Ethereum 2.0 is coming.

The years-long upgrade intended to radically transform the worlds largest smart-contract platform is inching closer to deployment. The Ethereum Foundation recently announced Medalla, a final testnet before the mainnet launch of the Eth 2.0 beacon chain.

As of July 10, some developers, including Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, estimate the oft-delayed Eth 2.0 will launch by the end of this year.

To mark the fifth anniversary of the networks launch, CoinDesk is producingEthereum at Five a cross-platform series featuring special coverage, a limited-run newsletter and live-streamed discussions on Twitter. New issues and sessions launch daily from July 27-31. The pop-up experience precedes another event in September focused on Eth 2.0.

When phase zero of Eth 2.0 does ship, little about Ethereum will change in the near term for users and dapp developers. This is because unlike all other system-wide upgrades in Ethereum history, the Eth 2.0 overhaul will primarily be happening on a different blockchain.

The first phase of development for Eth 2.0 is centered around the creation of a separate proof-of-stake blockchain network called the beacon chain. On this new network, ETH holders with a minimum of 32 ETH can earn rewards in the form of annualized interest on their wealth. To earn these rewards, ETH holders must have the appropriate hardware and software connecting to the beacon chain and a strong understanding of how the technology works.

Ethereum as we know it today will eventually be folded into the Eth 2.0 upgrade in its entirety. The report features commentary from Ethereum developers about what benefits but also risks this may bring.

The report also discusses the potential market impact of Eth 2.0, including the ramifications of the new systems economic design on coin supply, velocity and value.

The culmination of over five years of research and development, Ethereum 2.0 is a highly ambitious upgrade.

Never before has the cryptocurrency industry seen a blockchain of the same size and value as Ethereum attempt to transition all users, as well as assets, to an entirely new decentralized network while keeping all operations on the old network active and running.

It will likely take many years for the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade in all its complexity to be complete. However, developer commentary featured in this report suggests the biggest hurdle (and perhaps most important milestone) in the Ethereum 2.0 roadmap is its initial launch.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Ethereum 2.0: How It Works and Why It Matters - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Key Support Levels: $306, $300, $287.Key Resistance Levels: $323, $333, $342.

Ethereum has surged immensely since breaking above the previous phase of consolidation at $250 and pushing above $300 to reach as high as $333. However, ETH seems to be struggling with specific resistance at $323 (1.272 Fib Extension).

It has attempted to break this resistance over the past four days and has failed each time. ETH also spiked lower two days ago to bounce into the $306 support (.236 Fib Retracement).

Looking ahead, if the buyers manage to break above $323, higher resistance lies at $333, $342 (1.414 Fib Extension), and $358.

On the other side, if the sellers push lower, the first level of support lies at $306 (.236 Fib Retracement). Beneath $300, added support is found at $287, $275 (.5 FIb Retracement), and $260 (.618 Fib Retracement).

Both the RSI and Stochastic RSI look overbought at the moment, which suggests the market may be a little overextended and may need to pull back slightly.

Key Support Levels: 0.0284 BTC, 0.0272 BTC, 0.0263 BTC.Key Resistance Levels: 0.0293 BTC, 0.03 BTC, 0.0317 BTC.

Against Bitcoin, ETH managed to push as high as 0.0317 BTC earlier during the week. However, it was unable to overcome this level, which caused it to roll over from there and started to head lower.

ETH went on to find support at 0.0284 BTC, where it bounced higher today to reach the 0.029 BTC level.

Moving forward, if the buyers push ETH higher again, resistance lies at 0.0293 BTC, 0.03 BTC, and 0.0317 BTC. This is followed by added resistance at 0.032 BTC and 0.0328 BTC.

On the other side, the first level of support is found at 0.0284 BTC. This is followed by added support at 0.0272 BTC (.382 Fib Retracement) and 0.0263 BTC.

The RSI recently dropped from overbought conditions into the 50 line, which indicates that there is indecision within the market. For ETH to push higher, the RSI must remain above the 50 line to indicate bullish momentum within the market.

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ETH Struggles To Break $323, Bearish Reversal Incoming? Ethereum Price Analysis - CryptoPotato

Ethereum is currently consolidating gains above the $307 and $310 support levels against the US Dollar. ETH price must surpass the $325 resistance zone to trigger a fresh rally.

In the past few sessions, Ethereum traded in a broad range above the $310 support against the US Dollar. ETH price made a couple of attempts to clear the $325 resistance, but it failed.

The last swing high was formed near the $325 level before the price started a downside correction. It traded below the $320 level, but it is still well above the 100 hourly simple moving average. Ether is currently testing the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $307 swing low to $325 high.

On the downside, there is a major support forming near the $312 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. It is close to the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $307 swing low to $325 high.

It seems like there is a key contracting triangle forming with resistance near $321 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. If ether price breaks the triangle resistance, it could even attempt to clear the $325 resistance. A successful close above the $325 resistance may perhaps open the doors for a sharp rally in the coming sessions. The next target for the bulls might be $350.

There are many key supports forming near $312, $310 and $307. If the price breaks the $312 support, it might extend its decline towards the $307 support.

The next major support is near the $300 level (the breakout zone), below which the price is likely to continue lower towards the $290 level in the near term.

Technical Indicators

Hourly MACD The MACD for ETH/USD is about to move back into the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI The RSI for ETH/USD is currently rising towards the 50 level.

Major Support Level $307

Major Resistance Level $325

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Risk disclaimer: 76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

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Ethereum Above $325 Could Trigger A Fresh Rally Towards $350 - newsBTC

The low volatility streak of cryptocurrencies has finally concluded and the bulls have rushed back into the market. Bitcoin, the largest crypto witnessed a surge in its price on 27 July, and the altcoins also felt its impact. The BTC price had witnessed a surge of 18% within a day, which pushed the digital assets price above $11k. While the second-largest asset, Ethereum reported an 11% growth at the same time.

Ethereum registered over 30% in returns over the past week and was followed by other large-cap assets like Cardano [ADA] with 20%, and Litecoin [LTC] with 13%. According to CoinMetrics Ethereum Bletchley Index, it was the best performer in the week, followed by the CMBI Bitcoin index that returned close to 8%.

As per the chart above, the large-cap assets and the mid-cap assets performed best through the week, returning 9.8% and 7.4% respectively. As mentioned above the performances of large-cap assets like Cardano, Litecoin, and Ethereum have led to the growth of these categories.

According to Arcane, the large and the mid-cap asset were reporting a monthly growth of 25.3% and 31% respectively. This was larger than BTC, which noted a monthly spike of 11.77%, however, the small-cap assets that were outperforming the remaining market, have seen a minimal profit of 7.80% in July.

The small-cap assets index [a weighted index of the top 30-70 cryptocurrencies] had been surging in the middle of July but has since been struggling to maintain its momentum. As Bitcoin remained dormant, the traders had a risk-on approach as they sought returns in more volatile assets. However, with great movement in the Bitcoin and Ethereum market, the small-caps have fallen as the traders attention moved back to large-cap assets.

Similarly, the Bletchley 40 [small-cap] did not reflect growth but experienced a fall of nearly 2% during the week. As the focus of the crypto world moved back to major cryptocurrencies, the sentiment in the market has moved away from fear to extreme greed which was last witnessed in July 2019. However, this boost did not confirm the bull run, as the BTC price will have to sustain in the $11k range, but a correction might once again push the price lower.

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Ethereum lead large-cap assets, while the small-cap slips lower - AMBCrypto English

Ethereum is up more than 180% since March 2020 lows, but data from the blockchain suggests the worlds second-most popular digital asset may have further to climb.

