. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,773, which represents a 2.58% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 3.07% on the day, while XRP gained 1.99%.

Bytecoin took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 22.74%. On the other side, Kyber Network lost 9.66% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased slightly over the weekend. Its value is now 63.65%, which represents a 0.88% difference to the downside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained some value on the daily chart, while it stayed at almost the same spot from when we last reported. It is currently valued at $251.93 billion, which represents an increase of $2.84 billion when its value is compared to the value it had on Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

ThreatFabric, an Amsterdam-based firm specializing in cybersecurity and threats to the financial industry, managed to identify “Cerberus” Trojan that is able to steal 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) codes that are generated by the Google Authenticator app.

Coinbase, which is one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world, is one of the cryptocurrency platforms listed in Cerberus’ list of targets.

Honorable mention

IOTA 

Iota began its seed migration on Feb 29, while they will open the network around Mar 10. Although many have criticized the decision to close the Coordinator verifier, it may have saved quite a lot of funds from being stolen from users.

The Iota network got shut down on Feb 12, shortly after their team received multiple reports of breached and drained user wallets. This was all possible thanks to the presence of the Coordinator, which is a centralized transaction verifier that is used to operate the network.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin spent the past 24 hours gaining some value after the yesterday’s drop to $8,400. The biggest cryptocurrency by market cap managed to bounce off this price level and reach the price it had on Friday. Bitcoin bulls also attempted an upswing above $8,825, which failed.


Bitcoin’s volume is average when compared to the past week, while its RSI level is rising above the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum’s also gained some value in the past 24 hours. This price gain made up for the price drop, which happened yesterday, and brought the price to $212. Ethereum reached over $225.5 and regained its pre-weekend levels. It also broke the descending trend line that it formed right before the weekend.


Ethereum’s volume is average when compared to the previous week, with its RSI level right in the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP performed almost exactly the same as Ethereum. Its price dropped to lows of $0.224 but recovered to levels above $0.235 in the past 24 hours. The third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap broke the descending trend line as well, confirming that it will stay above it (at least in the short term).


XRP’s volume is slightly below average while its RSI level is in the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 28 – CFTC approaching stablecoin projects; Crypto market preparing for a move

The crypto market pretty much stayed at the same place price-wise in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $8,758, which represents a 0.41% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.77% on the day, while XRP lost 0.11%.

Swipe took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 19.28%. On the other side, DxChain Token lost 9.85% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased in the past 24 hours as some altcoins dropped in price more than it did. Its value is now 64.53%, which represents a 0.45 difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed in pretty much the same place in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $249.09 billion, which represents a decrease of $0.92 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

One of Switzerland’s biggest stock exchanges, SIX Swiss Exchange, announced a partnership with Omniex, a US-based firm that specializes in developing trading platforms for institutional investors, mainly targeting the cryptocurrency market.

The partnership will provide SIX and its clients with a way to include crypto to their business.

Honorable mention

Stablecoins 

American financial regulators had a sitdown with three major stablecoin projects in an effort for them to better understand the industry.

The CFTC Advisory Committee organized and held a public meeting in hopes of learning more about stablecoins, crypto insurance, custody practices as well as cybersecurity. JPM Coin, MarkerDao and Paxo had their representatives attend the event, discussing different aspects of stablecoins.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin spent the past 24 hours trading at pretty much the same level. However, while there was seemingly not much price movement, Bitcoin made one attempt of breaking $8,825, which it did for a while. However, the price quickly pulled back and Bitcoin is almost exactly where it’s at 24 hours ago.


Bitcoin’s volume dropped to average levels after yesterday’s spike. It’s RSI level is currently on the line the oversold territory and regular value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum’s was also pretty stagnant over the past 24 hours. Its price attempted to reach the $240 mark but did not manage to get to it before bears took over again and put an end to the move. Ethereum fell to its previous prices and even attempted to break $225.5 to the downside. While its price is currently above this support level, it is unknown how long that will hold.


Ethereum’s volume is extremely low at the moment, while its RSI level is in the lower part of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

XRP performed the best out of the three biggest cryptos once again. However, this time, it was not by much. Its price tried to move above the $2454 level but failed to do so. As a result, XRP started dropping in price and pulled back to the $0.235 support. It is currently trading just above this support level.


XRP’s volume is slightly elevated, but nothing compared to yesterday’s volume. Its RSI level is in the lower part of the value spectrum.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 27 – “Craig Wright is a disgrace”; $150 million worth of BTC positions liquidated

The crypto market dropped severely as bear pressure continued throughout the day. Bitcoin is currently trading for $793, which represents a 4.45% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 5.76% on the day, while XRP lost 3.07%.

Aion took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 17.23%. On the other side, Swipe lost 16.79% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance remained in the same place in the past 24 hours. Its value is now 64.08%, which represents a 0.03 difference to the downside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization a lot of its value over the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $250.01 billion, which represents a decrease of $11.61 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao recently tweeted about Craig Wright, the Bitcoin SV (BSV) founder. He made it clear that he did not trust the self-proclaimed Bitcoin (BTC) creator, and called him a fraud.

Zhao said that Wright is not only hurting his own reputation, but rather the reputation of the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. “He claims to be the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, which is a lie. He hurts the credibility of Bitcoin and is a disgrace to our entire industry.”

Honorable mention

Bitcoin 

According to the data provided by the analytics website Skew, over $150 million worth of Bitcoin got liquidated on the trading exchange BitMEX on Feb 26. This is the biggest liquidation in 2020.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin spent the past 24 hours spiraling down below $9,000. The largest cryptocurrency dropped in price fast and decisively as the bear pressure was high and many longs liquidated. However, ever since the bounce off of the $8,650 support, Bitcoin seems to have been going up slightly.


Bitcoin’s volume was increased during the price drop, during its normal or slightly lower than that at the time of writing. It’s RSI level is currently in the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $8,825                                           1: $8,650

2: $9,115                                           2: $$8,535

3: $9,250                                            3: $8,250


Ethereum

Ethereum’s price took a dive, just like Bitcoin’s price did. Its price broke many support levels along the way, but the $217.7 one held up quite strong and managed to bounce ETH’s price back up. Ethereum looks like it’s gaining some value now, as it managed to even pass the next resistance level, which is standing at $225.5.


Ethereum’s volume is elevated, while its RSI level has just recently left the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $240                                                1: $225.5

2: $251.3                                            2: $217.7  

3: $259.5                                             3: $198


Ripple

When Bitcoin drops in price, it is common that Ethereum falls a bit more in price, while XRP does either better than Bitcoin or worse than almost every other coin in the industry. This time, XRP did better than both Bitcoin and Ethereum price-wise as it did not drop as much over the past 24 hours. The downwards moving trend seems to have stopped at the $0.227 and XRP turned slightly bullish from there as its price started to increase. The move was strong enough to even break the $0.235 resistance, which is where XRP is currently at.


XRP’s volume is elevated, while its RSI level is just above the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Guides

What Is An ICO and What Were The Biggest ICOs Ever?

Introduction

We have discussed many things cryptocurrencies in our recent guides, which talk about their evolution, properties, pros & cons, etc. We also learned a lot about Bitcoin and some of the other major altcoins. As of Feb 2020, more than five thousand cryptos are prevailing in the market. Have you ever wondered how these cryptos come into existence? The answer to this question is ICO. To understand what ICO, AKA, Initial Coin Offering

Irrespective of its size, every company needs sufficient funds to bring an idea to a reality. In the case of conventional companies, there is a concept known as IPO, which translates to Initial Public Offering. Here, a company would go public after they establish their brand name in the market. ‘Going public’ essentially means selling a part of their company to raise more funds and expand its business across the markets to gain more profits.

What Is An ICO?

Like how IPO is for traditional companies, ICO is for the companies who are willing to raise funds to build a cryptocurrency. There might be various agendas for crypto companies, which we will be discussing in the later parts of this article. But not every random crypto company can have an ICO and raise funds. Companies must make their whitepaper public that has all the technicalities of the coin they are going to launch. They must also mention the amount of money they are willing to raise through this ICO.  Along with this, the complete business plan and the acceptable Fiat or Cryptos should also be clearly mentioned.

Once they release the duration of the ICO, interested people can go through the whitepaper of that company and understand the problem they are willing to solve. If that is making sense, and all the other technicalities interest them, they can participate in the ICO by purchasing tokens of that company. Most of the companies accept both Bitcoin and Ethereum to purchase their tokens. The ultimate goal here is to bet on a company that has enormous growth potential in the cryptocurrency space. If that happens, the money they have invested here can have exponential growth and yield huge profits in the future.

If the funds that are raised meets the goal set by the company, the ICO can be considered to be successful. The companies can use these funds and bring their whitepaper to an actual cryptocurrency. But, if the funds raised don’t meet the goal, we can say that the ICO is a failed attempt, and the collected funds will be returned to the investors. Returning the collected funds is a seamless process because all of these transactions are executed through Smart Contracts. So the entire process of an ICO is decentralized and is not regulated by any central authority.

Notable ICO Success Stories

In the year 2013, the first-ever ICO took place where Mastercoin raised around 500k worth of Bitcoin. Then, the ICO of Ethereum took place, which changed the face of the crypto world forever. Without this particular ICO, the crypto world wouldn’t have been the way we are seeing it today. This record-breaking ICO took place in 2014, where the company has raised $18 million worth of funds. This ICO’s massive success enabled the amazing Ethereum platform to transform from an idea on a paper to reality.

Once the Ethereum platform was live with the revolutionary smart contract feature, ICO token sales have been extremely simplified. This resulted in the formation of some of the biggest ICOs to date. One such ICO which is conducted on the Ethereum platform is DAO. If you are a crypto enthusiast, you must have heard about this crypto. DAO has raised about $150 million worth of Ether in just four weeks.

Some of the biggest ICOs we have ever witnessed include EOS ($4 Billion), Telegram ($1.7 Billion), Dragon Coin ($320 Million) & Huobi ($320 Million). Most of the biggest ICOs like the ones mentioned above, happened in 2017-18. This is considered as a golden age of ICOs. The number of ICOs has reduced significantly, and there could be many reasons for that. Some of them include the fall of the crypto market, regulations from the US Securities Exchange Commission, frauds and scams occurred, etc.

Bottom Line

That’s about ICOs and some of the biggest ICOs ever to take place. We must be extremely cautious while participating in an ICO. Getting to know the founders well, analyzing the whitepaper, understanding the feasibility of the project, etc. is crucial before making your investments. Market experts believe that the ICOs are almost dead, but there are a few promising ICOs that are going to take place in 2020, and most of them can be found here. In the upcoming articles, let’s understand what IEOs and STOs are and how different are from ICOs. Cheers!  

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 26 – Crypto market continuing the downtrend; BTC to retest $9,000?

The crypto market continued its path down and lost some value as a whole. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,170, which represents a 3.78% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 6.59% on the day, while XRP lost 7.89%.

