Markets

Best Cryptocurrency to Watch in 2023 – Forbes Advisor Australia

Published

9 months ago

17 July, 2024

Best Cryptocurrency to Watch in 2023 – Forbes Advisor Australia

As the cryptocurrency landscape evolves, certain projects stand out for their innovative approach and substantial growth potential.

Here are some cryptocurrencies to keep an eye on in 2024:

Immutable X (IMX)

Immutable X has quickly risen to prominence in the blockchain gaming sector, an area Baktyary calls “the most funded sector in the crypto space in 2022 and 2023.” This significant funding underscores the sector’s vast potential and investor interest. Immutable X’s strategic partnership with longtime competitor Polygon has been a game-changer. Together, they now dominate about 80% of the blockchain gaming market.

“Formerly competitors, Polygon and Immutable X now hold a dominant position with the majority of crypto games being developed within their combined ecosystem,” Baktyary notes.

This partnership has transformed Immutable X into a blockchain gaming hub, not just focusing on a single game but facilitating the development of over 200 games.

“They’re not just building a game; they’re becoming the hub for games built on the blockchain.” This broad approach increases the likelihood of significant success within the gaming industry, says Baktyary.

Additionally, Immutable X has partnered with major industry players such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Ubisoft, and has games available on the Epic Games Store. These partnerships signify the project’s strong business development and potential for widespread adoption.

Another key feature of Immutable X is its focus on zk-rollup technology, which improves scalability, security, and user experience. This positions Immutable X at the forefront of technological innovation in the crypto space. “They are one of the pioneers in zk technology,” Baktyary adds, “which opens the door to much more than what the market sees today.”

Polygon (MATIC/POL)

Polygon, in partnership with Immutable X in gaming, stands out for its broader contributions to blockchain technology. Its widespread adoption of the Chain Development Kit (CDK), more colloquially known as the Polygon stack, demonstrates the robustness and versatility of its technology.

“The adoption of the Large Chain Development Kit marks Polygon’s significant presence in blockchain infrastructure,” says Baktyary.

Polygon’s introduction of Polygon 2.0 adds a multi-layer structure to its protocol, with a notable layer being the Staking Layer. This layer uses Polygon’s native token and allows validators to earn rewards, including transaction fees, from the chains they validate.

“Polygon (Staking Layer) offers validators the potential for additional revenue streams,” says Baktyary.

Additionally, Polygon is a leader in zero-knowledge technology, with its zkEVM already operational. This technology enhances privacy and scalability in blockchain transactions, making Polygon a forerunner in this area.

Polygon is also making progress on scalability by transitioning its PoS chain to become Validium, including experiments in parallel execution. This move further increases the efficiency of the network.

“Polygon’s transition to becoming a Validium demonstrates its commitment to advancing blockchain modularity and alignment with Ethereum,” said Baktyary. Its technological advancements and strategic direction underscore Polygon’s role as a pioneer in the blockchain ecosystem.

Optimism (OP)

Optimism (OP) stands out as a significant player in the blockchain space, with several key achievements underscoring its importance in the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.

One of Optimism’s key achievements is its success in stack adoption, where it ranks second only to Polygon. In the blockchain world, a “stack” refers to the layered structure of technology solutions and protocols that build on each other to create a comprehensive system. In this context, Optimism’s stack refers to its core codebase that is used to help bootstrap other layer 2 blockchains within the Optimism ecosystem.

Baktyary says: “Optimism has the second highest public stack adoption among layer 2 stacks, following Polygon, including strong customers like Coinbase who are committed to maintaining the integrity of the stack.”

This high level of adoption signals confidence in Optimism’s technology and its potential for broad application and integration across different blockchain platforms.

Another significant step for Optimism is its partnership with Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. This collaboration, with Coinbase using Optimism’s stack, is a testament to the project’s security and technological robustness, Baktyary notes, and “is huge from a security perspective.” This relationship bolsters Optimism’s credibility and extends its reach to a wider audience, fostering greater adoption.

In terms of governance and community engagement, Optimism has made remarkable progress and has received plaudits from the crypto community. The success of Optimism’s governance model was even highlighted in a Stanford articleindicating a mature and considered approach to involving the community in decision-making processes.

Baktyary adds that the Optimism team appears to be strongly aligned with the Ethereum ecosystem, and this demonstrates their adherence to the core values of blockchain, which resonates with a significant portion of the market.

Like Polygon and Immutable X, Optimism is also at the forefront of technological innovation with its advancements in zero-knowledge (zk) technology.

“The Bedrock update of Optimism enables support for multiple execution layer clients and an abstraction of the proof system, allowing a rollup into the OP stack to use a failsafe or validity proof system,” says Baktyary.

“This update is Optimism’s first step towards adopting zk technology.”

Own layer

Another project that is attracting attention for its pioneering technology is EigenLayer.

The project is bolstered by the prospect of a rewards system for users, a move Baktyary suggests is aimed at rewarding early adopters.