Measurements compiled by Glassnode, a blockchain analysis company, shows a number of metrics have passed even their late-2017 highs, including the amount of gas used in transactions and record earnings for proof-of-work miners currently supporting the blockchain.

The data shows a notably different market foundation from that which existed when Ethereum logged epic all-time highs over $1,400 more than two years ago, lending credibility to the idea that additional gains may be in the cards.

Its been well reported by now that fees on the Ethereum network are some of the highest theyve ever been (and might be pulling Bitcoin fees up along with them). Glassnode data shows, however, that the difficulty and hash rate for proof-of-work mining activity that currently secures the Ethereum blockchain are down nearly 25% since topping out in Summer 2018.

A lower hash rate means ETH miners can process more transactions with the same hardware. And while the minting of new Ethereum as rewards for moving the blockchain forward has remained steady since February 2019, less hash power overall means more of the gas paid for Ethereum transactions goes to each miner.

As a result, ETH miners have started to see days where more than 16%, and on some days more than 19%, of all revenue is generated through fees paid to broadcast transactions to the network. By comparison, miner earnings from fees during early January 2018, when ETH prices were at their peak, never topped 15%.

The takeaway is that infrastructure providers for the Ethereum network are increasingly earning their keep as a result of real activity on the blockchain, especially when compared to previous periods of high activity and price optimism.

Total gas use is another area where Ethereum has grown vastly beyond levels seen during all-time high prices. Total gas used has nearly doubled compared to January 2018, as Ethereum transactions move beyond simple sending and receiving between personal wallets or exchanges into the substantially more complex (and expensive) operations carried out by smart contracts used in DeFi activity.

The market shift from speculation on decentralized applications coming soon to the use of functional applications for lending, borrowing, and earning returns is reflected in significantly higher gas usagewill price be next?

Much about the inner workings of Ethereum are set to change with the rollout of Eth2, the long-awaited (and much delayed) upgrade to the network. This includes the number of transactions that can be processed each second, as well as the very nature of how blocks are generated within the network. Until then, there appears to be plenty for ETH holders to feel optimistic about.

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.

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Ethereum mining rewards hit all-time high. Heres why it matters - Decrypt

EOS

EOS fell by 0.43% on Thursday. Partially reversing a 1.55% gain from Wednesday, EOS ended the day at $2.6565.

It was a mixed start to the day. EOS rose to an early morning high $2.6888 before falling to an early afternoon intraday low $2.6323.

Steering clear of the major support and resistance levels, EOS rallied to a mid-afternoon intraday high $2.6951.

EOS came within range of the first major resistance level at $2.6996 before sliding back to sub-$2.65 levels.

Finding late support, however, EOS moved back through to $2.65 levels to limit the loss on the day.

At the time of writing, EOS was down by 0.14% to $2.6528. A bearish start to the day saw EOS fall from an end of Thursday $2.6565 to $2.6528 at the start of the day.

EOS left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

EOS would need to move through the $2.6613 pivot level to support a run at the first major resistance level at $2.6903.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for EOS to break back through to $2.69 levels.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Thursdays high $2.6951 would likely cap any upside.

Failure to move through the $2.6613 pivot would bring the first major support level at $2.6275 into play.

Barring an extended sell-off, EOS should steer clear of sub-$2.60 levels. The second major support level sits at $2.5985.

First Major Support Level: $2.6275

Pivot Level: $2.6613

First Major Resistance Level: $2.6903

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $6.62

38% FIB Retracement Level: $9.76

62% FIB Retracement Level: $14.82

Ethereum rose by 4.31% on Thursday. Following on from Wednesdays 7.53% rally, Ethereum ended the day at $275.68.

Tracking the broader market, Ethereum fell to a mid-morning intraday low $260.10 before making a move.

Steering well clear of the first major support level at $247.44, Ethereum rallied to a late afternoon intraday high $282.60.

Ethereum broke through the first major resistance levels at $275.31 before falling back to $271 levels.

Finding late support, Ethereum moved back through to $275 levels, with the first major resistance level capping the upside.

At the time of writing, Ethereum was down by 0.35% to $274.72. A mixed start to the day saw Ethereum rise to an early morning high $275.64 before falling to a low $274.62.

Ethereum left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Story continues

Ethereum would need to avoid a fall through the $272.79 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $285.49.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ethereum to break out from Thursdays high $282.60.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level should cap any upside.

Failure to avoid a fall through the $272.79 pivot would bring the first major support level at $262.99 into play.

Barring an extended sell-off, however, Ethereum should steer clear of the 23.6% FIB of $257.

First Major Support Level: $262.99

Pivot Level: $272.79

First Major Resistance Level: $285.49

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $257

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $367

62% FIB Retracement Level: $543

Ripples XRP rose by 2.30% on Thursday. Following on from a 2.06% gain on Wednesday, Ripples XRP ended the day at $2.0881.

It was a mixed start to the day. Ripples XRP rose to an early morning high $0.20591 before hitting reverse.

Falling short of the major resistance levels, Ripples XRP fell to a mid-morning intraday low $0.20208 before making a move.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $0.1987, Ripples XRP struck a late afternoon intraday high $0.21096.

Ripples XRP broke through the first major resistance level at $0.2073 and the second major resistance level at $0.2105.

A late pullback saw Ripples XRP fall back through the major resistance levels before returning to $0.208 levels.

At the time of writing, Ripples XRP was down by 0.21% to $0.20837. A mixed start to the day saw Ripples XRP fall rise to an early morning high $0.20882 before falling to a low $0.20837

Ripples XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Ripples XRP will need to avoid a fall through the $0.2073 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.2125.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripples XRP to break out from Thursdays high $0.21096.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Thursdays high should cap any upside.

In the event of a breakout, Ripples XRP should test the second major resistance level at $0.2162 before any pullback.

Failure to avoid a fall through the $0.2073 pivot would bring the first major support level at $0.2036 into play.

Barring an extended crypto sell-off, Ripples XRP should avoid the second major support level at $0.1984.

First Major Support Level: $0.2036

Pivot Level: $0.2073

First Major Resistance Level: $0.2125

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.3638

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $0.4800

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.6678

Please let us know what you think in the comments below.

Thanks, Bob

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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EOS, Ethereum and Ripples XRP Daily Tech Analysis July 24th, 2020 - Yahoo Finance

Rising congestion on the Ethereum blockchain has driven up transaction fees tenfold this year to the highest since early 2018.

Thats pressuring the networks developers to speed up crucial upgrades, while possibly creating an opening for competitors to lure away project developers.

Its a lucky problem to have, since the congestion shows just how popular Ethereum has become as an ecosystem within the cryptocurrency realm.

Youre readingFirst Mover, CoinDesks daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team, First Mover starts your day with the most up-to-date sentiment around crypto markets, which of course never close, putting in context every wild swing in bitcoin and more. We follow the money so you dont have to. You cansubscribe here.

The ether tokensmarket capitalization, at roughly $27 billion, is just one-sixth of the older and larger bitcoins.Yet,Ethereum dominatessome of the fastest-growing parts of the industry, including dollar-linkedstablecoins like tether (USDT) and theautomatic lending systemsof decentralized finance, orDeFi.

Now, however,the elevatedtransaction feesare raising concerns among some cryptocurrency analysts and investors who fret that Ethereum developers could be months or even years away from a fix, with no clear end in sightto the surging traffic.

A handfulof alternative networks aiming to beEthereum killershave emerged over the years. Nonehave achieved that aim so far, but prohibitively high fees couldpresent anopportunityforEthereums more scalablerivals.