Dragon Coins took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 22.16%. On the other side, Decentraland lost 16.54% on the day, making it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s gained some dominance in the past 24 hours. Its value is now 64.11%, which represents a 0.73 difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization a lot of its value over the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $261.62 billion, which represents a decrease of $13.63 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Coinbase announced that the company became a principal member of Visa on Feb 19. Coinbase, which is one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world, is now able to issue their own debit cards without involving any third parties.

While Coinbase didn’t share what it would do in the future, its new status grants it the possibility to issue debit cards to other cryptocurrency firms. This development certainly marks an important milestone for the cryptocurrency payments sector.

Honorable mention

Chainlink 

Polkadot is preparing for its upcoming network launch after the reveal that they will be integrating with Chainlink. The integration of Chainlink oracles could be crucial for the development of DeFi (Polkadot decentralized finance) as well as other advanced smart contracts.

Chainlink has completed its initial integration on Kusama, which is a canary network for Polkadot (similar to a testnet).

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin continued to move downwards as a prolonged Feb 24 bearish move. The largest cryptocurrency fell under the $9,255 support, which could not hold the bear pressure for long. The RSI finally entered the oversold area where the bear move stopped (for now) and BTC started consolidating.


Bitcoin’s volume is average for this week. It’s RSI level is currently in the oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,255                                           1: $9,120

2: $9,580                                           2: $9,070

3: $9,735                                            3: $8,915


Ethereum

Ethereum’s price took an even bigger hit than Bitcoin’s. The second-largest cryptocurrency continued its move down and dropped under the $251.3 support as well as under the $240 one. However, bulls came to the market and pushed the price slightly above the $240 support, which is where ETH’s price is at right now.


Ethereum’s volume average when compared to volumes from this week, while its RSI level is currently just above the oversold territory on the 4-hour chart.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $251.3                                             1: $240

2: $259.5                                            2: $225.5  

3: $279                                                3: $217.7


Ripple

XRP performed the worst out of the top3 cryptos in the past 24 hours. After its price fell below the $0.266 major support (now resistance), the outlook quickly became bearish. However, the drop did not end there, as XRP managed to break $0.2454 to the downside as well. Its price is now right under this level.


XRP’s volume quite low, with the exception of one candlestick, which brought its price below $0.2454. Its RSI level is currently sitting in oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $0.285                                             3: $0.221

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 25 – Crypto market continuing its move down; First crypto bank in the US?

The crypto market dropped some value as Bitcoin, and the other cryptos failed to reach new highs. This move is a continuation of the small downtrend that started on Feb 24. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,527, which represents a 2.29% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 4.03% on the day, while XRP lost 3.96%.

DxChain Token took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 5.46%. On the other side, Wayki Chain lost 22.69% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly in the past 24 hours. Its value is now 63.38%, which represents a 0.53 difference to the upside when compared to the value from when we last reported.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly over the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $275.25 billion, which represents a decrease of $7.28 billion when its value is compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Former Wall Street executive Caitlin Long is taking advantage of Wyoming legislature to establish the first crypto-native bank in the United States. The bank’s name will be Avanti, meaning “forward” in Italian.

Long announced the news in a series of 29 tweets. She believes that a critical piece of US market infrastructure is missing, with her bank being the solution.

Honorable mention

EOS troubles? 

One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase, said that the EOS has degraded its performance, with sends and receives possibly suffering from delays.

The exchange later stated that the EOS network is still suffering from degraded performance. However, EOS Nation responded that the EOS main net is “currently extremely reliable.”

The tweet that EOS Nation posted included a chart that was showing a slight blip on Feb 20, with 192 blocks missing due to the micro-forking issue. However, the chart also indicated a stable mainnet performance for the past two weeks.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin continued to move down as a prolonged Feb 24 move to the downside. The largest cryptocurrency is now under the $9,580 support, and it looks like it will drop some more. With RSI still not reaching oversold and plenty of leeway to the next support, Bitcoin certainly has a big chance of pulling back even further.


Bitcoin’s volume is lower when compared to the past week. It’s RSI level is approaching lower values of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,580                                           1: $9,255

2: $9,735                                           2: $9,120

3: $9,870                                            3: $9,070


Ethereum

Ethereum followed in Bitcoin’s footsteps and lost some value as well. In fact, Ethereum managed to drop more in price than Bitcoin over the past 24 hours. While going down in price, Ethereum broke its $259.5 support.


Ethereum’s volume is on the lower side of the spectrum, while its RSI level is slightly below the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $259.5                                             1: $251.3

2: $279                                               2: $240  

3: $289                                                3: $225.5


Ripple

XRP made pretty much the same move as Ethereum. Its price continued to move down, breaking one of the biggest support levels to the downside. XRP broke $0.266 and is slowly moving below it. However, the 4-hour candle did not close below the support (now resistance) yet.


XRP’s volume is extremely low, while its RSI level is approaching oversold.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.266                                            1: $0.2454

2: $0.285                                            2: $0.235

3: $0.31                                               3: $0.227

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 24 – New Jersey regulating crypto?

The crypto market is currently at the same price level as when we last reported. However, that does not mean that the markets were stagnant over the weekend. Many cryptos attempted to reclaim previous highs but failed and started consolidating or losing a bit of value. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,736, which represents a 1.41% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 1.39% on the day, while XRP lost 3.29%.

WaykiChain took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 62.30%. On the other side, Swipe lost 9.58% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance remained at exactly the same place as before the weekend. It is now at 62.85%, which represents a decrease of 0.03% when compared to the value it had on Friday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly over the weekend. It is currently valued at $282.53 billion, which represents an increase of $1.78 billion when its value is compared to the value it had on Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The New Jersey state legislature is considering a new bill to regulate cryptocurrency. If passed, every cryptocurrency businesses would have to obtain a proper license in order to operate in their state.

This bill is called the Digital Asset and Blockchain Technology Act, which was proposed by assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez on Feb 20.

Honorable mention

Monero 

Italy’s crypto-powered debit card supplier Bitsa is continuing with its expansion. Its prepaid card expanded by adding support to the privacy-focused altcoin Monero (XMR).

By enabling support for Monero on its Bitsa Card, this company unclocks the ability to use all Monero-based card transactions in both physical stores and online.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin had a turbulent weekend, though its current price doesn’t show it (if compared to our last report on Friday). The largers cryptocurrency by market cap attempted to break $10,000 over the weekend on two ocasions. however, the $10,015 resistance held up nicely and the bulls could not reach above. The price fell sharply after the second failed attempt, which brought BTC to the support of $9,580. However, the bulls did not allow it to drop further and BTC is now consolidating just above the $9,735 support level.


Bitcoin’s volume is slightly lower when compared to the past week. It’s RSI level is in the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,870                                           1: $9,735

2: $10,015                                         2: $9,580

3: $10,360                                          3: $9,255


Ethereum

Ethereum had a nice upwards-moving trend that started on Feb 20. However, the most recent failed attempt to break $279 made bears take over and bring the price down to lower levels. Ethereum is now consolidating at $268, which is in the middle of the range between $279 to the upside and $259.5 to the downside.


Ethereum’s is slightly lower when compared to the past week, while its RSI level is slightly above the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                               2: $251.3  

3: $302                                                3: $240


Ripple

XRP was, unlike ETH and BTC, extremely stagnant over the weekend. In fact, its price has been moving within the range bound by $0.285 to the upside and $0.266 to the downside since Feb 19. XRP made one attempt to break this range to the upside over the weekend but failed. Its price is now consolidating in the middle of the range.


XRP’s volume is quite low at the moment, while its RSI level is in the lower part of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                             3: $0.235

Categories
Crypto Daily Topic

ETH’s Bullish Behavior and the Case of Flash Loans

ETH has pulled a surprise on everyone Tuesday by posting bullish prices as high as $287 up from Monday’s low of $245.

This surge couldn’t have come at a weirder time; when Ethereum was on the spot for two attacks or ‘exploits’ on the Ethereum-based DeFI protocol bZx that saw it lose almost $1m worth of ETH.

 

The CEO of the crypto site The Block, Mike Dudas, tweeted Tuesday in acknowledgment of ETH’s Tuesday rally.

Respected economist Alex Kruger’s response to Dud’s tweet may explain this bullish behavior, though. While saying ETH did not actually ‘shrug off’ the exploit, he stated the attacks were naturally bullish for Ether since it’s “great advertising” and it “should generate interest in Ethereum from the finance industry and thus increase demand for ETH, even if the many DeFi platforms die in the near term because of this.” In essence, the attack raised Ethereum’s profile, its DeFi use case will be damned (at least in the short term.)

Flash Loans

The DeFi attack that helped reverse fortunes for ETH Tuesday was a result of the manipulation of flash loans. To understand flash loans, let’s look again at what Kruger had to say about them. In the same thread, he said, “flash loans provide access to instantaneous liquidity and collateral, and work on top of deterministic transactions that fully eliminate risk for both borrower and lender. This is extremely valuable, and the very best expression of programmable money…”

Flash loans are a new entry in the crypto world, a new decentralized finance innovation atop Ethereum’s blockchain. A flash loan allows a trader to take an uncollateralized loan to maximize the profits from a trade. They are ‘flash’ because they’re super-fast – in that the borrower repays the loan in the same transaction.

What happened with bZx is that the attackers exploited weak points in the protocol, making away with $300, 000 and around $650,000 worth of Ether.

Ensuing Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

After the Ethereum debacle, some individuals took the chance to pontificate about DeFi being an inherently flawed technology. But just like with the DAO attack in 2015, such incidents invariably point to weaknesses in a system, which in turn helps make it better and more resilient. Like with any technology, DeFi is undergoing ‘growing pains,’ and it helps to provide solutions to such imperfections rather than knocking everything down.  

What’s next for bZx

As for bZx, the firm will mitigate the damage of the attack in several ways, like liquidating collateral to cover a loan that the attack left uncovered, as well spread the loss across its user accounts. (Users will barely feel the impact of the loss, despite the magnitude of the attack.) The firm has also indicated plans of setting up an insurance fund as a long-term solution in case of a similar future incident. 

Perhaps DeFi proponents can look at the bright side: the attacks are a testament to DeFi taking up space in finance. The nascent technology is developing enough clout to warrant exploiting attacks.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 21 – Morgan Stanley dipping its toes into crypto? Analysts still confused by the price drop

The crypto market seems to have taken the day off, as there were no significant price movements. Meanwhile, analysts are still trying to pinpoint the cause of the fifth-largest single-hour drop since 2017. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,677, which represents a 0.77% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.01% on the day, while XRP lost 0.38%.

Algorand took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 15.96%. On the other side, ABBC Coin lost 11.94% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly as altcoins fell just a bit more than BTC did in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.85%, which represents an increase of 0.11% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $280.75 billion, which represents an increase of $1.85 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Morgan Stanley, one of the biggest investment banks, is buying an online trading firm called E*Trade Financial Group. This $13 billion deal will be Morgan Stanley’s largest takeover since the economic breakdown of 2008. Morgan Stanley will bring E*Trade’s five million clients as well as $360 billion in assets.

