As the surging Bitcoin grabs most of the headlines, Ether or Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency, is touching record valuation and could still be bought cheaper -- for nearly $1,600 for one Ether.

According to industry players, Bitcoin which is hovering around $40,000 is beyond the reach for most investors while Ether that has touched an all-time high is still within reach.

According to Rahul Pagidipati, CEO, ZebPay, Ether tends to follow Bitcoin.

Now that Bitcoin has hit record high and is consolidating, investors are adding Ether. Together the two cryptocurrencies constitute nearly 80 per cent of the total crypto market cap, Pagidipati said.

Nearly 3 million ETH ($3.8 billion) have been locked up for long-term staking, removing them from the buyable supply. With lower supply comes higher prices,

Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin said that Ether is touching record valuation because Bitcoin is consolidating and investors are looking at Ether to reap greater economic benefits in the long term.

Ethereum is up about 135 per cent since the start of the year and is expected to become as valuable as Bitcoin in the years to come, Thakral added.

We hope Indian counterparts will take note of this and enable the growth of the digital asset industry in India by providing a positive regulatory environment. Ethereum Blockchain has very strong fundamentals and a lot of projects are using it to power their infrastructure.

As India plans to introduce the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in the country, the industry stakeholders have come out in unison hoping that the Indian government would listen to all stakeholders before taking any decision.

As more people see new applications for the Ethereum protocol, like staking, theyre realising that Either is real and has lasting value, just as they are realising the truth about Bitcoin, said Pagidipati.

Owning one full bitcoin is probably a dream now for most people.

But you can still buy a full Ether for Rs 1.6 lakh, still in reach for many. Those who remember Bitcoin at that price may be thinking that this opportunity wont last for much longer, the ZebPay CEO noted.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is already exploring the possibility as to whether there is a need for a digital version of fiat currency and in case there is, then how to operationalise it.

The apparent softening in RBIs stand on cryptocurrency came after the Supreme Court last year set aside a circular issued by the RBI that barred any entity from providing banking services to anyone dealing with virtual or cryptocurrencies.

The RBI, in its booklet on payment systems, noted that central banks around the world are examining whether they could leverage on technology and issue fiat money in digital form.

With the overall value of all cryptocurrencies surpassing the $1 trillion mark, industry experts have said that crypto may become the most important asset class of the 21st century and India needs to catch up fast with the global trend.

This article has been amended from its original source.

See original here:

Why You Should Keep An Eye On Ethereum - Al-Bawaba

Ethereum is currently on bearish momentum. At 22:03 EST on Saturday, 6 February, Ethereum is at $1,629.39 and down by 4.78% in the last 6 hours.

Over the last six hours, Ethereums higher value was $1,707.32 and the lower value was $1,629.39.

Over the last twelve hours, Ethereums higher value was $1,707.32 and the lower value was $1,629.39.

Regarding Ethereums daily highs, its 4.564% down from its trailing 24-hour high of $1,707.32

In relation to Ethereums yearly highs and lows, its 1611.904% up from its 52-week low and 3.589% down from its 52-week high.

Ethereums last day, last week, and last months average volatility was 2.43%, 6.20%, and 5.92%, respectively.

Ethereums last day, last week, and last months high and low average amplitude percentage was 5.41%, 8.82%, and 12.47%, respectively.

Ethereum catapults to new all-time high past $1,600 as investors pile in ahead of next week's launch of CME futures. According to Business Insider on Thursday, 4 February, "Although the trade seems to be partly fueled by speculation, a major factor driving demand is the Chicago Mercantile Exchanges launch of Ethereum futures on February 8.", "Grayscale Investments, the worlds largest cryptocurrency fund manager, this week added an extra 25,000 ETH coins, bringing its total Ethereum holdings to $4.5 billion. "

Bitcoin, ethereum technical analysis: bid into a busy weekend. According to DailyFX on Friday, 5 February, "Should Ethereum pull back, there could be some possible opportunity for analysis to enter the equation. ", "At this point, Ethereum is up more than 130% in 2021 alone, and were barely a month into the New Year."

Klarna CEO cautions executives promoting Bitcoin investments. According to Bloomberg Quint on Thursday, 4 February, "Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy Inc. and a Bitcoin proselytizer, said this week at his companys World Now global conference that he sees an "avalanche" of companies moving their cash into Bitcoin over the next 12 months."

Bitcoin declines after bouncing off top of recent price range. According to Bloomberg Quint on Thursday, 4 February, "A strengthening dollar since the start of the year has kept Bitcoin stuck in a consolidation phase, but that could be ending soon, according to Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp."

Only 15% of Bitcoin traders are women, broker study shows. According to Bloomberg Quint on Friday, 5 February, "Women make up only 15% of Bitcoin traders, according to a brokerage study that shows how stark the gender disparity is in the world of cryptocurrencies.", "said the percentage of women holding Bitcoin on its platform increased from just 10% a year ago."

According to Business Insider on Friday, 5 February, "The price of Bitcoin skyrocketed in 2020, prompting a wave of new investors to sign up to various trading platforms. "

Read more here:

Ethereum On Bearish Momentum: 4.78% Down In The Last 6 Hours - Via News Agency

Key Takeaways

Bitcoin and Ethereum prices dropped all the weekend gains before the traditional markets opened for trading Monday, liquidating $1.1 billion leveraged orders.

Nevertheless, market sentiments continue to wax bullish despite the carnage.

On Sunday at 5 PM CST, the CME futures market opened with a gap of $4,000 since closing at $29,385 before the holidays on Dec. 31.

Bitcoin crossed $30,000 for the first time over the weekend, topping at $34,800 this morning. However, the correction came just as quickly, as BTC prices dropped 20% around 1 AM CST.

Bitcoin futures on CME prices traced back to $28,440, filling the positive gap.

The volatility in Ethereum was even stronger as the second-largest cryptocurrency topped $1,150 for the first time in three years. The price of ETH, however, corrected 23% to $900 after peaking at $1,170.

Across exchanges like Binance and Huobi, over $1.1 billion were liquidated in the last four hours, with Bitcoin longs accounting for nearly 93.6% of the amount.