“EigenLayer does not yet have a token, but its points system and the introduction of projects like EigenDA have led the market to assume that there may be an airdrop in the future,” he says.

The foundation of EigenLayer’s innovation is its groundbreaking Actively Validated Services (AVS) technology.

This technology benefits a variety of applications, from data availability layers to oracle networks, by allowing them to benefit from external validator suites, thereby reducing the cost of securing and verifying their networks.

“AVS is a huge new primitive that allows us to export validator security from a blockchain to a new set of software and use cases,” says Baktyary.

EigenLayer’s ability to export validator security could also contribute to improving ecosystem interoperability. Previously siloed networks and ecosystems would need to bootstrap their own validator pool, often committing high token incentives to validators, and at the same time risking a somewhat centralized validator pool. Now, early-stage networks could simply pull their validator security from another network that already has these early-stage blockchain issues addressed.

Addressing critical issues within the Ethereum ecosystem, particularly around staking providers, EigenLayer proposes a solution to bring balance and improved security.

“EigenLayer can help incentivize a cap system for staking providers with a majority stake from validators like Lido; a topic that has been a major topic of debate within the Ethereum ecosystem,” says Baktyary.

Furthermore, EigenLayer’s advancements could advance scaling solutions like Validiums and potentially extend the use of Ethereum validators to secure other blockchains, including Solana and Cosmos. This development represents a leap forward in blockchain scalability and security, which Baktyary notes as a crucial step toward the broader application of Ethereum’s technology.

“EigenLayer can help enable Validiums with projects like EigenDA and could theoretically have blockchains like Ethereum securing alternative layer 1 blockchains like Solana,” he says.

Source

Markets

Crypto Markets Rebound as Spot Bitcoin ETFs Attract Massive Inflows

Published

9 months ago

17 July, 2024

FinCrypt Staff

Crypto Markets Rebound Ahead of Early Ethereum ETF Approval

This week saw $722 million worth of Bitcoin spot ETF inflows, including the largest daily inflow in a month.

Cryptocurrency markets rallied on Wednesday, driven by inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is up 3% over the past 24 hours to last change hands at $65,200, according to CoinGecko. Ethereum (ETH) is up 2% and is trading at $3,471. Solana (SUN) and Polkadot (POINT) increased by 4%.

Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $422 million in daily inflows on Tuesday, the highest in the past 30 days, according to Far side data, . The all-time record for a single day was $1.05 billion on March 12.

Among Tuesday’s top contributors, BlackRock’s IBIT led with $260 million in inflows, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $61 million. This week has already seen more than $722 million in inflows.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, Worldcoin (WLD) led with a 28% increase, followed by Helium (HNT) with 20% and Lido DAO (LDO) with 15%.

Worldcoin, a decentralized identity project led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced is extending the lockups for early investors and team members. This means that tokens will be gradually released through 2029, instead of the original 2027 plan. Token unlocks are generally seen as a negative because they increase supply and early investors can sell their tokens for profit.

Meanwhile, XRP, the token of the XRP Ledger network, jumped 8% after the CME and CF benchmarks introduced new indices and reference rates for XRP.

U.S. stocks faced a downturn on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average both fell 2%.

Source

Markets

Altcoins on the cusp of a major breakout – WLD, AR, and INJ prices could surge by 20% in the coming days

Published

9 months ago

17 July, 2024

FinCrypt Staff

Altcoins on the cusp of a major breakout – WLD, AR, and INJ prices could surge by 20% in the coming days

Crypto markets appear to have been taken over by the bulls as major tokens have surged above their crucial resistance zone. Bitcoin surged above $65,000 while Ethereum was above $3,500, and XRP, which had remained passive for quite some time, surged over 40% in the past few days to hit $0.6. The uptrend has been captured in most altcoins, with Worldcoin (WLD), Arweave (AR), and Injective (INJ) leading the rally. Here’s what to expect for these tokens in the coming days.

Worldcoin (WLD) Price Analysis

O Worldcoin Price has been trading inside a descending wedge since it marked a new ATH near $12 in the final days of Q1 2024. The recent price action helped the price break out of the upper resistance of the wedge, breaking above the crucial resistance zone between $2.21 and $2.39. Market sentiments have changed, but technicals suggest that the bulls may remain passive for a while, which could offer some room for a bearish pullback.

The price broke out of the wedge with a significant increase in volume, but the current volume suggests that the bulls have taken a step back. Meanwhile, the RSI is about to reach the upper boundary, which could attract bearish forces. Additionally, the DMI has undergone a bullish crossover, but the decline in the ADX suggests that the rally may remain consolidated above the gains. Therefore, the WLD price is expected to maintain a horizontal consolidation between $3 and $3.3 and trigger a fresh rally to $4.4 during the next bullish rally.