Its good because people want to use Ethereum, but the counter-signal is that it cant necessarily handle all this usage, and therein lies the opportunity to provide an alternative, Ryan Watkins, a research analyst at the cryptocurrency data firmMessari, said in a phone interview.

The episode underscores a nagging question for the entire industry whether cryptocurrencies are ready for mass adoption by consumers or investors.

The network continues to suffer from some scaling issues, which are becoming more problematic as it grows, says Rich Rosenblum, a former managing director of the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs who now leads the markets group at the cryptocurrency firm GSR.

Under the rules of the Ethereum network, users can offer to pay a higher fee rate to get their transactions processed faster. So when theres lots of activity, the fee rates canquickly spiral upward.

According to Coin Metrics, the average cost per transaction has climbed to a 7-day average of about 91 cents, from about 8 cents at the start of 2020.

Ethereums fees are calculated using a base unit called gas, and are charged for any useof the network for activities such assmart contract execution.

As of now, high gas fees are keeping smaller players from being able to participate in some of DeFis most interesting protocols, such as Synthetix, said Digital Assets Datas Connor Abendschein.

Ethereums dilemma would be easily recognizedby evena B-rate CEOfrom the old-worldeconomy: High prices invite competition; its great to own the golden goose just dont kill the golden goose.

As noted by the websiteEth Gas Station, which tracks fees on the network, The long-term success of Ethereum depends on ahealthy and efficient market for the price of gas.

Ethereumco-founderVitalik Buterin sounded his own warning on Monday when henoted in a tweetthat transaction fees now represent nearly half of the rewards that cryptocurrency miners get from confirming new data blocks on the network.

This actually risks making Ethereum *less* secure, he tweeted. Fee market reform fixes this.

The problem, according to some analysts and investors, is that a fix isnt likely until later this year or well into 2021, and is just one of many upgrades. Theresno clear consensus on how to reform the fees, and the network isalready drivingtoward amajor overhaul known as Ethereum 2.0that already has been pushed back several times.

According to a Coin Metrics report last week, the high fees could make the network prohibitively expensive for applications like gaming and collectibles that depend on large numbers of low-cost transactions.

The reason Ethereum has been so successful for distributed applications is its low cost, Gavin Smith, CEO of the cryptocurrency hedge fund Panxora, said Monday in a phone interview. The whole idea was that each transaction is a microtransaction. If yourepaying a large fee every time, its no longer practical.

Prices for ether,the native token of the Ethereum network, have risen 105% thisyear, a performance that dwarfs bitcoins 32% climb.

Ethersperformance in digital-asset marketsreflects tradersbets that the Ethereumblockchain will continue to see high usage. But from the perspective of users, the tokens higherdollar price just makes thefees look that much more expensive.

Ethereums scaling solutions couldnt come any sooner,Messaris Watkins said.

Tweet of the day

Bitcoin watch

BTC: Price: $9,514 (BPI) | 24-Hr High: $9,551 | 24-Hr Low: $9,322

Trend:Bitcoins month-long low volatility price squeeze has ended with a bullish break that could power the cryptocurrency higher to $10,000.

The top cryptocurrency by market value had been largely trading in the narrow range of $9,480$9,000 in the four weeks to July 21. As a result, bitcoins price volatility, as represented by Bollinger bands, had narrowed to levels last seen in March 2019.

Bitcoin jumped over 1.5% on Wednesday and printed a UTC close above the upper Bollinger band, confirming a range breakout.Wednesdays UTC close also invalidated a bearish lower high at $9,480, created on July 8.

As such, one may anticipate a move higher to resistances lined up at $9,800 and $10,000. On the lower side, $9,000 is the level to beat for the sellers.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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First Mover: Ethereum a Victim of Its Own Success as Fees Soar, Vitalik Complains - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

getty

Every computer operating system needs a killer app. Without an application that grabs the imagination of the early adopters, a piece of technology will languish. The PC had WordStar, the Apple AAPL had desktop publishing, the Atari had music, the VCR porn, the internet music piracy and porn, and crypto had payment for mail order hard drugs.

Once a platform has the killer app, illicit or otherwise, it is on its way to the mainstream where general usage of its utility will put the technology into the hands of millions.

A platform can have multiple killer apps in the same way as a game console can have multiple must-have games to drive adoption.

For Ethereum, the initial killer app was the crypto IPO, the so called ICO (initial coin offering), creating an unregulated method to raise money for ideas, real or phony, in a form that generated uncontrolled greed and excitement in a naive audience. This kind of financial promotion has been a blueprint for success since time immemorial, success at least for the hucksters who swarm into such a stew pot. That gold rush scammer feeding frenzy was stamped out by the regulators but it made clear the potential of decentralized computing coupled with the blockchain and cryptographic mechanisms, to enable a whole new galaxy of applications with cryptocurrency the route to the loot.

So here it is, the next Ethereum killer app: DeFi.

The Ethereum chart shows the price is taking off

DeFi stands for decentralized finance. What is that? Its a range of semi-familiar financial products reskinned for the crypto age.

Imagine you could anonymously deposit some collateral with a bank and then borrow cash on the security of that collateral, then withdraw the borrowed money so you could spend it, without them knowing who you are. Of course you cant do that at Wells Fargo WFC or Barclays Bank, but with DeFi you can get that done in a few minutes flat.

Take sites like Aave and Compound. You could put $1,000,000 of ethereum into their process, completely anonymously, pull out as much stablecoin, like tether or USDC, as that collateral will let you, send it to yourself, sell it, send the dollars to your bank and buy a house. Up to the point it hits your bank the whole process is as near to instantaneous and anonymous as you can get.

Instead you might simply put ethereum or other crypto tokens into these systems and earn interest. Aave and Compound have nearly 2 billion of crypto on deposit, so this is already a material development.

In typical crypto-style, this is just the entrance to the rabbit hole with both services having their own token attached to their existence. With Compound, you get doled out compound tokens depending on how much you have deposited to add to the interest you will get from your deposit. The compound token is currently worth about $160 and earnings on it mount up over the months to add to deposit rates for coins you put on the system. Those interest rates are from fractions of a percent per year to an astonishing 56% on the dai stablecoin as I write. Of course it has to be complex as its crypto, and these rates flap all over the place depending on demand and supply and heaven knows what else is going on in these byzantine complicated gamified systems. I can practically smell the counterparty risk.

To get a feel for this ecosystem I have put $500 into Aave and Compound to see how it rolls and there is something magical about watching your interest roll up in real time. In a week or so I am up $1 of interest on my $500 USDC stable coin on Aave and on Compound the same deposit has brought in 42c in interest and 65.5c in Compound coins, each roughly a 4.8% return over a year. However, the outcome is utterly impossible to judge because rates and the drivers of interest rates are utterly unpredictable due to supply and demand for borrowing and lending.

Even so, thus far the returns sound pretty good in these zero interest times. Take some dollars, swap into a stablecoin like Coinbases USDC, bang it into a DeFi platform and get a nice 4%-plus interest rate yes please Mr. Nakamoto butthere is risk and cost.

Because DeFi has exploded, the transaction costs in Ethereum for various bits of the DeFi chain mount up fast and significantly. Ethereum charges transaction fees to put your coins into a system and to take them out again. Just to take your deposit out is $13 as I write, and to deposit it is $5, so one round trip cost is the interest on $360 of stablecoin deposited for a year. This is a fixed charge for $1 or a $1,000,000 of crypto deposited. It is what Ethereums system charges for the processing of the deposit or withdrawal. As such, to get your costs down to a reasonable level of say 0.1% of the yearly cost of a deposit and withdrawal cycle, you have to be depositing a lot of money, say $50,000 to be sensible.