A 30-40% correction has been a standard in Bitcoin bull markets, which seldom run on over-leveraged longs across these platforms.

For example, the funding rate for Ethereum longs on BitMEXeven after the dropis close to 474% annually. Similarly, for Bitcoin, the funding rates are running above 70% annually. Moreover, a quick recovery above $30,000 after the CME gap fill is seen as a robust bullish signal.

While the bullish market sentiments seem unhinged by the correction, the high funding rate for long orders on futures markets can act as a catalyst for additional correction. Todays low, around $27,750, will act as support for a positive trend.

The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.

You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.

See full terms and conditions.

Ethereum has finally broken $1,000 after three years. The milestone was reached following a parabolic 40% price surge throughout Sunday. A recent survey of the ecosystem also points to Bitcoins...

Ethereum is in parabolic mode. ETH hit $800 for the first time in two years this morning and has since made a run past $900, peaking around $970 this afternoon....

In this short article, we are going to talk about the uniqueness of the inverse perpetual swap.

Ethereum just hit $800. The milestone follows a rapid 18% price increase for Bitcoin, now trading above $34,000. Ethereum Follows Bitcoins Price Surge Bitcoin and Ether are soaring. Ether is...

Go here to read the rest:

Bitcoin, Ethereum Crash Liquidates $1.1 Billion Leveraged Traders - Crypto Briefing

ETH/USD stays bid around $1,090 during early Tuesdays trading. The crypto major refreshed the highest since February 2018 before stepping back to 886.00 amid overbought RSI conditions.

While the oscillator remains in the region suggesting ETH/USD pullback, the quote ignores the downside signals while following bullish MACD clues.

That said, the $1,100 round-figure is in a hands reach to the ETH/USD buyers during the latest upswing. However, the previous days high around $1,169 and the $1,200 can challenge the pairs further upside.

In a case where Ethereum buyers refrain from bending the knee around $1,200, February 2018 peak near $1,225 and the record top, marked in January 2018, surrounding $1,420, will be in the spotlight.

Alternatively, even counter-trend traders will wait for a downside break of an immediate support line, at $952 now, for fresh entries. Following that 50% and 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of December 23 to January 04 upside, respectively near $858 and $785 will challenge the ETH/USD bears.

It should be noted that an upward sloping trend line from December 23, close to $766, adds to the downside filters.

Overall, ETH/USD is up for challenging the multi-month top but momentum indicators test the bulls.

Trend: Bullish

Continue reading here:

Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH bulls ignore overbought RSI to attack $1,100 - FXStreet

In less than 48 hours, 2020 will be behind us.

It almost seems too big a task to recount all that has happened in this world, in this industry and in our own personal lives but our colleague Brad Keoun, editor of CoinDesks daily cryptocurrency markets newsletter, First Mover, offers an excellent start to summarizing 2020. He writes:

This year saw the biggest drop-off in economic activity since the Great Depression, the biggest money-printing episode in the Federal Reserves 107-year history, an epochal shift toward remote working, negative prices for crude-oil futures and the first real signs the global financial system might be migrating toward fast-growing markets for cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

Related: What Is Proof-of-Stake?

2020 also saw an explosive growth in the total value locked and user activity for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on Ethereum. We witnessed the genesis of Ethereums primary scaling solution with the launch of Ethereum 2.0 and the emergence of an entirely new use case for ether through staking.

Where do we go from here? For todays special, year-end edition of Valid Points, weve gathered commentary from the industrys most well-known Eth 2.0 staking experts. Theyll be illustrating through charts what caught their attention most this past year and what theyll be watching closely for in the next.

Our first contribution is from Tim Ogilvie, the founder and CEO of Staked. Staked helps investors earn yield from staking and DeFi without taking custody of their crypto assets.

My favorite Ethereum chart shows the daily gas usage. I love it because its one part of the great story that I expect will propel ETH over the next few years. There are three legs to the stool:

Related: Proof-of-Stake Was Bigger Than Eth 2.0 in 2020

Story continues

1. Our chart. People are using ETH with increasing frequency, driving increased gas demand.

2. EIP-1559, introducing Fee Burns. This is an upcoming Ethereum improvement that will take all of the gas demand and use it to burn ETH. The more ETH gets used, the more ETH supply gets burned.

3. ETH2: Ethereums transition to proof-of-stake, allowing for low issuance of new supply while providing strong security guarantees.

Bitcoin has an amazing story as an asset with a fixed supply of 21 million BTC. Ethereums story has the potential to be even stronger. If gas usage exceeds supply issuance, youve now got a digital asset with a steadily declining supply.

My 2021 prediction: This becomes the dominant story around ETHs valuation and it drives significant price appreciation.

Next, we have the head of strategy and operations for stake.fish, Jun Soo Kim. With support for over 10 different blockchain networks, Jun Soo and his team are working to secure and contribute to an exciting new staking ecosystem and enable users to stake with confidence.

By far my favorite chart of Ethereum 2.0 is how consistently the participation rate has been averaging at above 98% after the first few days of the Beacon Chain launch. The participation rate shows how well the active validators are doing to stay online and conduct their attestation duties. If the participation rate was any closer to 66%, we would need to be seriously concerned about the network health. But at the current levels, we have a nice big buffer that alleviates any concerns for network finality halts.

There is also another takeaway from this data. While there are many professional staking service providers running validators on Ethereum 2.0, there is a bigger number of individuals who are operating validators themselves. These independent validators have been contributing to the high participation rate. From this, we can infer that Ethereum 2.0 has achieved its goal of making sure anyone can run validators on their own without having to rely on specialized technical knowledge or hardware. This provides hope that while staking services and exchanges will grow, the number of independent validators will grow as well. Independent validators are key in ensuring Ethereum 2.0 remains decentralized and I hope we keep seeing improvements to the experience of running validators.

We havent even seen the beginning of Ethereum 2.0 integration with DeFi. Tokenized staked ETH and how they become a part of the existing DeFi stack will be a key theme in the first half of 2021.