E*Trade is planning to offer digital currency trading on its platform. The company is preparing to offer BTC and ETH trading.

Honorable mention

Cardano 

The Cardano network is scheduled to perform a network upgrade on Feb 20. This upgrade will introduce Ouroboros BFT to its users. Ouroboros BFT is an improved consensus mechanism, which will allow for staking.

The upgrade will be executed on Thursday at exactly 9:44 PM UTC, or 4:44 PM EST. The network will undergo a hard fork.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin didn’t move much price-wise in the past 24 hours. Bulls attempted to make a run and take over the $9,735 resistance level, but failed to do so. This put Bitcoin in the same spot as yesterday, bound between the $9,735 resistance and $9,580 support levels.


Bitcoin’s volume fell in the past 24 hours, while its RSI level is just below the middle of the value range. All key levels stayed the same as the largest cryptocurrency did not break any supports or resistances.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,735                                           1: $9,580

2: $9,870                                           2: $9,255

3: $10,015                                          3: $9,120


Ethereum

Ethereum didn’t move much either. In fact, most of the market had quite a low volume, so the volatility was low as well. The second-largest cryptocurrency fell below the $259.5 support level at one point but managed to reach back above it. It is currently hovering at around $260.


Ethereum’s volume dropped slightly, just like Bitcoin’s. It’s RSI level is also at nearly the same level, which is just under the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                               2: $251.3  

3: $302                                                3: $240


Ripple

XRP suffered from the same fate as the top3 cryptocurrencies in the past 24 hours. However, its price movement was more alike to Ethereum’s than to Bitcoin’s. The third-largest cryptocurrency attempted to break the $0.266 support line but failed to do so. The price has increased since and XRP is now trading at $0.275, which is almost exactly where it was during our last report.


XRP’s volume is quite low at the moment, while its RSI level is in the lower parts of the value range. No key levels have been broken in the past 24 hours.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                             3: $0.235

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 20 – Sudden selloff puts crypto market in the red; Bitcoin under $10,000 yet again

The crypto market fell significantly in the past 24 hours as Bitcoin dropped below $10,000 yet again. Bitcoin is currently trading for $0,590, which represents a 4.63% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 5.84% on the day, while XRP lost 6.09%.

Kyber Network took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 22.18%. On the other side, WAX lost 21.81% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly as altcoins fell just a bit more than BTC did in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.74%, which represents an increase of 0.19% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased significantly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $278.90 billion, which represents a decrease of $14.94 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

South Korean technology giant Samsung unveiled its latest smartphone series recently. The Galaxy S20 was revealed at the Unpacked 2020 event that took place in San Francisco.

While most people looked at the new camera, the official marketing material assured the market that the phone would also improve the integrated blockchain security features that they introduced a year ago with the Galaxy S10.

Honorable mention

Bitcoin Gold 

Bitcoin Gold’s price is being heavily manipulated by a whale controlling almost half of the circulating supply. Independent trader and analyst, who wants to remain anonymous, conducted this research, and came to the conclusion that one whale holds this much BTG.

He published the findings in a blog post, explaining why he believes that an individual or a single group of people accumulated a huge Bitcoin Gold position.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin was moving slightly up or sideways until one big red candle, which brought its price to the $9,300 levels. The largest cryptocurrency experienced a massive sell-off (possibly from a single source) as the price fell from $10,150 to $9,300 during only one 5-minute candle. Bitcoin is now stable and trading above the $9,580 support level.


Bitcoin’s volume in the past 24 hours was average, with the exception of one big candle which occurred during the sudden price drop.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,735                                           1: $9,580

2: $9,870                                           2: $9,255

3: $10,015                                          3: $9,120


Ethereum

Ethereum experienced the same fate as Bitcoin. Its price was solid and stable while moving to the upside or sideways until one big red candle brought ETH’s price to $250. Ethereum recovered and managed to stay above the $259.5 support line.


Ethereum’s volume was average, with the exception of the big red candle. Its RSI level is hovering around the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                               2: $251.3  

3: $302                                                3: $240


Ripple

XRP was no different from the other two of the top3 cryptocurrencies in the past 24 hours. The third-largest cryptocurrency experienced a quick and sudden selloff, which brought its price from $0.31 all the way down to $0.27. The price has not moved much from the bottom, so it is currently hovering just around $0.275.


XRP’s volume declined slightly, while the red candle during the selloff was above the daily average candle, but below average big “spike” candle XRP had recently. It’s RSI level is approaching oversold territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                             3: $0.235

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 19 – IRS aiming at Crypto regulation; BTC over $10,000 once again

The crypto market rallied as Bitcoin moved above the $10,000 mark yet again. Bitcoin is currently trading for $10,058, which represents a 2.54% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 2.97% on the day, while XRP gained 0.04%.

ABBC Coin took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 29.24%. On the other side, MonaCoin lost 7.83% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly as altcoins rose while BTC stood still in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.55%, which represents an increase of 0.44% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $293.84 billion, which represents an increase of $6.87 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

With the 2019 US tax season just around the block, the IRS wants to leave nothing off the table. The IRS has invited crypto companies and advocates to show up for a March 3 summit in Washington DC. One of the aims of the summit is to determine how to “balance taxpayer service with regulatory enforcement.”

Topics that will be discussed at the summit include regulatory guidance as well as compliance, preparing tax returns, crypto exchange issues, and technology updates.

Honorable mention

Ripple (XRP) 

A recent Medium post from Whale Alert (blockchain monitor) showed Jed McCaleb, CTO of Stellar, sold more than 1 billion XRP between 2014 and 2019. Whale Alert, however, noted that compared with the trade volume XRP has on a daily basis, the amount McCaleb sold seems insignificant.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s went above $10,000 yet again. The bull presence increased and the price spiked from the $9,580 support level all the way to $10,290, breezing through the $9,735, $9,870 and $10,015 resistance levels. As the bulls got tired and overextended, bears took over and the price fell a bit. Bitcoin is now consolidating at the $10,100 level.


Bitcoin’s volume quite average when compared to the past week, while its RSI is now near the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,360                                         1: $10,015

2: $10,505                                         2: $9,870

3: $10,855                                          3: $9,735


Ethereum

Ethereum also had a green day, with gains similar to Bitcoin’s. The second-largest cryptocurrency increased in price from $244 all the way up to $286. The move broke the $251.3, $259.5, and $279 resistances with ease. The move, however, ended, and Ethereum’s price fell slightly, dropping under the $279 support (now resistance) level.


Ethereum’s volume is quite average, while its RSI level is just above the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $302                                              2: $251.3  

                                                           3: $240


Ripple

XRP performed worse than Bitcoin and Ethereum on the day. The third-largest cryptocurrency gained a bit of value, but actually stayed at the same level it was at 24 hours ago. It is currently consolidating and preparing for the next move, bound by the $0.31 resistance as well as $0.285 support level.


XRP’s volume is on the same levels it was at during the past week (if we disregard the few large candlesticks during the breakouts), while its RSI just under the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.31                                              1: $0.285

2: $0.324                                            2: $0.266

3: $0.332                                             3: $0.2454

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 18 – Altcoins on the rise yet again; India voting with Blockchain

The crypto market suffered decent losses over the weekend as BTC failed to break the $10,500 mark. The aftermath was BTC falling under $10,000 and altcoins dropping massively in price. However, the past 24 hours passed with altcoins rising (some more and some less) while BTC was stagnating. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,791, which represents a 0.13% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 7.04% on the day, while XRP gained 3.06%.

Golem took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 20.23%. On the other side, WAX lost 7.51% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance dropped slightly as altcoins rose while BTC stood still in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.11%, which represents a decrease of 1.47% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $286.97 billion, which represents an increase of $6.4 billion when compared to the value it had yesterday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

India’s citizens will be able to vote even while outside their city of registration, all thanks to a blockchain-based system of voting.

India’s Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced that the country, in hopes of increasing voter turnout, will implement a blockchain-based voting solution. Arora added that, in the 2019 elections, over 300 million eligible voters did not manage to cast their vote because they were either not politically engaged or could not make it to their city of registration on that day.

Honorable mention

IOTA updating their Trinity wallet 

As we recently reported, IOTA’s Trinity wallet had a security breach where many users reported their funds as missing. The IOTA Foundation has recently released a safe desktop version of the Trinity wallet, which will hopefully not suffer from the same security issues.

According to a Feb 17 update post, IOTA will update their Trinity application to securely check balances and transactions by using Trinity 1.4.1. Trinity 1.4.1. is a new version of the wallet that is designed to remove the detected vulnerability from the wallets.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price failed to go above $10,500 due to the lack of bull pressure during the weekend, which was a great time for bears to take over. The largest cryptocurrency spent the weekend falling in price, and even touched the $$9,460 level on Feb 17. However, that price point was quickly rejected and its price rose above the $9,580 support line. The price went further up above the $9,735, which is where it is at right now.


Bitcoin’s volume is on a lower level than where it was over the past week. Its RSI is now on the lower side of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,870                                           1: $9,735

2: $10,015                                         2: $9,580

3: $10,360                                          3: $9,375


Ethereum

Ethereum had a worse than Bitcoin, as most of the altcoins dropped significantly in price. Its price fell from its highs of $287 all the way down to $237. However, the price got rejected, and bulls took over yet again. The story has changed in the past 24 hours, as Ethereum exploded to the upside and gained over 7%. Its price is now hovering around the $265 mark.


Ethereum’s volume is quite average, while its RSI level is around the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $302                                              2: $251.3  

3: $240


Ripple

XRP performed better than the stagnating Bitcoin on the day but worse than Ethereum, which increased its price by over 7%. The third-largest cryptocurrency tested the $0.266 support level a few times over the past couple of days. The support held up nicely, and the price now pushed past the $0.285 resistance as the bulls established their presence. XRP is now stable and consolidating at the $0.29 level.


XRP’s volume is on the same levels it was at during the past week (if we disregard the few enormous candlesticks during the breakouts), while its RSI is slowly rising to the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.31                                              1: $0.285

2: $0.324                                            2: $0.266

3: $0.332                                             3: $0.2454

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 17 – Altcoins take a dive as Bitcoin drops under $10,000; Craig Wright suing BTC and BCH?

The crypto market suffered some losses over the weekend as BTC could not break the $10,500 mark. However, BTC held up nicely compared to altcoins, which took a dive. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,796, which represents a 1.53% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 6.65% on the day, while XRP lost 9.6%.