To me, putting $50,000 with any crypto outfit is a bigger jump in faith than Im prepared to make, but the scope of the potential for amazing financial products is just colossal and clear to see. At some point when a trusted brand offers such a service or the systems out there are seasoned enough to put cares aside, this is something Im going to put a lot of capital into to sweat some yield.

On the lending edge of this leading edge, the superusers are getting up to all sorts of amazing high risk stunts, of borrowing and relending to play these new systems like fruit machines. Good luck to them and they will probably need it.

As they do so, transaction costs on the Ethereum network are spiralling up.

To play these high-risk games or to even poke these new wonders with an exploratory stick of money is enough to give Ethereum a kick up the pants in value and since I wrote my Ethereum will go to the moon article, it appears that that process has begun.

The current DeFi movement is just the beginning of this wave of killer financial apps. Slavered in risk, powered by greed and gamified like a primitive mobile game, this new crypto frontier will erupt. As Ethereum powers this ecosystem it will appreciate dramatically as users scramble for the Ethereum gas to play at the table.

There are a number of positive drivers for crypto right now, no less so than tensions between the U.S. and China and massive worldwide money printing. DeFi is another driver and it will mean ethereum will outperform the pack.

-

Clem Chambers is the CEO of private investors websiteADVFN.com and author of 101 Ways to Pick Stock Market Winners and Trading Cryptocurrencies: A Beginners Guide.

Chambers won Journalist of the Year in the Business Market Commentary category in the State Street U.K. Institutional Press Awards in 2018.

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Ethereum Starts Its DeFi Moon Shot - Forbes

The low volatility streak of cryptocurrencies has finally concluded and the bulls have rushed back into the market. Bitcoin, the largest crypto witnessed a surge in its price on 27 July, and the altcoins also felt its impact. The BTC price had witnessed a surge of 18% within a day, which pushed the digital assets price above $11k. While the second-largest asset, Ethereum reported an 11% growth at the same time.

Ethereum registered over 30% in returns over the past week and was followed by other large-cap assets like Cardano [ADA] with 20%, and Litecoin [LTC] with 13%. According to CoinMetrics Ethereum Bletchley Index, it was the best performer in the week, followed by the CMBI Bitcoin index that returned close to 8%.

As per the chart above, the large-cap assets and the mid-cap assets performed best through the week, returning 9.8% and 7.4% respectively. As mentioned above the performances of large-cap assets like Cardano, Litecoin, and Ethereum have led to the growth of these categories.

According to Arcane, the large and the mid-cap asset were reporting a monthly growth of 25.3% and 31% respectively. This was larger than BTC, which noted a monthly spike of 11.77%, however, the small-cap assets that were outperforming the remaining market, have seen a minimal profit of 7.80% in July.

The small-cap assets index [a weighted index of the top 30-70 cryptocurrencies] had been surging in the middle of July but has since been struggling to maintain its momentum. As Bitcoin remained dormant, the traders had a risk-on approach as they sought returns in more volatile assets. However, with great movement in the Bitcoin and Ethereum market, the small-caps have fallen as the traders attention moved back to large-cap assets.

Similarly, the Bletchley 40 [small-cap] did not reflect growth but experienced a fall of nearly 2% during the week. As the focus of the crypto world moved back to major cryptocurrencies, the sentiment in the market has moved away from fear to extreme greed which was last witnessed in July 2019. However, this boost did not confirm the bull run, as the BTC price will have to sustain in the $11k range, but a correction might once again push the price lower.

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Ethereum lead large-cap assets, while the small-cap slips lower - AMBCrypto

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance plans to use a bridge between the Syscoin and Ethereum blockchains to move its Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin between them.

The bridge developed by Blockchain Foundry the firm powering the Syscoin blockchain will allow BUSD holders to move their tokens between the Ethereum and Syscoin blockchains. This will also make the stablecoin available on the Syscoin blockchain for the first time.

Binance said, Users can take advantage of Syscoins fast, scalable and low-cost transactions while also preserving the ability to leverage Ethereums smart contract functionality. Also help provide more use cases for BUSD holding users.

Growth in the use of decentralized financial services and stablecoins have caused Ethereum transaction fees to surge to a two-year high. Yesterday, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin commented on the ongoing problem and warned that rising transaction fees could undermine the security of the network.

Jagdeep Sidhu, Syscoin co-founder and lead core developer, said that he believes stablecoins will increasingly be used as a quick way to transfer value across blockchains. Interestingly, Buterin pointed out this very use case in late May, stating:

In the specific case of issuer-backed stablecoins there's lots of things that could be done but aren't, eg. every stablecoin could be an instant cross-chain bridge!

Looking to the future, Sidhu said that Syscoin is also exploring opportunities to integrate with other blockchains and specific discussions on the matter are already underway:

Ethereum was an obvious first choice due to its nature as a proven smart contract platform and the pressing need for the benefits Syscoin can provide its network, including scalability. Future integrations will be carefully chosen according to the utility value they add to the ecosystem and how they can benefit adopters such as Binance.

Link:

Binance to Transfer BUSD Across Blockchains on Syscoin-Ethereum Bridge - Cointelegraph

The Ethereum market has been noticing a spike in its value given the surge in the Bitcoin market. This spike was of 11%, however, according to the daily chart of Ethereum, it has been marching upwards for the past 6 days and has managed to appreciate its value by 58%. The value of ETH has boosted from $236.18% on 21 July and peaked on 27 July at $372, registering a yearly high.

The increasing value of Etheruem also brought many traders back into the market. This was indicated through a growing value of Ethereum fees. As per data collected by Arcane, Ethereums transaction fees were at a 2-year high of $1.8 million on 25 July. the median transaction fee was $0.72, which was nearly 10x the median fee of April.

This increase in fees was mainly driven by increased activity in DeFi. The total value locked in DeFi has reached $3.64 billion, which is an increase of approximately 230% in the last two months. However, all of the DeFi was not supporting this growth but a few projects like Maker, Compound, and Balancer.

Maker was the largest contributor to the total value locked and also the first DeFi project to surpass $1 billion in TVL on 27 July. While others fix the focus on the beginning of the growth of DeFi recently with Compound in June. As the second-largest DeFi lending app distributed its governance token, COMP, there was a lot of activity seen on the blockchain. It gave way to yield farming, a controversial way to put the use of cryptos to earn more tokens.

However, as these incentives garnered larger capital for DeFi, it also gave rise to the risks associated during an unfortunate event of a crash. Blockchain Capitals senior associate, Aleks Larsen explained this risk in his recent blog. Larsen stated:

One can imagine a situation where an outside protocol creates incentives that without any action of its own can drive dangerous behavior in another protocol and ultimately result in cascading liquidations and user losses.

This gives way for many to speculate whether DeFi was just another bubble like the ICOs that were common a few years ago and whether it was going to burst. There might not be a lot of support to this theory, but there were various users looking to benefit from this alleged bubble. A Twitter user @DarkCryptoLord stated:

This honestly feels like 2017 all over again. And now we are the chads who survived 2015-2016 bear market. Please let this defi-driven-bubble continue till at least end of 2020 please please

While stablecoins balance, especially of Tether on Ethereum also increases. Currently, the total supply held on the blockchain was close to 6.40 Billion USDT, while the transaction amount on 27 July was reported at a yearly high of 3.555 billion USDT, as per etherscan. Thus, the ecosystem has been reporting growth with increased utilization, but other use cases are suffering due to the attention shifting to some DeFi projects and Tether.