Our penultimate contribution comes from Chandler Song, CEO of Ankr. Ankr Network is a San Francisco-based Web 3.0 infrastructure provider working at removing entry barriers and opening Ethereum 2.0 staking to everyone with Stkr decentralized protocol.

This chart represents the number of ETH sent by validators to the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract since it went live on Nov. 4. To launch on the planned Genesis date of Dec. 1, 524,288 ETH had to be transferred until Nov. 24. This threshold was met only hours before the activation deadline.

We see that early on the community was hesitant to stake their ETH. The fact that the staked funds are locked and essentially illiquid for an indefinite period made the progress slow in the first weeks. We think that one of the important factors that helped break the momentum was staking-as-a-service solutions going live with synthetic assets that solve early Ethereum 2.0 liquidity issues.

We are going to see the growing popularity of liquid bond tokens representing ETH 2.0 stake. These assets have two functions: turn illiquid ETH into a tradable and liquid asset and allow investors to participate in building trust to grow the Ethereum network.

Last but not least, our final chart comes from Mike Garland, product manager for Alchemy. Alchemy is a blockchain developer platform powering 4 million users and $7.5 billion dollars of transactions in 99% of countries worldwide.

Our favorite ETH 2 graph of 2020 is one which shows the 35,300% increase in global adoption weve seen of the Beacon Chain since just before the Dec. 1 launch.

Weve seen great developers and teams pouring in to pick up and start using ETH 2.0 and all signs point to even greater adoption going into the new year.

The ETH and ETH 2.0 ecosystems are only as good as the developers and users that drive them, so seeing this kind of growth so early for ETH 2.0 has us super excited for the year ahead.

Well soon be incorporating data directly from CoinDesks own Eth 2.0 validator node in our weekly analysis. All profits made from this staking venture will be donated to a charity of our choosing once transfers are enabled on the network. For a full overview of the project, check outour announcement post.

Follow this link:

Valid Points: A Year in Review by Your Ethereum 2.0 Staking Experts - Yahoo Finance

The Ethereum [ETH] market has been seeing increased momentum that has been driving the price of the cryptocurrency in the past few months. Amid the active spot market, the active supply of Ethereum has been dropping to new lows. According to the data provider Glassnode alerts, the active supply of ETH measured on a 3-6 month timeframe has just hit a 5-year low of 5.073 million ETH.

The data provider noted:

The chart above indicated that the supply had noted a strong peak in 2019 when the price of most cryptos was consolidating between a tight range. Now that were in an active bull market, the active supply has been reduced to a 5-year low.

It was a sign of a strong HODLING behavior among the Ethereum investors and traders, as the coin marched higher on the charts. The Ethereum charts on TradingView indicated a seven-day consecutive upwards swing in ETHs price towards the end of the year. This 34% surge within a week pushed its value from $565 to $759 and at the time of writing, ETH was being traded at $734.

As the altcoin holds on to a price level above $700 and as Bitcoin hit a new all-time high over $29k, the chances of the commencement of an alt season appear strong. Meanwhile, the traders were preparing to participate in the altseason that is yet to begin.

This enthusiasm was reflected in the significant increase in the number of addresses holding Ethereum. To bookmark a good end to 2020, the number of addresses holding ETH hit an ATH of over 51.4 million. This value was 34.7 million at the beginning of the year. Whereas the number of non-zero addresses also reached 50.476 million, reflecting the bullishness in the traders attitude.

Read more:

Ethereum active supply hits 5-year low - AMBCrypto News

When Bitcoin prices are setting new records, the Liechtenstein Cryptoassets Exchange, popularly known as LCX.com, has launched its digital currency exchange services. The platform is regulated and in compliance with local Liechtenstein regulations.

Announced on Tuesday, the new exchange will initially facilitate trading with Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin and LCX token. However, it has plans to add more digital currencies into its offering.

Commenting on the new platform, LCX.com Co-founder and CEO, Monty Metzger said: LCX Exchange is a new generation of cryptocurrency exchange. 2021 will be the year of blockchain innovation, and we see crypto compliance as key to success.

The exchange started its operations only a week after it received eight licenses from the Liechtenstein regulator under the countrys new blockchain laws. The licenses ensure LCXs compliance as a crypto exchange, a digital currency custodian and a price oracle.

Jesse Willms on Making The Most Of The eCommerce BoomGo to article >>

Founded in 2018, the exchange focused on strengthening its processes before approaching for the licenses.Finance Magnateslast year reported on LCXs partnership with blockchain analytics firm, Elliptic to automate compliance against illicit transactions.

LCX is launching its exchange when the demand in cryptocurrency markets are soaring, mostly with the rally of Bitcoin. The digital currency broke all records and is trading strongly above $30,000 even after corrections in double digits.

Though the altcoins market remained dull overall, Ethereum soared significantly, even dwarfing Bitcoin in yearly gains. LCX is listing both of these tokens in the initial batch.

Meanwhile, major exchanges are seeing record-breaking demand for cryptocurrencies, and the volumes are breaking records too.

Link:

LCX.com Starts Crypto Exchange with Bitcoin and Ethereum - Finance Magnates

Digital asset exchange Huobi noted earlier this month that the ongoing upgrade of Ethereum (ETH), the worlds largest platform for building decentralized applications (dApps), is expected to make the original smart contract enabled blockchain much more usable, scalable, and effective but it will also take a fairly long time before the transition to Ethereum 2.0 has been successfully completed.

As mentioned in a blog post by the Huobi Group, the path to Ethereum 2.0 will not be an overnight thing, and will have several different stages or phases to it. The transition process begins with Phase 0, which will involve the Beacon Chain going live and then the move towards a new proof of stake (PoS) consensus algorithm will begin to take place, Huobi explained.

The exchange further noted that with this major change in the blockchain consensus mechanism, there will also be a new digital currency created, called BETH. As noted by Huobi, the creation of a new cryptocurrency on an existing blockchain, born of a new chain upgrade causes many logistical difficulties, but these will all have to be overcome if ETH 2.0 is to be a success.