MaidSafeCoin took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 9.29%. On the other side, HyperCash lost 20.93% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly over the weekend as altcoins dropped more than the largest crypto by market cap. It is now at 63.58%, which represents an increase of 1.5% when compared to the value it had on Friday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization lost quite a bit of value over the weekend. It is currently valued at $280.57 billion, which represents a decrease of $19.69 billion when compared to the value it had on Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Craig Wright, the person claiming to be the creator of Bitcoin better known as Satoshi Nakamoto, sent out a warning to BTC and BCH to stop using the Bitcoin database as they will face lawsuits if they continue to use it. He claims that both these networks might be violating the laws under the terms of Bitcoin’s original EULA as well as MIT License.

Wright, which is also the person behind Bitcoin SV, added that he will take control of his creation in his personal blog.

Honorable mention

NEO 

Major and well-known cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it will launch a new financial product: futures that track the crypto-asset NEO.

They made an announcement on Feb 16, which stated that the NEO/USDT futures will be available starting Feb 17. Traders will be able to select their leverage between 1x-50x. The exchange will pose fees on these trades, namely: 2% base initial margin rate, 0.5% liquidation fee and 1% base maintenance margin rate.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price failed to go above $10,500 due to the lack of bull pressure, which was a great time for bears to take over. The largest cryptocurrency spent the weekend falling price-wise, and even touched the $$9,580 support line. However, that price point was quickly rejected and its price is now consolidating above the $9,735 support line.


Bitcoin’s volume is a tad bit lower than over the past week. Its RSI is now on the lower side of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,870                                           1: $9,735

2: $10,015                                         2: $9,580

3: $10,360                                          3: $9,375


Ethereum

Ethereum had a bad weekend as well, even worse than Bitcoin. Its price fell down from its highs of $287 all the way down to $237. However, the price got rejected, and bulls pushed it up to the $251.3 level. After some time spent deciding whether it will consolidate above or below this level, Ethereum fell below it. Its price is now right under the $251.3 resistance level.


Ethereum’s volume is on the level it was at during the bullish trend, while its RSI is currently hovering around the value of 40.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $251.3                                             1: $240

2: $259.5                                            2: $225.4 

3: $279                                              3: $217.7


Ripple

XRP performed the worst out of the top3 cryptocurrencies over the weekend. Even in the past 24 hours, its price dropped by almost 10%. The $0.345 price got rejected as the bears took over the market, and XRP moved down to $0.27. However, the bulls did not agree with this bottom and took the price back up a bit. XRP is now consolidating around the $0.28 line. It is bound by the $0.285 resistance and the $0.266 support.


XRP’s volume is on the same levels it was at during the past week, while its RSI is around the 35 level.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                             3: $0.235

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 14 – Cryptos consolidating as BTC fails to break $10,500

The crypto market is slowing down to catch a breath from all the explosive growth it experienced lately. Most of the cryptos are stagnating or moving slightly down. Bitcoin is currently trading for $10,186, which represents a 2.59% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 3.1% on the day, while XRP lost 2.46%.

THETA took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 21.06%. On the other side, Hedera Hashgraph lost 30.44% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased slightly in the past 24 hours. It is now at 62.08%, which represents an increase of 0.26% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization lost quite a bit of value in the past 24 hours but managed to stay above the $300 billion mark. It is currently valued at $300.26 billion, which represents a decrease of $7.2 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Coinbase Commerce, a platform that specializes in supporting cryptocurrency payments for internet retailers, added MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin to the list of available supported payment methods this week.

This integration will allow merchants all around the world to accept the DAI stablecoin as payment for goods and services. Coinbase Commerce will not be taking any extra fees.

Honorable mention

IOTA 

The IOTA Foundation warned its user base regarding the IOTA coin wallet Trinity. The reason for the warning is that the Trinity wallet is associated with some stolen funds.

After many IOTA holders reported their coins to be missing, the IOTA Foundation made an announcement stating that they will suspend its network node, called the Coordinator. The suspension will last until the entity explores the situation.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin fell down slightly as its price failed to go above $10,500. The move down was quite sharp and brought Bitcoin all the way down to $10,060. However, the price has recovered and is now consolidating at the $10,180 mark.


Bitcoin’s volume is at almost the same level since the start of the bullish trend. Its RSI dropped from the overbought territory line and is now at around the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,360                                         1: $10,015

2: $10,505                                         2: $9,870

3: $10,855                                          3: $9,735


Ethereum

Ethereum had a great week, as its price kept increasing day by day. The past 24 hours were a bit slower for Ethereum, though. Its price could not gain enough momentum to push for the $279 resistance level, so it started to consolidate at the $263 level. It is currently bound by the closest resistance point at $279 and the closest support sitting at $259.5.


Ethereum’s volume dropped quite a bit after it started consolidating. Its RSI dropped below the overbought territory recently and looks like it’s on its way down.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                              2: $251.3 

3: $302                                              3: $240


Ripple

XRP has spent the last 24 hours testing its support levels. The third-largest cryptocurrency tried and failed to get above $0.324 level, which caused bears to take over and bring the price down a bit. XRP’s price fell to the $0.31 support level, which held up quite nicely. The cryptocurrency is now consolidating in the middle of the range, bound by $0.31 to the downside and $0.324 to the upside.


XRP’s volume fell to the average levels, while its RSI level is just below the overbought territory line.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.324                                            1: $0.31

2: $0.3328                                          2: $0.285

                                                            3: $0.266

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 13 – Altcoin season finally here? BTC right under $10,500

The crypto market is reaching new highs but is slowing down from the explosive growth. Some cryptos, however, are still charging straight ahead to the new highs. Bitcoin is currently trading for $10,461, which represents a 1.03% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained a staggering 10% on the day, while XRP skyrocketed as well, with its 12.91%.

Hedera Hashgraph took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer yet again, with gains of 47.35%. On the other side, Synthetix Network lost 7.5% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance fell by almost a full one percent in the past 24 hours as most of the market moved up more than Bitcoin itself. It is now at 61.82%, which represents a decrease of 0.97% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained a great amount of value on the day and managed to pass the $300 billion mark. It is currently valued at $307.46 billion, which represents an increase of $8.01 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The cryptocurrency market passed the mark of $300 billion market capitalization as of today. Over the past month, this figure slowly and steadily increased from $218.4 billion to $303.1 billion. This represents a total market cap gain of 65.92% from the start of 2020.

Ever since the beginning of the year, the market cap was slowly rising, while Bitcoin’s dominance was slowly falling. Bitcoin’s dominance rate dropped from 68% to 62% as many altcoins managed to score double and even triple-digit percentage gains.

Honorable mention

Tezos 

Tezos (XTZ) is outperforming almost every single cryptocurrency in 2020 and is testing all-time highs. This wave of enthusiasm began in January and continues to this day.

The data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets shows us that Tezos’ XTZ token managed to hit $3.24 on Feb. 12. This represents a 25% increase in the past twenty-four hours alone. Tezos also managed to gain over 54% in the past week alone, while it gained 150% in the year-to-date.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin managed to score yet another day of steady gains. Its price recently rose above $10,000 and stayed above it for a while. Now, Bitcoin is establishing its position above the line and even pushed up slightly to the highs of $10,500. Its price is currently right below this line. This push managed to get Bitcoin above the $10,360 and $10,460 resistances without any problem.


Bitcoin’s volume is at almost the same level ever since the start of the bullish trend. Its RSI is on the edge of the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,855                                         1: $10,460

2: $11,090                                         2: $10,360

                                                           3: $10,010


Ethereum

Ethereum is having a great day, as its price keeps going up. The second-largest cryptocurrency managed to score a two-digit gain in the past 24 hours. Its price moved from $217.5 on Feb 11 to $273 where it is now. The price is now approaching the resistance of $279, which might have trouble passing.


Ethereum’s volume extremely high at the moment, while its RSI level is deep into the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $279                                                1: $259.5

2: $289                                              2: $251.3 

3: $302                                              3: $240


Ripple

XRP finally joined other top cryptocurrencies in the bull season yesterday. However, it is quickly catching up what it lost over the past few days it was stagnating. XRP managed to score double-digit gains on the day, just like Ethereum. Its price moved up sharply but got stopped at the $0.324 resistance, where the bears rallied. It has tried to break this resistance a couple of times since but has not yet succeeded.


XRP’s volume increased over the past couple of hours, while its RSI level is deep in the overbought area.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.324                                            1: $0.31

2: $0.3328                                          2: $0.285

                                                            3: $0.266

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 12 – Bitcoin pushing to $11,000? Coronavirus affecting Crypto Mining

Cryptocurrency bulls returned to make another push towards new yearly highs. Bitcoin went back above $10,000. It was not the only crypto to gain, as almost every single cryptocurrency in the top100 is green on the day. Bitcoin is currently trading for $10,344, which represents a 5.74% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained an astonishing 12.03% on the day, while XRP gained 7.28%.

Hedera Hashgraph took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 151.1%. On the other side, Kick Token lost 35.99% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser. Kick Token is holding this position for the second day in a row.

Bitcoin’s dominance fell in the past 24 hours as most of the market moved up more than Bitcoin itself. It is now at 62.79%, which represents a decrease of 0.74% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained a great amount of value on the day. It is currently valued at $299.45 billion, which represents an increase of $19.03 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Mainstream financial entities are starting to look at Bitcoin as a non-correlated asset that could be used as a hedge. Morgan Creek Digital Co-founder Anthony Pompliano promoted this concept/viewpoint on Bitcoin for over a year.

If Bitcoin is unlikely to correlate to economic factors, or other traditional equities and fixed income securities, then it (Bitcoin) could serve as a tool for portfolio diversification,” said Bluford Putnam, the chief economist at the CME.

Honorable mention

Bitcoin (And how Coronavirus affects mining) 

The slowdown in the growth of mining difficulty shows that miners had to pause upgrading their equipment as the epidemic prompted Chinese authorities to put certain areas into quarantine. This caused mining equipment makers to delay production as well as shipments.

Mining difficulty is adjusted on Feb. 11 to a level of 0.52% higher than 14 days earlier. While still an increase, this is a significant drop from the growth rates of 4.67% and 7.08%, which were recorded during the 2 adjustments prior to the ones listed.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The first bull wave that took Bitcoin over $10,000 failed after the bulls couldn’t push the price above $10,200. After some time spent in a downwards trend, Bitcoin spiked up yet again. This time, the price broke $10,200 and went all the way to the $10,360 resistance. Bitcoin bulls and bears are currently fighting to push the largest crypto above this resistance level or to keep it under.


Bitcoin’s volume is currently quite high, while its RSI level is dangerously close to the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,360                                         1: $10,010

2: $10,460                                         2: $9,872

3: $10,855                                         3: $9,732


Ethereum

After a short term downside correction, Ethereum (just like Bitcoin) found support near the $217.5 area. Bulls came to the market aggressively and pushed the price above the $240 resistance. It is currently stabilizing between the $240 support and the $251 resistance level.