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Ethereum gas price and risks mainly driven by DeFi - AMBCrypto English

On Saturday Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) price perked up as BTC briefly pushed above $9,700 and Ether set a 2020 high at $309.

The weekend surge comes as a bit of a surprise as weekends are typically marked by low trading volume and some traders avoid the markets due to the volatility that sometimes accompanies the weekly close.

Crypto market weekly price chart. Source: Coin360

Technicals aside, Ethers rapid ascent to $309 could also be receiving a sentiment boost from the news that the total value of funds locked into decentralized finance platforms (DeFi) reached $4 billion today.

Total value locked (USD) in DeFi. Source: DeFi Pulse

Currently, the top three DeFi platforms are Maker Aave, and Compound with each having $875 million, $639 million and $616 million locked into an assortment of contracts.

Data from DeFi Pulse shows that the decentralized finance sector has grown tremendously in 2020 as the value locked at the start of the year was slightly below $1 billion.

As discussed in a previous market update, Ethers was expected to push toward the $317 level if the Feb. 14, 2020 high at $288.32 was cleared and Saturdays rally to $309 fell just $8 short of topping the resistance cluster extending to $317.

Ether daily price chart. Source: Coin360

After a nearly 30% rally this week, a period of consolidation is to be expected but if bulls find renewed or Bitcoin rallies into the weekly close, there is a possibility that the price could clear $317 and the absence of overhead resistance could see bulls target the 2019 high at $367.

As Ether surged to a new 2020 high, Bitcoin price pushed higher to $9,733. Traders are now watching closely to see if the top-ranked digital asset on CoinMarketCap can surge above the $9,900 level as this would place the price above the long-term descending trendline from the 2017 all-time high.

According to Cointelegraph contributor Michael van de Poppe: A major parabolic move is unlikely to happen so soon, as the price has some untested levels above, namely $9,900 and $10,100.

Van de Poppe further explained that:

The most likely scenario would be a staircase pattern where the price of Bitcoin rallies towards the resistance zone, rejects, and then successfully tests the previous resistance zone for support. Next, the price move is likely to accelerate upward once Bitcoin breaks above the high of $10,100.

At the time of writing Bitcoin price has pulled back slightly from the daily high at $9,733 but the daily chart shows the digital asset continues to notch higher highs and high lows and the price remains above the 20-day moving average.

Bitcoin daily price chart. Source: Coin360

As Bitcoin and Ether pushed higher, a number of altcoins also made significant moves.

Cardano (ADA) surprised investors with a strong 21% upside move to $0.1457, Binance Coin (BNB) also continued to rally with a 5% gain. Litecoin (LTC) followed alongside Bitcoin with a 12.88% move to $49.47.

According to CoinMarketCap, the overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $294.6 billion. Bitcoins dominance index currently at 60.5%.

Read more:

Ethereum Price Rally to $370 Depends on Bitcoins Upcoming Weekly Close - Cointelegraph

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NULS, a modular microservices-based blockchain for enterprise, has outlined a formal strategy to bridge into the decentralized financial (DeFi) world of Ethereum and capitalize off of its surging public interest. Having recently completed phase 1 of its Nerve Network, a decentralized digital asset service network and a blockchain cross-chain interaction protocol, NULS will move to phase 2, which will include staking capabilities for Ethereum-based projects. Using the Nerve Network, NULS will be able to support interoperability with dApps like Compound, Maker and Aave by mid- to late-August.

DeFi applications continue to perpetuate the success of Ethereum, but they are restricted by the layer-1 blockchains slow speeds, limited scalability and landlocked ecosystem. Ethereum is holding $3 billion hostage in DeFi alone, but hardly any DeFi projects plan to exit the ecosystem for fear of losing the intrinsic value of the committed network.

Through Nerve Network, NULS will give DeFi projects a port authority to move assets between the NULS and Ethereum network. Cross-chain capabilities will prompt even more innovation regarding lending applications, yield farming and other DeFi-related activities.

Currently, Nerve Network is adding additional bank nodes that underpin its cross-chain functionality. These nodes will allow users to stake Bitcoin and Ethereum assets and earn Nerve rewards.

Existing Bank Nodes Include:

Additionally, NULS is approaching select exchanges to serve as Nerve Network bank nodes and create soft staking services.

At its completion, Nerve Network will enable Bitcoin and Ethereum custodians to gain staking rewards. said Mario Blacutt (Berzeck), NULS core developer and Nerve Network founder. Specifically, this means we can start approaching exchanges to help build mining pools where all the stationary Bitcoin and Ethereum they hold can start earning Nerve rewards. This is, of course, a huge draw for new users that want to earn tokens simply by holding assets on exchange.

Already, NULS has demonstrated success in enterprise with Chain Factory, a user interface that allows developers to build a new chain or enhance an existing chain by automatically deploying modules selected from a warehouse of endless modular solutions. More than 40 companies are currently building blockchain solutions with help from Chain Factory.

NULS has always supported a multichain vision for blockchain, said Reaper Ran, NULS founder. Our interoperable infrastructure will enhance the entire blockchain ecosystem and present greater opportunities for developers, investors, etc. Right now, all attention is on the value of DeFi. Ethereum is shouldering most of the DeFi applications, but the overall value of the ecosystem is still small relative to the centralized financial world. By expanding DeFi into blockchains like NULS, we hope to enhance this value and accelerate the decentralization of traditional finance.

Nerve Network recently completed an airdrop of tokens to NULS holders, which was supported by several exchanges, including Binance, OKEX, Huobi, KuCoin and more.

About NULS:

NULS is an open-source, enterprise-grade, adaptive blockchain platform that offers fast-track business solutions for developers. Featuring microservices, smart contracts, cross-chain interoperability and instant chain-building, NULS sets a new industry standard in streamlining blockchain adoption.

For more information and updates about NULS microservices-based blockchain visit http://www.nuls.io.

Follow us on Twitter: @NULS

About Nerve Network:

Nerve Network is a decentralized digital asset service network and a blockchain cross-chain interaction protocol based on NULS microservice framework and developed with NULS ChainBox. It aims to break the isolated value island of the blockchain, establish a cross-chain asset interaction network, and provide all the necessary underlying support for the DeFi application ecosystem. Nerve Network lets every digital asset holder enjoy truly secure, free and transparent DeFi application service.

For more information and updates about Nerve Network visit http://nerve.network/

Follow us on Twitter: @nerve_network

Read more:

NULS Taps Into Ethereum's $3 Billion DeFi Dominance With New Integration Strategy - Business Wire

Source: Stockphoto

The secure custody of cryptocurrencies is enormously important for the progress of adoption and the confidence of the population in digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or XRP. In the United States of America, it was previously reserved for companies such as Coinbase or Gemini to store cryptocurrencies for their customers. Until now, a government license was required to offer this service.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has now published a new letter that clarifies that all licensed banks in the US are allowed to offer custodial services for cryptocurrencies. The letter, dated July 22, 2020, was written by Jonathan Gould, Senior Deputy Comptroller and Senior Counsel, and states in detail that any bank in the country may store and manage the cryptographic keys for wallets for its customers.

This adds an important service to the range of services offered by banks, which could have far-reaching implications for the crypto industry. The letter states that the safekeeping of cryptocurrencies differs in several respects from traditional custody services, as cryptocurrencies do not exist materially, but only on the blockchain:

The OCC recognizes that, as the financial markets become increasingly technological, there will likely be increasing need for banks and other service providers to leverage new technology and innovative ways to provide traditional services on behalf of customers.