The Huobi Group added:

When Phase 0 does occur, BETH will have to co-exist with the already prevalent ETH cryptocurrency. This is logistically something quite unique, but it has been planned out and factored in by those [who are involved with the development and deployment of] ETH 2.0. So, how will BETH and ETH coexist to begin with, and what will be left when ETH 2.0 is finally complete?

The exchange further explained:

ETH 2.0 is more like a recast new chain that will coexist with ETH 1.0 for quite a long time, the new chain will not instantly replace the original as that would be impractical, but this method throws up its own issues. So, the new chain of ETH 2.0 will also mint a new token, which is BETH. In other words, before ETH 2.0 and ETH 1.0 are completely merged, there will be two types of Ethereum tokens in the network: ETH and BETH.

Huobi also pointed out that the generation of BETH is unidirectional. Users (which includes verification nodes) must lock ETH into the contract in order to register the public key address of the Beacon Chain. The public key registered in the contract will be recognized via the ETH 2.0 chain, the Ethereum asset (ETH) anchoring the master chain will be burned, and the Ethereum asset (BETH) on the Beacon Chain network will be generated, Huobi noted.

Currently, its not possible for users to migrate BETH on the ETH 2.0 Beacon Chain to the ETH 1.0 chain before both chains have been merged, Huobi clarified. And before ETH 2.0 begins supporting cross-shard transactions, BETH tokens cant be transferred, and it will become a non-transferable asset for validators and users, Huobi added.

This process is quite different from a typical hard fork (backward incompatible) update where a duplicate is made, instead old tokens on ETH need to be manually destroyed through the smart contract, and generate a new token BETH on ETH2.0, Huobi explained. The migration process is long-term and irreversible, Huobi confirmed, while adding that in the past hard fork upgrade, both tokens were migrated automatically and instantaneously.

BETH tokens will appear to be a bit useless as they cant be transferred and wont become a non-transferable asset for validators and users, Huobi acknowledged. The exchange pointed out that BETH may be used to take part in the Casper consensus for mining, and users may receive about 10% BETH staking rewards each year.

BETH is temporarily unable to transfer on the chain; while ETH Token can still be used normally, but users cannot get any staking rewards, Huobi clarified, while noting that a core concept of ETH2.0 is to lower the threshold so that more people can participate in the staging.

For instance, a home PC or laptop would also have the capability or the computing capacity to build Ethereum nodes. Therefore, the number of users participating in the Beacon Chain Staking may be higher than other blockchain projects, Huobi claims.

Eventually, ETH and BETH will be able to merge and will be integrated, so that theres just one ETH token in the entire network.

Huobi added:

In the migration plan announced by Vitalik Buterin in October 2019, it was clearly stated that the entire user migration process will attach great importance to the user experience. Therefore, if an ETH holder has no intention to participate in BETH Staking, he can directly wait for the merger after 2 years without manual migration, and may not even be aware of the automatic merger process.

Huobi concluded:

BETH is a special token of the transitional period and a staged product. However, considering that the two adopt a one-way exchange scheme, in a long transition period (Phase 0 ~ Phase 2, about 2 years), the two may not be able to converge, so the two are two different tokens during the transition period.

As covered, Huobi has provided a detailed explanation of why Ethereum is arguably the most important distributed ledger technology (DLT) project, but time will tell if Ethereum 2.0 succeeds.

Originally posted here:

Huobi Group Explains how Ethereum will be Merging Two Digital Assets, BETH and ETH, as It Transitions to ETH 2.0 - Crowdfund Insider

Virgil Griffith, the Ethereum researcher accused of aiding North Korean government officials to evade sanctions, will stand trial starting September 2021, a New York court has ruled.

Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York ruled, A conference is set for September 7, 2021 at 9:30 am in Courtroom 11D 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY. For reasons stated on the record, time is excluded in the interest of justice under the Speedy Trial Act through September 7, 2021 to allow both sides to discuss a resolution of this matter and review discovery.

If either Griffith or the prosecutors oppose the September 7 trial date, they must submit in writing their reasons for the opposition before December 30, 2020.

U.S. authorities arrested Griffith in November 2019 after he returned from attending a blockchain conference in North Korea. They claimed that he had violated the IEEPA, an act that prohibits U.S. citizens from offering any good or service to countries that the U.S. government has imposed sanctions on.

While setting the date for the trial, Judge Castel also granted Griffiths motion to compel discovery of material in the possession of the Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC), stating:

Defendants motion to compel discovery of material in the possession of OFAC is GRANTED to the extent that the government is directed to conduct a review of material in the possession of OFAC for the period from October 24, 2019 to the present that is related to Mr. Griffiths prosecution; the government shall disclose any materials that must be disclosed to the defendant consistent with the governments obligations.

The Judge, however, deferred ruling on Griffiths motion to compel a search of files of some government agencies regarding the blockchain capabilities of North Korea. He ordered Griffiths legal team to meet with the prosecutors and agree on a stipulation. They shall then submit this stipulation to the court no later than January 25, 2021.

Griffiths lawyers have insisted that the prosecutors case against the Ethereum Foundation developer is fatally flawed. In their most recent motion, they claimed that Griffith is not even aware of what crimes he is charged with. They claimed that despite the government presenting 6,800 pages of discovery, its all vague and none points to the exact crimes he allegedly committed.

FollowCoinGeeks Crypto Crime Cartelseries, which delves into the stream of groupsfromBitMEXtoBinance,Bitcoin.com,Blockstream,ShapeShiftandEthereumwho have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for nave (and even experienced) players in the market.

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeeksBitcoin for Beginnerssection, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoinas originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamotoand blockchain.

Excerpt from:

Ethereum researcher Virgil Griffith's trial to start in September 2021 - CoinGeek

Crypto fund manager Bitwise surpassed $500 million in assets under management (AUM) and recorded Q4 inflows into its Bitcoin, Ethereum, and crypto index funds, outpacing previous quarters.

On 28 October 2020, Bitwise Surpassed $100 Million in AUM after the firm recorded increasing demand from hedge funds and advisors.

Bitwises 10 Crypto Index Fund which tracks crypto-assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, among others, saw the strongest demand and crossed over $400M in AUM.