Ethereum’s volume is on nearly the same level it was at over the whole uptrend that started on Feb 4. Its RSI on the 4-hour time frame has entered the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $251.3                                             1: $240

2: $259.5                                            2: $225.5 

3: $279                                               3: $217.5


Ripple

XRP finally joined other top cryptocurrencies and went into the bull mode, at least for a short while. Its price, after many failed attempts, broke the $0.285 resistance and is now consolidating right above it. The upwards price move was not steep, but rather gradual and strong. It was not accompanied by a big volume increase.


XRP’s volume is average at best, while its RSI level is approaching the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.31                                              1: $0.285

2: $0.324                                            2: $0.266

3: $0.3328                                          3: $0.2454

 

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Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 11 – Bear Cycle or just a Bump before the Major Bull Run?

Bitcoin turned away from its $10,200 resistance as bears took over the playing field and the crypto market as a whole. As a result, most of the cryptocurrencies ended up in the red over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,757, which represents a 3.22% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 2.6% on the day, while XRP lost 3.72%.

OKB took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 47.04%. On the other side, Kick Token lost 19.27% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance fell down slightly in the past 24 hours. It is now at 63.53%, which represents a decrease of 0.22% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization lost some value as the market turned red. It is currently valued at $280.42 billion, which represents a decrease of $4.62 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Italy might be showing a slight degree of hostility towards the crypto industry, as it’s securities regulator ordered a shutdown of six foreign exchange websites as well as two crypto investing and derivative trading sites.

The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB), which is operating as a securities regulator in Italy, has accused these websites of violating their Mifid2 as well as the Consolidated Law on Finance for providing illegal trading products and services.

Honorable mention

Ethereum – Anonymous? 

A part of the Ethereum network became anonymous on Feb 1. This happened due to the implementation of the Aztec protocol, which was created and launched on the network’s main net by Thomas Walton-Pock and his team.

Aztec protocol is designed to provide a high level of privacy on the ETH network, as well as to, hopefully, significantly reduce transaction costs.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin fell under $10,000 as bears took over the market at the $10,200 mark. The move down was quite sharp, and placed Bitcoin below a few key support levels (now resistance levels). After falling below $10,000, Bitcoin dropped all the way to $9,700. It has then been stopped by the bulls and returned above $9,732 support. However, Bitcoin is testing the support level quite hard, and is currently right below it.



Bitcoin’s volume is currently on average levels, while its RSI dropped from the overbought territory sharply. It is currently in the lower portion of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,872                                           1: $9,732

2: $10,010                                         2: $9,585

3: $10,360                                         3: $9,380


Ethereum

Ethereum also stopped moving upwards after a weekend of great gains. After reaching $230, its price started moving sideways or slightly towards the downside. However, unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum did not have a major test of its support levels and kept above the $217.5 support.


Ethereum’s volume is on the lower side at the moment, while its RSI is hovering around the middle of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $225.5                                             1: $217.5

2: $240                                              2: $198 

3: $251.3                                           3: $193.6


Ripple

While most cryptos exploded to the upside over the weekend, XRP spent the time mostly by being in consolidation mode. However, it made one (unsuccessful) attempt to break the $0.285 resistance level. The price continued to consolidate at the levels between $0.285 resistance and $0.266 support, which is where it’s at now as well. However, XRP might be testing its closest support level as its price is moving towards the downside and forming a small downtrend.


XRP’s volume is average at the time of writing, while its RSI level is in the lower parts of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                            3: $0.235

 

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Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 10 – Bitcoin fighting to regain $10,000 after a sudden crash occurs

Another green weekend for the crypto industry came as Bitcoin broke the $10,000 mark. Many say that this is only the beginning of a move that can take Bitcoin to $100,000. However, the past couple of hours were quite turbulent. The majority of the cryptocurrency market made gains over the weekend, but they mostly fell down in price in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9,963, which represents a 1.7% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 2.86% on the day, while XRP lost 3.65%.

Kick Token took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 53.88%. On the other side, Synthetix Network lost 12.41% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance fell down slightly over the weekend. It is now at 63.75%, which represents a decrease of 0.72% when compared to the value it had on Friday.

 

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained quite a bit over the weekend. It is currently valued at $285.04 billion, which represents an increase of $9.9 billion when compared to Friday.

What happened in the past 24 hours

American investment data provider Weiss Ratings updated its ranking for Bitcoin (BTC) to “excellent” by assigning it the A- grade. The rating update came due to strong price performance.

Weiss Ratings posted a tweet published on Feb. 7, saying that: “The Weiss Crypto Rating for BTC is now A- (excellent). This is thanks to improving fundamentals as well as positive price action ahead of Bitcoin’s halving.

Before Bitcoin received the A- rating, it was rated lower than XRP and EOS as they were considered cryptocurrencies with the best combination of tech and adoption. However, Bitcoin has a higher grade than both of them now.

Honorable mention

Binance Coin (BNB) 

Binance Coin (BNB) has shown its strength, mostly due to the changes in the fundamentals. Several fundamental core events happened during the last week. These events were perceived as positive by the traders. Binance launched futures trading for Zcash as well as BNB this week.

The exchange also added support for the Russian ruble. This feature allows users to make cryptocurrency purchases via their Visa banking card. On top of that, Binance hired Iskander Malikov, former COO at TradingView, as the new director of fiat in order to boost its fiat-to-crypto gateways.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

The uptrend that started on Feb 4 continued over the weekend as well, pushing Bitcoin’s price over 10,000. The price slowly approached $9,900 and then spiked up all the way to $10,200. The move was not accompanied by a significant volume increase, but it was rather a slow grind towards the goal. However, the past few hours brought us a massive drop in price, where Bitcoin fell to $9,725 in a matter of minutes. The price recovered and the largest cryptocurrency by market cap is now trading just under $10,000.


Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $10,010                                         1: $9,872

2: $10,360                                         2: $9,732

3: $10,470                                         3: $9,585


Ethereum

Ethereum had quite a bit of a run over the weekend as well. The price steadily went up and rose to $230, but consolidated below the $225.5 level. The past couple of hours brought us a sudden price drop, where Ethereum fell down to the $217.5 support level. However, bears did not manage to break this support level, and Ethereum quickly bounced back.


Ethereum’s volume is elevated at the moment, while its RSI left the overbought territory and is currently in the higher part of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $225.5                                             1: $217.5

2: $240                                              2: $198 

3: $251.3                                           3: $193.6


Ripple

XRP spent the weekend mostly by being in the consolidation mode. However, it made one attempt to break the $0.285 resistance level, which failed. The price continued to consolidate at the levels right below $0.285 ever since the failed spike. However, the past couple of hours brought XRP bears to the game as well. A sudden move made XRP go from $0.282 to $0.27. However, the bulls quickly reacted, and the price went back to the previous levels.


XRP’s volume is still a bit elevated, while its RSI level is moving to the lower portions of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                            3: $0.235

 

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Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 7 – Bitcoin Futures over 10,000; US crypto regulators stalling

Another green day for the crypto industry is on its way, as bullish sentiment rises. Many people are talking about Bitcoin going over $10,000 very soon. The majority of the market made some gains in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently trading for $9797, which represents a 1.73% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained4.61% on the day, while XRP lost 0.43%.

Kick Token took the position of today’s most prominent daily gainer, with gains of 26.17%. On the other side, Molecular Future lost 15.29% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance increased by quite a lot in the past 24 hours. It is now at 64.23%, which represents an increase of 3.58% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained quite a bit over the past 24 hours as cryptocurrencies gained some more value. It is currently valued at $277.71 billion, which represents an increase of $4.54 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The bullish sentiment continues to rise in the crypto market. Numerous altcoins score double-digit gains on a daily basis, while Bitcoin’s price on crypto exchanges also continues to push higher and higher.

Skew Markets has recently published data showing Bitcoin futures that expire in May 2020 and June 2020 rose above $10,000 at more than one exchange. On top of that, Bitcoin futures at BitMEX recently expanded to a new high of $1.5 billion.

Honorable mention

Ripple 

We are mentioning Ripple yet again today, as the company seems like it’s in quite a spotlight with all the partnerships and deals it made. An advocacy group called the Blockchain Association, which is representing many high-profile cryptocurrency firms, launched a working group with the aim to push for a U.S.-wide regulatory framework earlier this month.

This new working group is led by senior employees of Ripple and Coinbase. Its main aim is, as mentioned above, to advise United States regulators on how to approach crypto-friendly policies. However, the congresspeople are too busy preparing for the upcoming elections, so these policies are put to the side. U.S. crypto firms, in the meantime, have to work by complying with state-by-state regulations or avioding specific states in the near future.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Another day, another swing to the upside with Bitcoin trying to climb its way to 10,000. The price slowly moved above the $9,732 resistance level and is currently safe above it. The move was not accompanied by a significant volume increase. While Bitcoin’s outlook is bullish, its 4-hour time frame RSI level is still in the overbought territory.


One thing to note is that Bitcoin returned its dominance after losing 4% yesterday.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,872                                           1: $9,732

2: $10,010                                         2: $9,585

                                                         3: $9,251


Ethereum

Ethereum gained quite a bit today as well. Its price continued moving upwards after a brief consolidation and just one 4-hour red candle. While the price is currently broken, the resistance of $217.5, it is unknown whether Ethereum will stay above the price line. However, the outlook is still bullish.


Ethereum’s volume increased massively during yesterday’s upswing, but it has reduced by a lot today. However, it is still elevated. Its RSI level is deep in the overbought territory for a couple of days now. The key level of $217.5 will remain on our left side of key levels until Ethereum spends at least a couple more hours above it.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $217.5                                             1: $198

2: $225.5                                            2: $193.6 

                                                          3: $185


Ripple

XRP spent the day attempting to break the $0.285 resistance. However, all of its attempts were unsuccessful. For that reason, XRP is now just below the resistance line and consolidating. XRP had one 4-hour candle where its price suddenly dropped from $0.2848 all the way down to $0.261. However, the move was quite short, and XRP quickly recovered to the previous levels.


XRP’s volume is still a bit elevated, while its RSI level is moving out from the overbought area.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                            3: $0.235

 

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Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 6 – Is this the Start of the Altcoin Season?

Taking a look at the market, and it has never looked more green. Almost every single cryptocurrency made some gains in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is currently trading for $9611, which represents a 3.98% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained a staggering 9.36% on the day, while XRP went parabolic and gained 0.94%.

NEM took today’s most prominent daily gainer title with gains of 27.94%. On the other side, MaidSafeCoin lost 4.84% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased significantly in the past 24 hours. It is now at 60.65%, which represents a decrease of 4% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained quite a bit over the past 24 hours as cryptocurrencies gained momentum upward. It is currently valued at $273.17 billion, which represents an increase of $12.04 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Lightning Labs, the developer Bitcoin’s high-speed transaction protocol “Lightning Network,” secured $10 million in their Series A funding round. Lightning Labs CEO and co-founder, Elizabeth Start, told the news via a public announcement in a blog post.

The company plans to use the raised funds to continue with the development of the Lightning payments technology as well as scaling of its developer ecosystem.