Arweave (AR) Price Analysis

Arweave formed a strong base around $25, which helped the rally trigger a recovery during the bearish attack. Mt. Gox and German terror forced the price to fall below $20. However, the recent price action has brought the altcoin within the bullish range and raised expectations of maintaining a decent uptrend for a few more days.

AR price has hit one of the major resistances around $30 to $31.5, which could act as a strong base once overcome. The buying volume is slowly increasing, which could keep the bullish hopes for the rally high. Moreover, the supertrend has just flashed a buy signal, indicating a clean reversal of the trend. Therefore, AR price seems primed to maintain a healthy uptrend and rally above $40. However, if the bulls maintain a similar trend, making new highs above $50 may not be a tedious task for the bulls.

Price Analysis of Injective (INJ)

Injective price has been showing sharp strength since the beginning of the year and hence, the recent turnaround is expected to revive a good uptrend going forward. The bears engulfed the rally to a large extent, but the recent price action suggests that the bulls have regained their dominance. Therefore, INJ price is expected to maintain a strong uptrend with a bearish interference on the way down.

INJ price has surged above the lower support zone and has registered consecutive bullish candles. Although the volume is below the required levels, the OBV is maintaining a sharp uptrend. Furthermore, the Ichimoku cloud lead span B is heading towards the lead span A and a healthy crossover indicates the start of a new uptrend. However, INJ price may be out of the bears’ reach once it secures the resistance zone between $30.77 and $32.12, which seems to be on the horizon.

Source

Markets

Ethereum at $3.5K, Exchange Supply Hits 34-Month High

Published

9 months ago

17 July, 2024

FinCrypt Staff

Ethereum at $3.5K, Exchange Supply Hits 34-Month High

Ethereum (ETH) supply on exchanges has hit a 34-month high as the asset’s price surpassed the $3,500 mark.

ETH has risen 2.3% over the past 24 hours and is trading at $3,490 at the time of writing. The second-largest cryptocurrency — with a market cap of $419 billion — briefly touched an intraday high of $3,517 earlier today.

ETH Price, Whale Activity, RSI, and Exchange Supply – July 17 | Source: Santiment

Ethereum’s daily trading volume also increased by 7.6% to reach $19.8 billion.

According to data provided by Santiment, the supply of Ethereum on exchanges has reached $19.52 million ETH. This level was last seen in September 2021, when the asset was trading around the same price.

On the other hand, data from the market intelligence platform shows that the number of whale transactions has fallen by 12% in the last day — falling from 8,730 to 7,629 unique transactions per day.

The move shows that the supply of Ethereum on exchanges has been increasing with small deposits rather than large transactions from whales.

Additionally, the ETH Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently hovering at the 60-mark, per Santiment. The indicator shows that Ethereum is slightly overbought at this price point, but it may not be in a critical position due to its large market cap.

One of the main drivers of Ethereum price increase is ETH spot expectations ETFs in the US Investment products are scheduled to start trading on July 23rd.

Source

Markets

Bits + Beeps: How to Play the ‘Trump Trade’ in Cryptocurrencies After the Assassination Attempt

Published

9 months ago

17 July, 2024

FinCrypt Staff

Bits + Bips: How to Play the ‘Trump Trade’ in Crypto After the Assassination Attempt

Also, how much will the Fed cut rates (and when)? What will be the inflows into ETH ETFs? And what is the near future for Bitcoin?

Posted on July 17, 2024 at 12:00 PM EST.

Listen to the episode at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Capsules, Source, Podcast Addict, Pocket molds, Amazon Musicor on your favorite podcast platform.

In this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts James Seyffart, Alex Kruger and Joe McCann, joined by guest Jack Platts, dive into the market reaction to the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, analyzing how this event will influence the 2024 US presidential election and the cryptocurrency markets.

They also cover potential rate cuts: Could there be a cut in July? How big could the September rate cut be? Could the decision be influenced by the upcoming election?

They also give their predictions on what percentage of BTC ETF inflows the ETH ETFs will reach, and James talks about what he expects for Grayscale’s ETHE (hint: his outlook would be positive for ETH).

Finally, they delve into what’s next for Bitcoin as the German government runs out of BTC and Mt. Gox distributions begin. Just now?

Program Highlights:

Whether Trump’s shooting decided the election and whether the event caused a “flight to safety”
How election markets are becoming a place to watch election probabilities and whether cryptocurrencies “lean right”
Whether rate cuts will occur in July or September and by how much they will cut: 25 bps or 50 bps
How Joe sees the relationship between global liquidity cycles, rate cuts, and the potential rise of Bitcoin
What are the new updates about Ethereum ETFs and their expected launch?
Why Solana Hasn’t Performed Significantly Better Since Trump News
What Market Breadth Indicates About the Current Market Rally and the Impact of Rates on Small Caps
Everyone’s predictions on ETH ETF inflows and how much outflow we’ll see on Grayscale’s ETHE
What’s Next for BTC After German Government Exits Bitcoin and Mt. Gox Giveaways Starting This Week