Furthermore, Bitwise Bitcoin Fund and Bitwise Ethereum Fund have also recorded increased demand as well. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bitwise, Hunter Horsley said:

The speed at which professional investors are moving into crypto right now is remarkable,

He cautioned investors that while adoption of crypto as an asset class and conviction around its role in portfolios expands, he urged all investors to consider the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies in general and the Bitwise Funds in particular.

Bitwise also recorded high inflows into its funds during Q4 2020, which surpassed the total cumulative inflows of 2018 and 2019 overall.

According to the fund manager, this surge in demand came from Bitwises financial advisors, hedge funds, corporate balance sheets, and other institutional investors and primarily Bitwises core audience as well.

Earlier, Bitwise announced that the firms 10 Crypto Index Fund liquidated its position in XRP in light of the Securities and Exchange Commission accusations against Ripple for conducting a securities offering.

Read the original post:

Fund manager Bitwise surpasses $500 million in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other crypto AUM - AMBCrypto News

Ethereum is currently on bullish momentum. At 23:03 EST on Sunday, 3 January, Ethereum is at $1,018.56 and up by 7.82% in the last 12 hours.

Over the last six hours, Ethereums higher value was $1,018.56 and the lower value was $967.92.

Over the last twelve hours, Ethereums higher value was $1,018.56 and the lower value was $917.11.

In relation to Ethereums daily lows, its 30.934% up from its trailing 24-hour low of $777.92

In relation to Ethereums yearly highs and lows, its 970.141% up from its 52-week low and 0.106% down from its 52-week high.

Ethereums last day, last week, and last months average volatility was 25.95%, 5.57%, and 1.92%, respectively.

Ethereums last day, last week, and last months high and low average amplitude percentage was 30.46%, 9.77%, and 7.06%, respectively.

According to FX Empire on Sunday, 3 January, "Crypto.com Coin and Litecoin rallied by 10.53% and by 8.38% to lead the way, with Ethereum rising by 6.06%.", "Chainlink (+0.28%), Ethereum (+0.50%), and Litecoin (+0.54%) joined Bitcoin in the green, with Bitcoin Cash SV flat."

Bitcoin breaches $34,000 as rally extends into new year. According to Bloomberg Quint on Saturday, 2 January, "Still, there are reasons to be cautious, partly since Bitcoin remains a thinly traded market. "

BQ big decisions: Bitcoin is crying out for A place in your portfolio. beware of the risks. According to Bloomberg Quint on Sunday, 3 January, "On this BQ Big Decisions podcast, BloombergQuint speaks to author, angel investor and expert on Bitcoin Ajeet Khurana about what to keep in mind when deciding whether to invest in Bitcoin."

Ether follows Bitcoin to record high amid dizzying crypto rally. According to Bloomberg Quint on Monday, 4 January, "The digital currency Ether reached a record on Monday a day after Bitcoin breached $34,000 for the first time as the surge in cryptocurrencies continues.", "Proponents of Bitcoin argue that its muscling in on gold as a hedge against U.S. dollar weakness and inflation risk, citing evidence of growing interest among institutional investors. "

Follow this link:

Ethereum On Bullish Momentum: 7.82% Up In The Last 12 Hours - Via News Agency

Ethereum is currently on bullish momentum. At 19:05 EST on Saturday, 2 January, Ethereum is at $774.51 and up by 7.33% in the last 24 hours.

Over the last six hours, Ethereums higher value was $785.87 and the lower value was $760.52.

Over the last twelve hours, Ethereums higher value was $785.87 and the lower value was $752.98.

In relation to Ethereums daily highs and lows, its 7.331% up from its trailing 24-hour low of $721.61 and 1.446% down from its trailing 24-hour high of $785.87.

Regarding Ethereums yearly highs and lows, its 0% down from its 52-week low and 0% down from its 52-week high.

Ethereums last day, last week, and last months average volatility was a negative 1.02%, a positive 2.27%, and a positive 0.67%, respectively.

Ethereums last day, last week, and last months high and low average amplitude percentage was 4.09%, 6.71%, and 6.21%, respectively.

Wall street revives dream of a Bitcoin ETF with new SEC filing. According to Bloomberg Quint on Thursday, 31 December, "In the past she has described Bitcoin as a "highly speculative asset" and "not a stable store of value.", "For years, regulators have quashed hopes of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, citing worries about everything from market volatility and industry manipulation to thin liquidity."

According to Business Insider on Thursday, 31 December, "The VanEck Bitcoin Trust would reflect the performance of the MVIS CryptoCompare Bitcoin Benchmark Rate."

Go here to see the original:

Ethereum On Bullish Momentum: 7.33% Up In The Last 24 Hours - Via News Agency

Ethereum is currently on bullish momentum. At 11:04 EST on Saturday, 2 January, Ethereum is at $767.55 and up by 5.74% in the last 6 hours.

Over the last six hours, Ethereums higher value was $767.55 and the lower value was $725.85.

Over the last twelve hours, Ethereums higher value was $767.55 and the lower value was $725.85.

In relation to Ethereums daily lows, its 6.366% up from its trailing 24-hour low of $721.61

Regarding Ethereums yearly highs and lows, its 706.419% up from its 52-week low and 0.194% down from its 52-week high.

Ethereums last day, last week, and last months average volatility was a negative 1.02%, a positive 2.27%, and a positive 0.67%, respectively.

Ethereums last day, last week, and last months high and low average amplitude percentage was 4.09%, 6.71%, and 6.21%, respectively.

Bitcoin hits new record, set for biggest monthly gain since 2019. According to Bloomberg Quint on Wednesday, 30 December, "While a growing institutional presence has been part of the narrative of the current bull run, we may see increased retail interest in Bitcoin as a form of digital gold," Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of crypto exchange Bitfinex said in an email."

South African Bitcoin trader under liquidation, business day says. According to Bloomberg Quint on Wednesday, 30 December, "A provisional liquidation order has been granted against a South African Bitcoin trading company that is said to have received about 9.45 billion rand ($644 million) from as many as 280,000 investors, Business Day reported."