Honorable mention

Ripple 

Ripple, the company behind the third-largest cryptocurrency XRP, has made a new partnership. Apparently, Ripple will use its technology to bolster cross-border payments between the US and Mexico.

The company has, for this to happen, partnered with International Money Express, which is a money remittance services company mostly focused on the Latin and Caribbean corridor. International Money Express (also known as Intermex), Ripple’s new financial partner, is listed on the Nasdaq stock market with the stock ticker IMXI.

Ripple made announcement of the new partnership on Feb 5.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin made another swing up, trying to climb its way to 10,000. The price moved from the support level of $9,120 upwards, all the way up to $9,732 where the momentum faded. The move was accompanied by a slight (but not as substantial as some thought) volume increase. Bitcoin is now safely consolidating between the resistance of $9,732 and support of $9,585. Bitcoin’s RSI is just below the overbought territory while its volume is slightly above average.


One thing to note is that Bitcoin got outperformed by many cryptocurrencies in the past 24 hours, and even lost 4% of its dominance.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,732                                           1: $9,585

2: $9,872                                           2: $9,251

3: $10,010                                         3: $9,120


Ethereum

Ethereum went parabolic today, as its price rose from $185 all the way to $212. The momentum faded down, and Ethereum is (at least for now) trying to consolidate at the highs. The second-largest cryptocurrency breezed through its $193.6 and $198 resistances as the volume skyrocketed.


Ethereum’s volume increased massively during the upswing, while its RSI level is deep in the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $217.5                                             1: $198

2: $225.5                                            2: $193.6 

                                                          3: $185


Ripple

XRP is, after it skyrocketed yesterday, mostly consolidating at its highs. Because of that, the third-largest cryptocurrency gained less than 1% on the day. Its move did not break any resistances and kept withing the bounds of its current ones. XRP is currently trading in between the $0.266 support and $0.285 resistance, which is quite a large range.


XRP’s volume descended from the highs it had during yesterday’s move, but it is still elevated. Its RSI level on the 4-hour chart is still deep into overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                            3: $0.235

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 5 – XRP Skyrockets after Breaking a 2-year Downtrend; Bitcoin SV Upgrade Tesults in Chain Split

While the crypto market is still mostly in the consolidation phase, the outlook is much greener in the past 24 hours. Cryptocurrencies are mostly in the slight green with a cryptocurrency losing a tiny bit of their value here and there. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is currently trading for $9276, which represents a 0.08% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 1.5% on the day, while XRP went parabolic and gained 10.59%.

Decentraland took today’s most prominent daily gainer title with gains of 19.82%. On the other side, ICON lost 16.64% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance kept decreasing over the past few days as altcoins outperformed it slightly each day. It is now at 64.65%, which represents a decrease of 0.17% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed at pretty much the same level as yesterday. It is currently valued at $261.13 59.66 billion, which represents an increase of $1.47 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Gemini, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, announced the integration of the popular trading analysis service TradingView.

As TradingView announced on Feb. 4, Gemini added the trading service as a trading partner. This will allow its institutional customers to trade directly through TradingView. As part of this integration and partnership, Gemini is now listed in the TradingView’s Trading Panel. It can also be found in the TradingView’s Brokerage Section.

Honorable mention

Bitcoin SV 

Bitcoin SV performed a scheduled chain upgrade called Genesis on Feb. 3. However, most nodes have not yet updated, which resulted in a minor chain split. Bitcoin SV is now split into two versions.

Somewhere around 1/4 of all blockchain nodes are still running the old version, which means that they cannot synchronize to the main BSV chain. On top of this, a chain split occurred several hours later, where the old chain got extended by one block, which means that some miners also failed to upgrade to the new chain.

This event does not appear to be a premeditated attempt at creating a new BSV sub-chain.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price might be in trouble as the sentiment grows bearish for the short-term. The largest cryptocurrency fell out of the consolidation range bound by $9,251 which indicated the possibility of price going further down. However, the $9,120 resistance was strong enough to keep Bitcoin bears at bay, and Bitcoin is now trying to regain its position above $9,251.


Bitcoin’s RSI is slowly rising in value while its volume is slightly below average.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,251                                           1: $9,120

2: $9,585                                           2: $9,070

3: $9,732                                          3: $8,905


Ethereum

Ethereum also went down slightly as the ETH bears tried to test the $185 support. However, the support held and the downward-facing trend got rejected. Ethereum’s price is now pushing above the middle of the range, bound by $185 to the upside and $193.6 to the upside.


Ethereum’s volume increased greatly in the past few hours, while its RSI level is approaching overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $193.6                                            1: $185

2: $198                                              2: $178.5

                                                         3: $167.8


Ripple

XRP is certainly the best performer out of the top3 cryptocurrencies (and beyond). After breaking a downtrend it was in for two years, the price skyrocketed and reached above $0.266. The price increase was accompanied by a major spike in volume. XRP is now trading in-between $0.266 to the downside and $0.285 to the upside.


XRP’s volume is enormous when compared to the volume it had previous days/weeks. Its RSI level on the 4-hour chart is deep into overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.285                                            1: $0.266

2: $0.31                                              2: $0.2454

3: $0.324                                            3: $0.235

 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

What is QTUM? Demystifying the First-Ever Proof-of-Stake Blockchain

Even the most casual blockchain fan has most likely heard of Bitcoin and Ethereum. The two blockchains are the most popular in the blockchain and crypto space – thanks to their pioneering technologies. Bitcoin’s security and Ethereum’s smart contracts’ capability are peerless, a decade and six years after they were launched, respectively.

Now imagine if the two chains’ capabilities could be harnessed and offered on a single platform. That would be huge. And it’s precisely what Singapore-based crypto and blockchain project, Qtum has done.

In this guide, we’ll delve into the Qtum ecosystem and explore all the exciting details you need to know. 

But first, let’s get the basics out of the way.

What is Qtum?

Qtum,  – pronounced as ‘Quantum,’ is a cryptocurrency and blockchain project that combines Ethereum’s smart contract technology with Bitcoin’s security and stability to support decentralized applications (DApps) and smart contracts platform. The project’s white paper states that Qtum is the first “UTXO-based smart contract systems with a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model.”(UTXO stands for ‘unspent transaction output.’ It’s a blockchain model first developed by Satoshi to solve the double-spending problem of digital currencies.)

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two most valuable cryptocurrencies both in market cap and by being trailblazers in the space. By bridging the functionalities of both chains, Qtum hopes to have the best of both worlds.

The Best of Both Worlds

As we’ve noted above, Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two blockchains that broke the ground for other crypto projects, each in its own way. Bitcoin, while being the oldest, remains the securest of blockchains.

Ethereum, for its part, is the first reliable platform for developers to create smart contracts and decentralized applications.

Qtum has created an “Account Abstraction Layer (AAL)” to facilitate Ethereum’s Virtual Machine integration on Qtum’s UTXO blockchain. Abstraction is a concept in computing that means hiding the complexity of the software to allow for its smooth implementation and use. With abstraction, anyone can use a technology without having to master the technicalities underlying it.

For example, to use a smartphone, you don’t need to be a programmer or developer. If you need to call someone, you don’t need to know how pressing the call icon activates the circuit inside the phone, and so on. In short, abstraction makes complex technologies accessible to the average person.

This simple innovation has enabled it to offer a secure smart contract platform that combines Bitcoin’s and Ethereum’s best, and one that’s interoperable with both chains. For the Qtum community, this is big because scalability technologies on both blockchains e.g., Raiden, Lightning Network, Segwit, and so on, will be operable on QTUM.

Who Is The Team Behind Qtum?

The Qtum project draws its talent from multiple sources. The team comprises members from both the Bitcoin and Ethereum communities as well as outfits like Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, NASDAQ, and more. The forefront members of the team include Patrick Dai, Jordan Earls, Yungi Ouyang, Baiqiang Dong, Neil Mahi, and Xiaolong Xu. This group combines experience from blockchain, theoretical mechanics, software development, web development, and so on.

Qtum, the First Proof-of-Stake Blockchain

Another remarkable feature of Qtum is its use of a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus protocol. The platform’s implementation of PoS was the first in the blockchain space. PoS is seen as superior to the Proof-of-Work consensus protocol first introduced by Bitcoin. In PoW, miners compete to solve computational puzzles, upon which the first miner to solve a puzzle receives block rewards.

PoW, however, has various challenges, including:

  • It gobbles up excessive amounts of energy – which is too expensive and bad for the environment
  • People or entities that have access to resources have an unfair advantage over those who don’t because they can afford the massive amount of power required as well as powerful specialized mining computers. This goes against the decentralization that cryptocurrency is supposed to embody.
  • It uses real-world resources

Qtum and Mobile

The vast majority of blockchains focus on computer-based applications. Qtum changed this by allowing for mobile users – both individuals and businesses, to be able to run smart contracts and decentralized apps from their mobile phones.

Co-founder Patrick Dai explained QTUM’s ‘Go-Mobile’ strategy to Bitcoin Magazine, saying: “We want Qtum to be the easiest blockchain network to use…Today, everyone and everything is moving, that’s why we can’t have a network that is run by stationary objects.”

How does Qtum achieve this?

Existing DApps and smart contract platforms require you to have a full copy of the blockchain. People that have smaller devices or have no access to high-speed internet cannot hack this. Qtum circumvents this via the Simple Payment Verification (SPV) protocol, which has default access from Qtum thanks to EVM and UTXO integration. This SPV protocol allows for access to EVM with mobile-customized lite wallets and removes the need to download the whole blockchain.

Decentralized Governance Protocol

Another exciting feature of Qtum is its Decentralized Governance Protocol (DGP) that allows for modification of blockchain features like block size, block processing time, gas amounts, and so on without the need for a hard fork and ecosystem disruption. DGP, for instance, can increase block capacity up to 32 MB. Any change to blockchain parameters is done on-chain – without third party software or any contribution from network participants. 

Tokenomics of Qtum

QTUM’s ICO lasted from March 2016 to April 2017. A hundred million coins were distributed, with 51% going to the public. The remainder was split up as follows: 20% for the development team, early supporters, and founders, another 20% reserved for business development, with the remaining 9% going to research, growth strategy, and education.

As of Jan 31, 2020, QTUM ranks at #35 in terms of market cap, Its market cap is $202, 194, 252, with a 24-hour volume of $202, 194, 252 and a circulating supply of 96, 349, 532 QTUM. It has a total supply of 102, 099, 552, while its maximum supply is 107, 822, 406 QTUM. The token has an All-Time High of $99.87 (Jan 07, 2018) and an All-Time Low of $1.47 (Sept 24, 2019).

Last Thoughts

Qtum’s abstraction layer that enables users to use Ethereum’s smart contracts via the Bitcoin blockchain and its DGP platform that facilitates seamless blockchain modification are blockchain firsts. Thanks to these technologies, enterprises and even individuals can take advantage of blockchain technology more straightforwardly than was ever possible. The project has the right tools in its arsenal to make it successful, as long as it continues with the same innovative spirit in an ever-evolving blockchain world.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 4 – Mastercard explaining Libra situation; Waves launching in 6 European countries

The crypto market went into a consolidation phase, which it is still in. Cryptocurrencies are divided between slightly red and slightly green on the day. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is currently trading for $9267, which represents a 1.09% decrease on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 1.18% on the day, while XRP went up 0.68%.