Banks should be allowed to offer both fiduciary and non-trustee custody services. The letter also specifies that banks must implement appropriate security measures to ensure the safe custody of customers assets:

Brian Brooks took over as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the beginning of the year. Brooks was previously Chief Legal Officer at the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, where he headed the Legal, Compliance, Internal Audit and Government Relations departments and has already proposed a number of reforms that will benefit crypto companies in the country.

Nathan McCauley, CEO of Anchorage, one of the largest providers of custody solutions for cryptocurrencies, sees this as a positive development from which the entire industry will benefit:

The OCC letter is a positive development for the entire crypto industry. A lack of regulatory clarity has been a big roadblock to more institutional activity in crypto, and major pronouncements like this help move the needle.

Mike Novogratz, a multiple billionaire and Bitcoin cop, has been warning for several months that the USA could lose its leading role in the blockchain and fintech sector worldwide. The countrys regulatory authorities must create better location and legal framework conditions that support a climate of innovation and vision in this area and do not hinder progress.

More here:

Adoption: US banks allowed to hold Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple (XRP) for customers - Crypto News Flash

Bitcoin price remained in a bullish zone above the USD 9,550 level. BTC extended its rise above the USD 9,600 level and traded to a new monthly high close to USD 9,650. It is currently (09:00 UTC) correcting gains and it might test the USD 9,400 support zone.Most major altcoins are trading in a positive zone above key supports, including ethereum, XRP, litecoin, bitcoin cash, BNB, EOS, TRX, XLM, and ADA. ETH/USD outperformed BTC and broke the USD 275 resistance. XRP/USD is trading above USD 0.202 and it must clear USD 0.205 for more upsides in the near term.

Total market capitalization

There were further upsides in bitcoin price above the USD 9,550 resistance. BTC traded to a new monthly high near USD 9,650 and recently started a downside correction. It traded below USD 9,550 and USD 9,500. The next major support is near the USD 9,400 level, below which there are chances of a steady decline towards the USD 9,300 level.On the upside, the USD 9,550 level is an initial hurdle for the bulls. The main hurdle is now near USD 9,650, above which the price might continue higher towards USD 9,800.

Ethereum price extended its rally above the USD 270 and USD 275 levels. ETH even spiked above USD 280 before starting a downside correction. The price is now trading near USD 270 and it might continue to correct lower towards the USD 262 and USD 260 levels.To continue higher, the price must gain momentum above the USD 272 and USD 275 levels. The next key resistance is near the USD 280 level.

Bitcoin cash price failed to continue above the USD 240 resistance level. BCH is now trading below the USD 235 and it is approaching the USD 230 support level. If it fails to stay above the USD 230 support, there is a risk of an extended decline towards the USD 222 level. On the upside, the USD 240 level remains a major hurdle.ADA struggled to stay above the USD 0.125 level and declined below USD 0.124. The price is trading near USD 0.122 and it might revisit the USD 0.120 support. Any further losses could lead the price towards the USD 0.118 level.XRP price settled above the USD 0.200 level and it is trading above the USD 0.202 level. On the upside, the price is struggling to clear the USD 0.205 level. If there is a clear break above USD 0.205, there are high chances of a strong increase above the USD 0.208 and USD 0.212 levels.

In the past three sessions, three small altcoins gained over 10%, including FXC, DGB, and ZEN. Conversely, RSR, BNT, BAND, DGTX, KAVA, QNT, LEND, WAVES, ABBC, ALGO, CEL, VLX, and CHSB are down more than 5%.

Overall, bitcoin price is correcting gains below USD 9,550. However, BTC is still trading in a positive zone and it could continue to rise towards the USD 9,650 level or even USD 9,800. Conversely, USD 9,400 might stop the current decline in the near term._____

The rest is here:

Bitcoin and Altcoins Correcting Gains, Ethereum Outperforms - Cryptonews

The global payment technology company Visa to offer Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple payments. The payment giant hasrevealedthat it has been working jointly with authorized and regulated cryptocurrency platforms like Coinbase to give a platform between cryptocurrencies and its present global network of 61 million retailers.

According to its roadmap, users of standardized platforms such as Coinbase could use Visa Direct to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat. In its announcement, VISA confirms that the arrival of Bitcoin and stablecoins like Tether are a model of business reform that has delivered gains to customers and retailers. In that spirit, they highlight the accelerated development that cryptocurrencies have touched as a payment system. In May 2020, flow with cryptocurrencies touched $10 billion.

The payment giant Visa stated that it has been working closely with authorized and organized digital currency platforms likeCoinbaseand Fold. Around the world, more than 25 digital currency wallets have connected their services to Visa.

The company further stated that users with cryptocurrencies using this service could begin utilizing Visa Direct. This enables customers to make more accelerated payments with cryptocurrencies that can be attached to their Visa cards, in real-time. In extension, Visa explained the significance of itsFastTrackplans to increase its partnership with objects associated with the crypto world. Visa said:

Through these efforts, Visa has become the preferred network for digital currency wallets, which are eager to deepen their value to users by making it quicker and easier to spend digital currency worldwide.

One of the major barriers in VISAs plan is the situation of legislators, regulators, and other jurisdictions. With the thought of securing clients and stopping money laundering, states like the United States apply rigid procedures towards Bitcoin and the crypto market.

In that spirit, VISA announced it is working with lawmakers and global companies to develop the discussion and recognition of cryptocurrencies. The firm asserted its collaboration with the World Economic Forum to bring up suggestions that central banks can include when building a digital currency (CBDC). VISA announced:

We believe that digital currencies have the potential to extend the value of digital payments to a greater number of people and places. As such, we want to help shape and support the role they play in the future of money.

In February 2020,Coinbasehad announced that it has become a Visa principal member. Coinbase is the first company in the crypto-arena to be granted the membership with Visa.

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It seems that the good days are here for Bitcoin. The king of cryptocurrency has finally touched the $10000 mark

Bitcoin price is looking to regain the key psychological level at $9400, which may now drive BTC price to $9500.

The social media platform Twitter had a major security breach on Jul 15, at around 2:16 PM ET, an event

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Visa to Offer Payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple - CryptoTicker.io

The CEO of VeChain (VET), Sunny Lu, spoke in an interview with Boxmining about the rivalry with Ethereum, the competition from big tech companies and the mass adaptation of VeChain. During the interview with Michael Gu via YouTube, Lu was asked whether the market capitalization of VeChain will overtake that of Ethereum in the future. Lu replied that he always pays full respect to Ethereum and Vitalik, but this is also one of his goals:

Well, I wont stop until we get there. Once again, I pay full respect to Ethereum. I think if you stay long enough in the VeChain community, you know about the fact that when we wrote Salute to Ethereum in our Genesis block [], we wrote So I also pay full respect to Ethereum and Vitalik.

But you know that the record is there to be broken, and you know that the master is there to be surpassed. If we can do that one day, I will be really happy, and I think that also shows that the whole block chain space is really somehow making the breakthrough, because we are talking about mass adaptations, not just the invention of technology, but mass adaptations in the business sector.

On the subject of mass adoption, Lu went on to say that VeChain has grown exponentially since the launch of the mainnet. Contrary to some statements that the crypto space resembles a casino, Lu believes that in a few years it will become clear that at least VeChain is not a casino.

We are doing it. Like I mentioned we continue to boost the payed or valuable transactions coming from the different enterprises like I mentioned Walmart before. I give you some numbers. When we launched the mainnet of VeChain in June 30th of 2018 and we measured the entire mainnet transactions for 2018, the total transactions were half a million, for sixth months.