Wall street revives dream of a Bitcoin ETF with new SEC filing. According to Bloomberg Quint on Thursday, 31 December, "For years, regulators have quashed hopes of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, citing worries about everything from market volatility and industry manipulation to thin liquidity.", "In the past she has described Bitcoin as a "highly speculative asset" and "not a stable store of value."

According to Business Insider on Thursday, 31 December, "The VanEck Bitcoin Trust would reflect the performance of the MVIS CryptoCompare Bitcoin Benchmark Rate."

See the rest here:

Ethereum On Bullish Momentum: 5.74% Up In The Last 6 Hours - Via News Agency

TipRanks

Weve turned a new page on the calendar, Old Man 20 is out the door, and theres a feeling 21 is gonna be a good year and so far, so good. The markets closed out 2020 with modest session gains to cap off larger annual gains. The S&P 500 rose 16% during the corona crisis year, while the NASDAQ, with its heavy tech representation, showed an impressive annual gain of nearly 43%. The advent of two viable COVID vaccines is fueling a surge in general optimism.Wall Streets top analysts have been casting their eye at the equity markets, finding those gems that investors should give serious consideration in this new year. These are analysts with 5-star ratings from TipRanks database, and they are pointing out the stocks with Strong Buy ratings in short, this is where investors can expect to find share growth over the next 12 months. We are talking returns of at least 70% over the next 12 months, according to the analysts. ElectraMeccanica Vehicles (SOLO)Electric vehicles, EVs, are growing more popular as consumers look for alternatives to the traditional internal combustion gasoline engine. While EVs simply move the source of combustion from under the hood to the electric power plant, they do offer real advantages for drivers: they offer greater acceleration, more torque, and they are more energy efficient, converting up to 60% of their battery energy into forward motion. These advantages, as EV technology improves, are starting to outweigh the drawbacks of shorter range and expensive battery packs.ElectraMeccanica, a small-cap manufacturer from British Columbia, is the designer and marketer of the Solo, a single-seat, three-wheel EV built for the urban commuter market. Technically, the Solo is classed as an electric motorcycle but it is fully enclosed, with a door on either side, features a trunk, air conditioning, and a Bluetooth connection, and travels up to 100 miles on a single charge at speeds up to 80 miles per hour. The recharging time is low, less than 3 hours, and the vehicle is priced at less than $20,000.Starting in Q3 2020, the company delivered its first shipment of vehicles to the US, and expanded into six additional US urban markets, including San Diego, CA and Scottsdale and Glendale, AZ. ElectraMeccanica also opened four new storefronts in the US 2 in Los Angeles, one in Scottsdale, and one in Portland, OR. In addition, the company has begun design and marketing work a fleet version of the Solo, to target the commercial fleet and car rental markets starting in the first half of this year.Craig Irwin, 5-star analyst with Roth Capital, is impressed by SOLOs possible applications to the fleet market. He writes of this opening, We believe the pandemic is a tailwind for fast food chains exploring better delivery options. Chains look to avoid third party delivery costs and balance brand identity implications of operator- vs. company-owned vehicles. The SOLO's 100-mile range, low operating cost, and std telematics make the vehicle a good fit, in our view, particularly when location data can be integrated into a chain's kitchen software. We would not be surprised if SOLO made a couple announcements with major chains after customers validate plans.Irwin puts a Buy rating on SOLO, supported by his $12.25 price target which implies a 98% upside potential for the stock in 2021. (To watch Irwins track record, click here)Speculative tech is popular on Wall Street, and ElectraMeccanica fits that bill nicely. The company has 3 recent reviews, and all are Buys, making the analyst consensus a unanimous Strong Buy. Shares are priced at $6.19 and have an average target of $9.58, making the one-year upside 55%. (See SOLO stock analysis on TipRanks)Nautilus Group (NLS)Based in Washington State, this fitness equipment manufacturer has seen a massive stock gain in 2020, as its shares rocketed by more than 900% over the course of the year, even accounting for recent dips in the stock value. Nautilus gained as the social lockdown policies took hold and gyms were shuttered in the name of stopping or slowing the spread of COVID-19. The company, which owns major home fitness brands like Bowflex, Schwinn, and the eponymous Nautilus, offered home-bound fitness buffs the equipment needed to stay in shape.The share appreciation accelerated in 2H20, after the companys revenues showed a recovery from Q1 losses due to the corona recession. In the second quarter, the top line hit $114 million, up 22% sequentially; in Q3, revenues reached $155, for a 35% sequential gain and a massive 151% year-over-year gain. Earnings were just as strong, with the Q3 $1.04 EPS profit beating coming in far above the year-ago quarters 30-cent loss.Watching this stock for Lake Street Capital is 5-star analyst Mark Smith, who is bullish on this stock. Smith is especially cognizant of the recent dip in share price, noting that the stock is now off its peak which makes it attractive to investors. Nautilus reported blowout results for 3Q:20 with strength across its portfolio We think the company has orders and backlog to drive high sales and earnings for the next several quarters and think we have seen a fundamental shift in consumers' exercise-at-home behavior. We would view the recent pull back as a buying opportunity, Smith opined.Smiths $40 price target supports his Buy rating, and indicates a robust 120% one-year upside potential. (To watch Smiths track record, click here)The unanimous Strong Buy consensus rating shows that Wall Street agrees with Smith on Nautilus potential. The stock has 4 recent reviews, and all are to Buy. Shares closed out 2020 with a price of $18.14, and the average target of $30.25 suggests the stock has room for ~67% upside growth in 2021. (See NLS stock analysis on TipRanks)KAR Auction Services (KAR)Last but not least is KAR Auction Services, a car auctioning company, which operates online and physical marketplaces to connect buyers and sellers. KAR sells to both business buyers and individual consumers, offering vehicles for a variety of uses: commercial fleets, private travel, even the second-had parts market. In 2019, the last year for which full-year numbers are available, KAR sold 3.7 million vehicles for $2.8 billion in total auction revenue.The ongoing corona crisis, with its social lockdown policies, put a damper on car travel and reduced demand for used vehicles across market segments. KAR shares slipped 13% in 2020, in a year of volatile trading. In the recent 3Q20 report, the company showed revenue of $593.6 million, down over 15% year-over-year. Third quarter earnings, however, at 23 cents per share profit, were down less, 11% yoy, and showed a strong sequential recovery from the Q2 EPS loss of 25 cents.As the new vaccines promise an end to the COVID pandemic later this year, and the lifting of lockdown and local travel restrictions, the mid- to long-term prospects for the second-hand car market and for KAR Auctions are brightening, according to Truist analyst Stephanie Benjamin.The 5-star analyst noted, Our estimates now assume that the volume recovery occurs in 2021 vs. 4Q20 under our previous estimates Overall, we believe the 3Q results reflect that KAR is well executing on the initiatives within its control, specifically improving its cost structure and transforming to a pure digital auction model.Looking further ahead, she adds, delinquencies and defaults for auto loans and leases have increased and we believe will serve as a meaningful volume tailwind in 2021 as repo activity resumes. Additionally, repo vehicles generally require ancillary services which should yield higher RPU. This supply influx should also help moderate the used pricing environment and drive dealers to fill up their lots, which remain at three-year lows from an inventory standpoint.In line with these comments, Benjamin sets a $32 price target, implying a high 71% one-year upside potential to the stock, and rates KAR as a Buy. (To watch Benjamins track record, click here)Wall Street generally is willing to speculate on KARs future, as indicated by the recent reviews, which split 5 to 1 Buy to Hold, and make the analyst consensus view a Strong Buy. KAR is selling for $18.61, and its $24.60 average price target suggests it has room to grow 32% from that level. (See KAR stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