Hedera Hashgraph took today’s most prominent daily gainer title with gains of 34.17%. On the other side, MonaCoin lost 10.66% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased significantly over the weekend. It is now at 64.82%, which represents a decrease of 0.48% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed at pretty much the same level as yesterday. It is currently valued at $259.66 billion, which represents an increase of $1.68 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

Mastercard Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga explained why this company dropped its support for Libra in an interview with the Financial Times on Feb 3. He boldly stated Libra’s lack of transparency and argued that national payment systems are “really stupid.”

Mastercard, at the start of the project, was one of the founding members of the Libra association. Mastercard was not the only one, but one among many. Companies such as Visa, PayPal, and Stripe were also supporting Libra. All four dropped their support in Oct 2019 without any proper explanation. However, many suspected fear of regulation to be the main contributor to how things unveiled.

Honorable mention

Waves 

Open-source blockchain platform Waves founded a non-profit organization that goes by the name Waves Association. The organization is located in Frankfurt, Germany. It aims to provide governance for its ecosystem, Web3, as well as to foster the development of DLTs, which would include both public and private blockchain protocols.

The Waves Association will not be represented only in Germany. It will be supported and represented by ten community members located in six different countries: Germany, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Russia.

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Technical analysis

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price entered a slight stagnation period as the bulls dropped pressure by the end of January. Its price is now trading in a tight range between $9,251 (majoy support) and $9,373 (minor resistance) or $9,585 (major resistance). Its price dropped slightly on the day, but no significant breaks happened.


Bitcoin’s RSI is slowly descending while its volume is average or slightly below average.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,585                                           1: $9,251

2: $9,732                                           2: $9,120

3: $10,000                                         3: $8,905


Ethereum

Ethereum also entered a consolidation phase, just like Bitcoin. However, its consolidation phase started a bit later, as ETH kept making moves even when BTC stopped. Ethereum could not break its $193.6 resistance level and decided to consolidate below it. Its price is now bound by this resistance, as well as the $185 support level.


Ethereum’s volume is on the lower side of the spectrum, while its RSI is still above the middle of the value range. However, it is slowly descending.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $193.6                                            1: $185

2: $198                                              2: $178.5

                                                         3: $167.8


Ripple

XRP seems to be sharing fate with Ethereum for the past couple of days. It too began consolidating a bit after Bitcoin, but at approximately the same time as Ethereum. Once its price went above the $0.2454 resistance (now support) level, the bulls lost the strength that was required to push the price even further. Because of that, XRP is now in the middle of a wide price range between $0.2454 and $0.266.


XRP’s volume is tilting towards average when compared to the past week. Its RSI level is slowly descending from the higher values.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.266                                            1: $0.2454

2: $0.285                                            2: $0.235

3: $0.31                                              3: $0.227

 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

The Three Generations of Blockchain

Subtly introduced to the world a decade ago by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, blockchain is the technology at the core of cryptocurrencies. In its early days, it was the subject of admiration and fervor – thanks to its groundbreaking immutability (irreversibility), utter transparency, and enhanced security attributes.

Today, blockchain is still a young technology. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t keep changing or improving, just like any other technology.

Consider the internet. The internet we know wasn’t like that in the beginning. When we look back, we can point to milestones that were achieved to culminate into the one we’ve got today.

In the sixties, we witnessed the first wide-area computer networks, followed by the electronic mail cash system and the ethernet in the seventies. The nineties brought with them more advanced developments like the World Wide Web, the first browsers, and so on. Each of these developments made the internet more reliable than it had been prior and contributed to the internet that we know today.

Just like with the internet, we can look back and say blockchain has evolved in certain ways since its inception. Each stage brought with it novel inventions that were limited or nonexistent in its forerunner. Based on this, we can classify blockchain’s existence into three generations.

Before we dive into each, it’s worth pointing out that blockchain’s development is interesting in that each succeeding generation is not necessarily more successful than its predecessor. This was always blockchain’s nature – breaking the mold in every trait. Every generation has carved out its space in the industry, and each is known for its unique contribution to the world of blockchain. With that, let’s dive in and see how the blockchain baby has grown to date.

The First Generation: Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

Blockchain, as we know it today, was first proposed by Bitcoin’s developer Satoshi Nakamoto in the cryptocurrency’s white paper. At the heart of the blockchain is a publicly distributed ledger that utilizes cryptography for the security of the network.

A blockchain comprises blocks that are linked together by cryptography. A ‘block’ here is a spreadsheet or a ledger containing information about a certain number of transactions.  The chain is a cryptographic passcode of sorts that must be ‘solved’ before accessing the next block of transactions.

Blockchain enables peer-to-peer transactions between network participants. This means there’s no central party authorizing or overseeing transactions – as a bank does for its customers, for example. For this reason, blockchain has been branded as “the greatest invention of the internet” and the “internet of money.”

In the same way that the internet decentralized information, blockchain might be the herald of decentralized finance.

While Bitcoin, the first application of blockchain, has broken the ground for all manner of blockchain-based applications, it’s hard to gloss over its inefficiencies like its inability to support smart contracts or its rather slow throughput (handling a mere seven transactions per second). As well, Bitcoin utilizes a ‘Proof-of-Work’ (PoW) consensus mechanism that requires computing complex mathematical problems. Due to the complexity involved, PoW is time-consuming and uses colossal amounts of energy comparable to the annual output of an entire country. There’s also the issue of compromised security in the event of a 51% attack.

These inefficiencies raise questions about its long-term sustainability, and its ability to support Bitcoin as a global currency leave alone compete with traditional money systems.

The Second Generation: Ethereum and Smart Contracts

In a way, we could say that we’re currently living in the second generation of blockchain. The second generation was instigated by developers who believed the blockchain was capable of so much more than being a platform for digital money.

The Ethereum blockchain is the embodiment of the technology’s second generation. Its developers, with Vitalik Buterin at the forefront, actualized the idea of smart contracts. Smart contracts are ‘smart’ in the sense that they are self-executing, do not need third parties, and are highly accurate (by virtue of being immutable).

As well, participants in a smart contract can log in at any time to view the terms of the agreement. Smart contracts eliminate any possibility for fraud, thanks to the immutability of the records. In the future, we could very well see agreements like marriages, bonds, trustees, and the like being enforced via smart contracts. And since these types of contracts are self-enforcing, the need for parties like lawyers, middlemen, regulators, etc. is removed.

It’s also on Ethereum’s blockchain that developers can build exciting decentralized applications (DApps). To understand DApps, think of Facebook and Google. These are two centralized applications that wield the power that they do because they are centralized. By contrast, decentralized applications have no central authority that regulates what users do on the platform. At the same time, user data is solely in the hands of who it belongs to – users.

Ethereum’s world of possibilities does not end there. Today, aspiring cryptocurrency and blockchain projects can raise capital via the blockchain using smart contracts. Ethereum also empowers new crypto projects to build their platform atop it. Today, over 200 000 crypto tokens that provide value to users everywhere benefit from Ethereum’s technology.

While Ethereum showed everyone that blockchain was capable of more, it is not without limitations. The network also faces the same scaling challenges as Bitcoin, making it difficult to provide reliable services to millions of users from around the globe. It also uses the same PoW mechanism as Bitcoin, consuming colossal amounts of power in the process.

The Third Generation, and the Future

Currently, the inability to scale is the bane of blockchain’s existence. Many blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions after Bitcoin and Ethereum have attempted to solve this, but with varying results. Going forward, it’s abundantly clear that scalability is the most important development that will emerge out of the third generation of blockchain. Whether that will require shaking the current blockchain setup or the use of ‘second-layer’ technologies, scalability is the main priority for future blockchain.

Newer kids on the block are also trying to improve interoperability across chains. The PoW mechanism is being replaced by the Proof-of-Stake mechanism and other novel consensus protocols that are faster, do not gobble up excessive power, and are generally more effective. Beyond this, new ideas to improve blockchain are always being proposed and implemented.

The Bottom Line

‘Change is the only constant thing’ definitely applies to blockchain too. We can expect developers to keep rolling out innovative ideas for the technology, although it’s difficult to say exactly where any new developments will take us. As usual, blockchain enthusiasts are uber keen to see what the next exciting thing is.

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Feb 3 – Cardano, the most decentralized crypto in the world? Altcoin season coming?

The crypto market went into a consolidation phase over the weekend. Altcoins seem to move up slightly more than Bitcoin in these phases. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is currently trading for $9,372, which represents a 0.16% increase on the day. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 1.55% on the day, while XRP went up 4.66%.

ICON took today’s most prominent daily gainer title with gains of 22.65%. On the other side, BitShares lost 9.72% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased significantly over the weekend. It is now at 65.30%, which represents a decrease of 0.56% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization stayed at pretty much the same level over the weekend. It is currently valued at $261.34 billion, which represents an increase of $0.97 billion when compared to Friday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention, alongside the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Dubai Healthcare City, as well as other relevant authorities, started operating on a blockchain-based health data storage platform.

The blockchain-based platform is built to improve the efficiency of MoHAP and others by using smart health services. Users will benefit from having a more streamlined search for health facilities as well as its licensed medical and technical personnel. It will also help with all inquires about medicine supply chains.

Honorable mention

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano (ADA) seems to be on a green path, as its price is constantly rising. This is happening because of all the positive news surrounding it. Cardano’s co-founder and CEO of IOHK Charles Hoskinson announced building a new commercial strategy by partnering with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. This news was greeted well by the market participants, and the price of ADA surged over 30%.

Hoskinson claimed in an interview that once all the upgrades of the protocol are implemented, Cardano could become the most decentralized cryptocurrency the world has ever seen.

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin bulls tried to push the price above $9,500 over the weekend, but failed to do so on a couple ocasions. The largest cryptocurrency took the time after each failed attempt to establish its footing right around $9,300 levels. This is exactly where Bitcoin currently is, guided by the 14.6% Fib retracement from the move – usually not a well-respected retracement level. Bitcoin is currently trading between its nearest strong support of $9,251 and the $9,585 resistance level.


Bitcoin’s RSI is slowly reducing while its volume is average or slightly below.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,585                                           1: $9,251

2: $9,732                                           2: $9,120

3: $10,000                                         3: $8,905


Ethereum

Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum did not consolidate in the past 24 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency managed to push over the next resistance in the line ($185) and push towards new highs. The move faded as the bulls could not break $193.6 resistance. Ethereum is now trading below the level of $193.6 and above the support of $185.