In 2019, if we look at the transactions numbers, we are talking about 36 million. [] And in 2020 we almost make 100,000 transactions per day. [] And if we keep that kind of speed, we are talking about 360 million per year. I am not saying that today we reached mass adoption, you can call the entire space a casino, fine, but given a couple years if we kind of keep this growth rate at least VeChain not gonna be a casino.

Lu was also asked if he is concerned about companies copying and creating their own version of VeChain. However, according to the CEO, this is not a major threat as VeChain has been on the market for nearly four years and is leading the industry with its technology:

No, not really. Firstly, I am really confident. We have been focusing on this territory for 3 or 4 years. We are leading the way for anyone in the market, for at least a couple of years. Secondly, for enterprises, they are rational. They are not like I wanna override you or compete to you. [] If they find out what VeChain can do [] make the quickest delivery in the market while they try the leading position in the market, why would they?

Specifically referring to the competition from IBM and other big tech companies, Lu said that the market still has a lot of growth potential due to its young age. For example, while IBM has created a food traceability solution for the American Walmart, VeChain has developed a counterpart for the Chinese Walmart.

According to Lu, this use case is also being expanded to include more products in Sams Club and also the suppliers in the supply chain, which could be hundreds or thousands of companies, Lu said. Ultimately, the market is big enough, and VeChain has its advantages even over large tech companies:

Generally speaking, I am not really worried about that kind of situation because right now the market is like so big. Everybody has the opportunity to get big. And so far I am quite confident [] but I assume we have our advantages, our unique features, basically we have a standard tool and best practices making delivery super quick and at lower cost.

Below you can find the full interview with VeChains Sunny Lu.

Visit link:

Sunny Lu: VeChain will overtake Ethereum in market capitalisation - Crypto News Flash

Key Takeaways

Though activity on decentralized exchanges (DEXes) has been quiet, 2020 has been a breakout year for the crypto primitive. Initially touted as a safer, more secure mechanism for trading crypto, DEXes have nonetheless been challenging to navigate.

Users may enjoy non-custodial trading, but these decentralized alternatives cannot compete with their sleek centralized counterparts.

The clunky user experience was made clearer following the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi). So-called yield farmers who needed to move from asset to asset and platform to platform, often faced high fees and slippage as they sought lucrative returns. Poor efficiency and usability made the new endeavor all the more difficult.

In response, several DEX aggregators have risen to bring together the disparate crypto space. Instead of searching for the best prices, users could come to a handful of platforms to find the best price and execute trades. Creating a DeFi traders one-stop-shop was just the first step, however.

Despite their convenience, these aggregators are a far cry from simple. If cryptos primary objective is still mainstream adoption, abstracting away this complexity is crucial.

Matcha exchange, a front-end to one of the original DEXes, 0x Protocol, is working on this very problem. At once a clean user interface, Matcha also offers new users an educational experience as they navigate the platform.

In this way, Matcha is expanding the DeFi pie and helping onboard the crypto-curious.

0x Protocol is a heavyweight within the niche DeFi ecosystem, playing a pioneering role in shaping DeFi before it grew into the popularity it enjoys today. Matcha is a DEX aggregator built on top of 0x.

Just like other aggregators, Matcha pulls liquidity from several different DEXes including, Uniswap, Curve, Kyber, Oasis, and the 0x Mesh. Matcha is not restricted to on-chain liquidity and can tap into 0xs proprietary off-chain liquidity sources.

However, the 0x Protocol is a liquidity aggregation protocol itself, which means Matcha is more like a front-end for 0x.

The objective behind Matcha is to give regular users the ability to use 0xs liquidity aggregation facility. Using a standalone DEX over an aggregator will almost always result in an inferior price. Matcha provides this service with a focus on superior user experience.

As discussed in the last few Project Spotlights, simple UIs with enhanced user experience are the need of the hour, helping DeFi scale to a broader range of users.

Matchas simplicity is perhaps its most enticing feature. Compared to competing aggregators, the experience of using Matcha is not as daunting for newer users. Its the easiest DEX aggregator to use with a user-friendly interface.

The help section is also filled with basic queries that new users tend to have.

With shortcuts on the homepage, trading on Matcha comes down to just a few clicks. Furthermore, each asset has a short write-up that explains the tokens use case and reason for existence. Essentially, Matcha aims to provide a platform for non-DeFi natives to experience the power of permissionless finance.

Liquidity aggregation is not a new concept by any means. Matcha is the only the latest in a similar round of projects to go live on the Ethereum mainnet.

The biggest competitor for Matcha is 1inch Exchange. Developed at a hackathon in 2019, 1inch has quickly become a DeFi favorite. Some power users have even stopped visiting individual DEX interfaces and swear by 1inch alone.

Its difficult for emerging products to seize market share from incumbents, but its not impossible. 1inch suffers from a common issue in DeFi: high gas prices. Unfortunately, Matcha is not exempt from this.

It costs more to draw liquidity from various sources rather than just one. The more pools from which liquidity is sourced, the more transactions are required to execute the action. Given the high cost of Ethereum transactions as of late, it becomes clear why liquidity aggregation is more expensive.

Effectively, every user must look at the cost of slippage versus transactions. If the slippage between, say, Uniswap and Matcha isnt significant, it makes sense to use Uniswap, which is optimized for lower gas consumption.

To illustrate, lets look at an example. It costs 75 gwei per unit of gas as of the time of writing. Swapping one ETH for USDC results in 242.798 USDC on 1inch exchange, 243.6524 USDC on Matcha, and 243.398 on Uniswap v2.

Matcha has the best price, which is its job as an aggregator. Users still need to consider gas fees, however.

It costs $8.43 in gas to execute the trade on 1inch.exchange.

At $4.11, this transaction on Uniswap was more than a 50% reduction compared to 1inch.

On Matcha, this trade displayed a total cost of $6.6, but only after Matchas $5.16 discount on gas.

Note: MetaMask may show users a higher cost than Matcha estimates for gas. The wallet tends to overestimate transaction costs, but excess fees are credited back to the user wallets.

Matcha is built on 0x, so theres a fee paid to market makers on the protocol who facilitate the transaction.

Without the discount, Matchas trade cost is $11.76, which is the most expensive of the three despite the attractive price of USDC. However, Matcha will continue to offer gas discounts for the foreseeable future, which currently makes it the cheapest aggregator to use.

The end-game for aggregators is their role in reducing slippage. Its a noticeable improvement for traders moving size, but may not be practical for all DeFi users.

The most significant advantage of using Matcha is undoubtedly the user experience. With a clean UI and all functions easy to navigate, its the kind of improvement DeFi has been long due.

Because of the trade-off between slippage and gas, smaller traders need to be conscious of which liquidity product gives them the best deal. For larger traders, however, slippage is always a greater nuisance.

Therefore, using an aggregator is a no-brainer for those trading more than $10,000 to $15,000 per trade.

Building on this, Matcha offers request for quote (RFQ) trades. Instead of submitting an order to source liquidity, a trader can submit a quote for their desired trade with all requisite details.

RFQs are targeted at institutional investors who trade in large amounts or want exposure to rather obscure assets.

The core value proposition of Matcha is inclusivity. For DeFi to truly eat into legacy finance, those who are serviced by the legacy system should be able to transition into DeFi seamlessly. Simple liquidity products like Matcha go a long way in recognizing that vision.

Even if it isnt the end-product that the average Joe will use when onboarded to DeFi, its a step toward the UX overhaul DeFi needs for mass consumption.

As mentioned earlier, Matcha is essentially a dashboard for 0x Protocol. Though 0x offered crypto users their first glimpse into DEXes, there are several other use cases.