See the original post here:

Reef and Avalanche Partner to Usher in DeFi Mainstream Adoption amidst Ethereum's Lag and High fees - Yahoo Finance

In brief

It was a bumpy Monday for the cryptomarkets. After the fanfare of Bitcoin breaking the $30,000 barrier, it quickly shed $5,000 or 33% of its value in a number of hours, reminding new investors that investing in cryptocurrencies can be rough on the nerves.

Adding to that pain, in January alone (thats just five days), more than $2 billion worth of futures contracts have been liquidated as a result of Bitcoins volatility. But there was a ray of sunshine for rattled investors yesterday in the form of new regulation.

Overnight, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the bureau of the US Treasury Department charged with regulating banks, gave the green light for banks to use stablecoins and blockchains for payments.

The news sent prices moving upwards again. Ethereum rose by nearly 12% in the immediate aftermath, thanks in part to the sheer volume of stablecoins using the network. Bitcoin headed back above the $30,000 and has stayed there ever since.

The good news led to a flurry of money moves overnight, with 24-hour volume up 6,203%, according to data provider Nomics.

Despite the wipe out in the futures markets and increased volatility, sentiment among investors is still firmly in the buy camp according to TradingView.

The bullish sentiment is being driven by ever more institutional investors piling into to cash in on the market beating performance of Bitcoin. As we reported yesterday, the word on Wall Street is, Momentum is a powerful force, and we dont want to fight it.

It was a similar story yesterday for stock markets. The S&P 500 suffered its worst start to a year since 2016, with declines continuing in Asia amidst concern that two new COVID variants are squeezing economies even further.

In the UK, a fresh nationwide lockdown has led to school closures and a ban on meeting others outside. While in South Africa, a vaccine-resistant strain is starting to gather pace.

With chaos in the US and in Europe over how quickly they can deploy a vaccine - at its current rate, the UK will take six years to fully vaccinate the population, despite being first out of the gate with its immunisation programme.

The ongoing political saga in the US is also adding pressure to prices, as the Georgia Senate runoff and fresh allegations of election fraud dominate the headlines.As a result, volatility indexes tipped up - the Cboe jumped the most since October.

But investors are holding onto the panic being consigned to the first quarter of the year. If we learned anything in 2020, its that predictions rarely come true.

This sponsored article was created by Decrypt Studio. Learn More about partnering with Decrypt Studio.

Go here to see the original:

Bitcoin and Ethereum Bounce Back After Banking Green Light - Decrypt

In the last few days, Bitcoin (BTC) price has underperformed Ether (ETH) by almost 20%. Even though BTC seems to be struggling to break the $18,800 barrier, both cryptocurrencies display the same bullishness according to derivatives markets data.

Ether is entering a parabolic rally as its Eth2 network launch progresses, and this optimism is reflected in the options markets. Despite the lack of similar price action from BTC, Bitcoin traders seem unfazed, and data shows they are still wildly bullish.

Analyzing the basis indicator is a useful procedure as it compares the futures contracts level to the current price at regular spot exchanges.

Healthy markets usually display a 5% to 10% annualized basis, in a situation known as contango. On the other hand, futures trading with a discount usually occurs during heavily bearish markets.

The Ether futures basis has been ranging between 10% and 20%, indicating bullish expectations. Instead of leaving Ether at a derivatives exchange, the seller would rather utilize them for staking. Therefore, it is only natural to demand a premium for the trade.

The BTC futures premium has been behaving similarly, despite today's lackluster negative performance. Had traders given up expectations of a continuous bull run, this indicator would have moved below 10% annualized.

There's only one reason why a trader pays such a hefty premium on a futures contract, and the reason is bullishness. This indicator can be interpreted as a tax to carry leveraged long positions.

Viewing the 25 delta skew also provides useful insight into the sentiment and stance of pro traders.

A positive 25% delta skew indicates that put (sell) options cost more than similar call (buy) options, signaling bearish sentiment. On the other hand, a negative skew suggests bullishness.

The indicator usually oscillates between -20% to +20% in neutral markets, although it hasn't been the case for Ether over the past weeks.

Take notice how the Ether futures basis touched extreme optimism levels on Nov. 21, which is highly unusual.

This data suggests that options traders are unwilling to sell upside protection. At -20%, the skew indicator signals that derivative investors remain bullish despite the 28% rally over the past seven days.

One should expect BTC options traders to be slightly less optimistic after today's negative performance, but that hasn't been the case.

Data shows that BTC option traders are presently remarkably optimistic, regardless of how difficult the last couple of days have been. Thus, there is no indication of a shift in sentiment coming from derivatives markets.