Ethereum’s volume increased slightly while it was running up in price. Its RSI level dropped out of overbought on the 4-hour chart and is now in the upper part of the value range.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $193.6                                            1: $185

2: $198                                              2: $178.5

                                                         3: $167.8


Ripple

XRP was explosive today. Its price surged as the bulls gathered to break the resistance of $0.2454. The move was fast and extremely explosive and brought the price from $0.236 all the way up to $0.262. However, XRP moved slightly down as the bulls got exhausted. It is now consolidating in the middle of the range, somewhere around $0.25.


XRP’s volume was elevated during the move but quickly came to normal. Its RSI level is near the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.266                                            1: $0.2454

2: $0.285                                            2: $0.235

3: $0.31                                              3: $0.227

 

Categories
Crypto Market Analysis

Daily Crypto Review, Jan 31 – Bitcoin just under $9,500; CME Bitcoin futures surpass $100 billion

The crypto market took another try at reaching new highs after a day of consolidation. Altcoins seems to have taken over the day, as most of the large altcoins moved up more than Bitcoin. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is currently trading for $9,450, which represents a 2.08% increase. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 6.2%% on the day, while XRP went up 4.24%.

Kick Token took today’s most prominent daily gainer title with gains of 47.56%. On the other side, DxChain lost 11.01% on the day, which made it the most prominent daily loser.

Bitcoin’s dominance decreased significantly in the past 24 hours. It is now at 65.86%, which represents a decrease of 0.76% when compared to the value it had yesterday.

The cryptocurrency market capitalization gained a considerable amount of value in the past 24 hours. It is currently valued at $260.37 billion, which represents an increase of $7.05 billion when compared to yesterday’s value.

What happened in the past 24 hours

The crypto boom of 2017 made mainstream financial entities look at the crypto industry. That was also the time they began moving into it. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) launched Bitcoin futures trading in December 2017, and since then, it has hosted over $100 billion in trading volume.

CME Group Managing Director, as well as Global Head of Equity Index Alternative Investment Products, Tim McCourt, told the press that the news of total volume of over $100 billion in Bitcoin futures trading is true.

Honorable mention

XRP

The world’s third-biggest cryptocurrency, XRP, is facing more regulatory concerns than ever. As these concerns have intensified, many people stepped in and talked about what they think about this asset.

Ben Askren, a former UFC fighter as well as a known Bitcoin bull, posted a tweet that expressed a lot of skepticism towards XRP. He tweeted on Jan 28: “I think XRP is a scam.” Askren is s well-known Bitcoin and Litecoin fan, but not quite a fan of XRP (as we can see from the tweet).

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Technical analysis

_______________________________________________________________________

Bitcoin

Bitcoin bulls tried to propell the price of the largest cryptocurrency above $9,500. However, the buying power was not as high as it needed to be, and Bitcoin failed to make it above this resistance level. Bitcoin immediately pulled back to the mini-support line of $9,375 (which is a 14.6% Fib retracement from the move – usually not a well-respected retracement level). Bitcoin is currently trading between its nearest big support of $9,251 and the $9,585 resistance level.


Bitcoin’s RSI is dancing around the overbought level line, while its volume is quite normal, apart from the one 4-hour candle which came out when BTC started a big upwards-facing move.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $9,585                                           1: $9,251

2: $9,732                                           2: $9,120

3: $10,000                                         3: $8,905


Ethereum

Ethereum is one of the altcoins that gained more than Bitcoin in the past 24 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency managed to push over its $178.5 resistance and finally break above. The moves were strong and without much resistance, while the volume was enormous (in comparison to the volume of the past week or so). Ethereum also tried to go over the next resistance level of $185 but failed to do so. It is currently consolidating just above the resistance level.


Ethereum’s volume was huge during the time of the price spike, while its RSI is slowly leaving the overbought territory.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $185                                                1: $178.5

2: $193.6                                            2: $167.8

3: $198                                           3: $164


Ripple

XRP also outperformed Bitcoin on the day. Its price moved up in order to pass the $0.2454 resistance level but failed to do so. However, XRP did make a good move to the upside. Its price is now just below the resistance.


XRP’s volume was elevated on the day, while its RSI level almost reached the overbought territory. However, it quickly backed down as the price stopped moving up.

Key levels to the upside                    Key levels to the downside

1: $0.2454                                          1: $0.235

2: $0.266                                            2: $0.227

3: $$0.285                                          3: $0.221

 

Categories
Cryptocurrencies

Your Complete Guide to Cardano

Launched in 2015, Cardano has defied expectations to rise to the top ten in market capitalization. For those not privy to the inner workings of the Cardano project, it can be hard to pin down what has catapulted its rise to the highest sanctums of cryptocurrency, despite being less than popular on the price side.

Nicknamed the “Ethereum Killer,” Cardano has an intriguing approach and pretty remarkable technology.

So, what is it about Cardano that makes it worthy of the “Ethereum Killer” tag? In this guide, we’ll find the answer to that query, as well as explore some of the exciting innovations of this project.

What is Cardano?

Cardano is a cryptocurrency project and blockchain-based smart contracts platform. Cardano believes digital cash is the future of money and aims to create a platform in which people from all over the world can send and receive money in a fast, direct, and secure manner.

Cardano was conceptualized by Charles Hoskinson, an Ethereum cofounder. He calls it a third-generation cryptocurrency – meaning it exists to improve on the scaling problems and other weaknesses of the first generation (Bitcoin) and second-generation (Ethereum) blockchains.

Cardano uses the new Haskell programming language, a ‘functional language’ that enables mathematical proofing of the code’s future behavior.

The Cardano platform has a native cryptocurrency known as ADA, with which users can send digital funds. It also houses two layers: the Cardano Settlement Layer (CSL) and the Control Layer. CSL is used to settle transactions that are conducted with ADA, while the Control Layer will be used to host smart contracts.

Who is Behind Cardano?

Three distinct organizations have pooled resources together to create Cardano. There’s the Cardano Foundation, a Switzerland-based standards body whose job is to support the Cardano community and fulfill regulatory and compliance requirements. The other is Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), a well-known organization in the cryptosphere. And then there is Emurgo, a startups investor tasked with assisting businesses to build on the Cardano blockchain.

What’s Special with Cardano?

Unlike its contemporaries, Cardano is a peer-reviewed blockchain. Before protocols are greenlit for release, they’re first reviewed by a network of academics and researchers from various universities. While other blockchain projects present just a white paper, the Cardano team goes the extra mile and crafts several academic papers for researchers, investors, and so on.

The rationale behind this? The team wants to ensure that the platform is secure, scalable, and fit for mass usage once it goes mainstream. As such, there’s much scientific rigor involved as there would for a mission-critical system.

How Does Cardano Work?

As previously mentioned, the Cardano comprises a Cardano Settlement Layer and a Control Layer. In the long term, Cardano hopes to be used as a medium of exchange and a smart contract platform that can be interoperable with the traditional banking system.

At the very heart of Cardano is Ouroboros. Ouroboros is an algorithm-based Proof of Stake Protocol through which miners can mine ADA. The protocol is also custom-built in a manner that saves as much energy and time as possible.

What does Ouroboros entail, you wonder? Let’s find out below.

What is Ouroboros?

Ouroboros works based on ‘slot leaders’ who are akin to miners in the Proof of Work protocol. Slot leaders are the ones who determine which blocks will be added on the blockchain, with a maximum of only one block per slot leader at any time. Time is divided into ‘epochs,’ and every epoch has a slot leader. Also, immediately after one epoch ends, another one begins.

In case a slot leader misses their chance to choose a block leader for one reason or another, they have to wait until the next time they’re eligible to become block leaders. In every epoch, at least more than 50% of blocks has to be generated. 

To be eligible for a slot leader position, a participant has to own at least a two percent stake in Cardano.  Slot leaders are also electors. When an epoch is in progress, electors choose the slot leaders for the next epoch. Also, the more stake you own in Cardano, the bigger your chance of being selected as a slot leader.

Now, slot leaders wield a considerable amount of power. For this reason, extra caution must be exercised to ensure as much fairness as possible. Cardano achieves this by implementing a ‘multiparty computation’ (MPC). In an MPC, each elector conducts a random action known as “coin tossing,” after which they share their results with the rest of the electors. In short, the end result is randomly generated, but the final value is collectively arrived at.

Statistics of Cardano (ADA)

As of 28th January 2020, Cardano is trading at $0.051903, with a 10th place market capitalization of $1, 345, 697, 885. Also, its 24-hour trading volume is $179, 384, 436. Its all-time high was $1.33 on Jan 04, 2018, while its all-time low was $0.017354.

ADA’s circulating supply is 27, 927, 070, 538, while its total supply is 31, 112, 483, 745. The coin has a limited supply of 45 billion.

Is Cardano an Ethereum Killer?

Cardano has been dubbed the “Ethereum Killer” since it offers the same functionalities as Ethereum, but better.

Also, it is the first blockchain platform that utilizes peer-reviewed research, giving it an edge over other cryptos, at least in terms of rigorousness.

As well, Cardano has an impressive speed of 257 transactions per second (TPS), which stacks strongly against Ethereum’s current meager 15. Its Ouroboros proof of stake is superior over the typical proof of stake by being the first consensus mechanism to be mathematically proven as secure.

These features, and more, make Cardano an impressive blockchain. But that doesn’t mean it’s about to dethrone Ethereum, not yet.

First of all, Ethereum is a project under continuous improvement. Its developers are always working to improve its scalability and other functions. For instance, Ethereum plans to migrate from the current Proof Of Work to a Proof of Stake mechanism, which provides better room for scalability, is quicker, and is not as power-hungry as the former.

Moreover, being the first reliable smart contracts platform, Ethereum has somewhat of a loyal following – from the developer community to the crypto market to users.

For these reasons and more, it is unlikely that Ethereum will be unseated anytime soon, whether by Cardano or any other cryptocurrency.

The Coinbase Effect

As of January 2020, Cardano is yet to be listed on Coinbase, despite the exchange signaling it was considering the addition way back in July 2018. Cardano fans are still waiting with bated breath for this to happen.

Coinbase is big, not just in market volume but also in name. So, many wonder what this would mean for the Cardano price if it were to be listed.

First, it’s important to know a coin getting listed on the exchange does not herald its bullish rally for all the time to come. Many coins have been listed, surged in price thereafter, and went on to fizzle out.

It’s likely that ADA will shoot up in price as the exchange’s user rush in to get a piece of the Cardano action at an affordable price. From then on, the coin experienced up and down swings like any other crypto, depending on the improvements its developers will continually integrate on its blockchain. 

Also, Coinbase’s massive user base means massive interaction with the coin, and hence more liquidity. More liquidity means more investors, and more investors mean more support. Support often leads to an increase in value.

Conclusion

Cardano has distinguished itself from other crypto projects by being the first to be built on peer-reviewed protocols and pure mathematics. That fact alone gives it an edge over other similar projects. Also, the people leading it – heavyweights in the crypto scene, add massive credibility to the project. Cardano fans expect only great things from the project.