These include transferring in-game collectibles, decentralized prediction markets, and many others. It is for this reason that the 0x community has grown so large.

0x lets anyone build any variety of non-custodial marketplaces on top of the technology. And many of these marketplaces, in the form of relayers, have become so large that they serve as liquidity providers for many popular trading pairs.

In terms of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), 0x helps facilitate the exchange of one of the largest crypto games, Gods Unchained. Thanks to 0x, users can buy and sell digital cards earned through gameplay.

Relayers and DIY marketplaces are just a few examples of what users can build using 0x. Matcha fits into this scheme by offering users a clear window into all of these interactions. And so far, many traders are taking notice.

Barely a month after launch, Matcha has facilitated more than $24 million in trades. The exchange is also the fourth largest relayer within the 0x ecosystem, according to 0x Tracker.

Helping to facilitate this growth are several prominent members throughout the Ethereum community. The core team driving Matcha forward is made up of Will Warren, Clay Robbins, John Johnson, and Chris Kalani. Because the underlying technology has long been up and running, the heft of the teams focus has been recruiting exquisite designers.

Matcha exchange boasts one of the cleanest interfaces in DeFi. And after discounting expensive transaction fees on Ethereum, it deserves the attention of every Etherean looking to make speedy token swaps.

Though it does not reinvent the wheel, Matchas intentions are laser-focused. The team has leveraged a battle-tested 0x protocol and an easy-to-use trading platform comparable to centralized exchanges.

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DeFi Project Spotlight: 1inch.exchange, the Trading Router for Decentr...

Project Spotlight: Furucombo

Project Spotlight: Zapper Finance and the DeFi Investor's Dashboard

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DeFi Project Spotlight: Matcha and The Robinhood of Ethereum - Crypto Briefing

Source: RuskaDesign -Shutterstock

In a new episode of the BootCamp webinar series, VeChains chief scientist, Peter Zhou, discussed the highlights of the VeChainThor blockchain governance model. Compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum, VeChains governance model is especially aimed at business use and creating value for its users. According to Zhou, VeChains governance model follows the elected board design which he summarized as followed:

(VeChains governance model) has a robust detailed design, utilizing a mutually reinforcing mix of legal, cultural, market, and code elements to help steer the collective.

Zhou then explained that VeChains governance model consists of 3 bodies or components: the Steering Committee Board, the Economic Node and X Node operators. In that sense, Zhou explained that the first component is in charge of managing daily operations, proposing and voting on critical changes (for example, the price of Gas for validating transactions in VeChainThor). Additionally, board members can decide whether a proposal is submitted to a shareholder vote.

On the blockchain, however, the majority of the voting rights are held by the nodes. The new governance introduced in December 2019 gives the majority of votes and authority back to the community by giving Economic Node and X Node operators a voting right that can account for up to 60% of votes. The remaining 40% of the votes are held by the owners of the Authority Masternodes

The individual voting power varies in relation to the number of tokens a user has and the time he has kept them. The minimum vote for any user is 1 and the maximum number of votes is held by the Authority Masternodes, as shown in the following chart.

Source: https://medium.com/@thomasbcox/walk-through-of-vechain-governance-d3453a1987a6

Finally, the chief scientist of VeChain explained that the Steering Committee Board makes decisions about all emergencies in the network. In this sense, the members have the possibility to take temporary measures, but decisions with greater weight still require the votes of the shareholders, even if they are only approved for a limited period of time.

In contrast, Bitcoins governance model makes its decisions through proposals that are approved by the core developers. Then, the proposals are put to a vote on-chain and the miners decide if the proposal is implemented. This occurs through a soft or hard fork. However, as stated in by VeChains Zhou, proposed changes are not implemented because of a lack of consensus with the core developer community.

On the other hand, Ethereums governance model has similarities with Bitcoin. The changes are proposed by the developers and have to be approved by the miners. However, Zhou also criticized the lack of transparency regarding the Ethereum governance model and the way decisions are made. Specifically, he criticized the plutocratic decision-making at Ethereum and the lack of a mechanism for community participation in decision-making.

One of the advantages of VeChains governance model is that the Steering Committee Board members who make the most important decisions can be elected. In that sense, there is greater transparency about who proposes changes, who can vote and how many votes a given stakeholder has.

Below you can see the full episode of VeChains webinar:

Originally posted here:

VeChain: That s why our governance model is better than Ethereums and Bitcoins - Crypto News Flash

GettyThe photo shows a physical imitation of a Ethereum cryptocurrency in Dortmund, western Germany, on January 27, 2020.

The price of Ether (ETH) has soared following an announcement by Visa that it is focusing more on stablecoins. Ether is the name of the cryptocurrency that runs on the Ethereum blockchain, which is a popular choice for stablecoin movement. Ethers price jump also tracked a Bitcoin price increase, along with other developments within the Ethereum blockchain.

A look at Coindesks price chart for Ethereum for the past week reveals a spike in price just over the last couple of days. The coin was priced below $240 at the beginning of the week and now its up to $286.22 as of the time of publication. The difference is even greater when viewed for the last month, when the coin was at a low of about $220 on June 28. The coins price is now just slightly above its highest price for the past year, which occurred on February 14 at about $284. Of course, this is all much lower than its pinnacle in 2018, when the coin hit $1,405 in early January 2018. Many cryptocoins dropped in late 2017/early 2018.

Ethers jump coincided with a jump in the price of Bitcoin, Decrypt reported. Ethers price spike was also likely due to growth in DeFi trading protocols and the increasing popularity of stablecoins, Decrypt reported. On July 23, nearly $180 million of Bitcoin was locked on the Ethereum blockchain, Decrypt reported.

Ethereum is the popular blockchain for stablecoins, which has led to the Ethereum blockchain moving more value a day than Bitcoin, Decrypt noted. So positive stablecoin announcements will also have a positive effect on Ethers price.

On July 22, Visa announced that it was expanding to support new forms of commerce, including fiat-backed digital currencies known as stablecoins. Visa noted that these digital currency wallets would support all of Visas capabilities, including Visa Direct. One of Visas recent innovations involved a research team working on Zether, which is an Ethereum smart contract.

CoinTelegraph also reported that the gains in Ether were likely from increasing use of stablecoins and the increasing use of DeFi applications. CoinTelegraph noted that the final testnet for Ethereum 2.0 is happening on August 4. This is a network upgrade.

Bitcoins price has also increased recently, according to Coindesk. It hit a high of $9,638 on Friday and has shown an overall steady increase in price all week, after starting around $9,160. Bitcoins prices are volatile, seeing highs and lows over the past three months. The price doesnt currently match its price from nearly a year ago when it reached nearly $12,000 in early August 2019, but its grown a lot since it dropped to just below $5,000 in mid-March, 2020. Bitcoins highest price was in late 2017.

Heres a look at what Ether is, according to Coindesk:

Ether is the cryptocurrency built on top of the open source Ethereumblockchain, which runs smart contracts. The cryptocurrency acts as a fuel that allows smart contracts to run unlike bitcoin, which is meant to be a unit of currency on a peer-to-peer payment network. Ethers supply is not capped like that of bitcoin and its supply schedule, often described as minimum necessary to secure the network, is determined by members of Ethereums community. A majority of decentralized applications are based on Ethereum and the cryptocurrency accounts for the highest percentage of the total funds staked in the DeFi projects. Ethereum is scheduled to make a transition to proof-of-stake mechanism from the current proof-of-work mechanism in the later half of 2020.

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Link:

Ethereum Price Spikes After Visa Stablecoin Announcement - Heavy.com