Although there are multiple ways to read the same chart according to technical analysis, BTC hasn't precisely been transpiring optimism.

Traders that prefer shorter time frames might have a bearish interpretation of the recent price action. Meanwhile, professional investors know how unpredictable BTC markets are. Therefore they are not ready to reduce their positive expectations at a whim.

For now, there seems to be no reason to doubt Bitcoin's positive momentum. Even though Ether has outperformed it, traders are exhibiting the same confidence in both cryptocurrencies.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Here is the original post:

Key Bitcoin and Ethereum options metrics show traders are wildly bullish - Cointelegraph

This deposit contract is the first step that would eventually lead to the launch of Ethereum 2.0. If to consider that the launch will go down successfully, Ethereum will ship the Beacon Chain and introduce proof-of-stake to the ecosystem, which is currently based on the proof-of-work, another consensus algorithm that is based on mining. Shard chains would be the next upgrade to follow Beacon Chain.

Ultimately, the eventual launch of Ethereum 2.0 will have an effect on the decentralized finance market. In 2020, the DeFi sector has grown significantly but has already experienced a slight cooldown. Due to this, there have been claims that DeFi is a bubble that will soon burst. However, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has stated that, despite these signs, DeFi is here to stay and compared these early speculations to the apprehensive stance the community showed toward the ICO bubble in 2017.

Major players in the DeFi market expect Ethereum 2.0 to have a large impact on the community, as its used as the foundational network for most of the DApp DeFi use cases. Cointelegraph discussed this aspect further with Steven Becker, president and chief operating officer of DeFi project MakerDAO. He said:

Although the scaling capabilities of Ethereum are set to increase multifold due to the launch of Eth2, whether it will be able to scale fast enough to cope with the growth of the DeFi markets remains to be seen. Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, recently stated that he believes the Ethereum 2.0 launch will not be able to cope with the potential growth that could be witnessed in the DeFi market. He has even opted to build his own DeFi project, Serum on the Solana blockchain, instead of choosing Ethereum, which is the most popular option right now.

The multi-phased launch plan entails a lot of uncertainty as far as coping with the potential growth of DeFi markets in the same duration, according to Jay Hao, CEO of the OKEx cryptocurrency exchange, who stated further to Cointelegraph:

To address these challenges, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated in a Nov. 17 Reddit AMA session that the benefits of Ethereum 2.0 will come faster than people expect. Hao supports this sentiment, saying: As DeFi grows, so will Eth2, and it will become increasingly faster, more scalable and decentralized.

Additionally, DeFi protocols could also begin ETH staking natively onto their platforms, but the downside of this would be the reduction in the decentralizing impact of the network. Patrick Collins, developer advocate at Chainlink Labs, told Cointelegraph:

Following the Beacon Chain upgrade, shard chains would be the next upgrade to follow. According to the Ethereum website, the capacity of the network will increase, improving the transactional speed by extending the network to 64 blockchains referred to as shard chains. Although in the initial stages these shard chains will not support smart contracts or user accounts, smart contracts support is essential for DeFi platforms due to their usage of oracles.

The most significant 2.0 update for DeFi would be Phase 1.5 where the existing Ethereum mainnet would be added to the Beacon Chain as a shard chain, transforming the network into a PoS consensus network from the current PoW consensus algorithm. Slated to launch in 2021, there is no specific date available for this transformation.

The DeFi boom has congested the Ethereum network, resulting in pushing transaction costs to an all-time high. This is perceived to be another reason for the slowdown in DeFi growth. Becker further elaborated on how the 2.0 upgrade can ease the pressure market participants are feeling: The Sharding upgrade alone should enable a return to the days when fees to generate and send Dai cost just cents, not dollars. Inexpensive transactions would facilitate an increase in DeFi adoption and innovation.

Kosala Hemachandra, founder and CEO of MyEtherWallet an Ethereum-based wallet platform even compared this expected growth to scale to the transactional levels experienced by electronic funds transfer giant Visa, telling Cointelegraph: Increased throughput and minuscule gas prices due to Eth2 will definitely help DeFi reach the next level. Currently, Visa can process around 20,000+ transactions per second; with Eth2, we will be able to reach close to that level.

The expected drop in network gas prices and the increase in throughput are bound to raise market participation in DeFi, as many investors faced this hurdle during the DeFi boom in the summer, which caused them to miss out on lucrative investment opportunities. The current scalability issues faced can be solved by projects launching layer-two solutions, which help to address this issue. Hemachandra chimed in on how these layer-two solutions could even help Ethereum 2.0 post-launch:

Even though layer-two solutions are capable of addressing the scalability issues that Ethereum 2.0 might face, the duration through the various phases of the launch might see the DeFi market grow exponentially, as evident through triple-digit gains of DeFi tokens amid the Bitcoin bull run. All the benefits proposed by the 2.0 launch will only be effective once the final stage of Phase 2 arrives, as the shards would be fully operational and include support for smart contracts.

But this launch phase may only be two years away, as the Ethereum roadmap states that its still in the research phase. Even though most DeFi solutions and DApps use Ethereum as their preferred blockchain, there are other blockchain networks that could contend with it for a share of the DeFi market. Simon Peters, a senior account manager at eToro a social trading platform told Cointelegraph: Ethereums transition to 2.0 could take a number of years to fully complete, which is why some competing networks, such as Cardano, Tezos, Tron and EOS, have used this to their advantage and acquired some of the DeFi market share.

Ethereums transition to 2.0 is happening in a live environment, as 1.0 needs to run seamlessly during the different phases of the launch. Peters alluded to the risks that this live transition currently means for the DeFi protocols:

Even though there isnt just one contender to Ethereum for DeFi and DApps, Ethereum is set to be critically important to DeFi, and that its contribution will only grow as the technology matures. Thus, the interaction between Ethereum and other blockchains that are beginning to operate in the DeFi space is of high significance. Hao elaborated on how these solutions would need to evolve: The real key is in making these solutions compatible with Ethereum and interoperable with other blockchains. I think that is one of the most exciting things about the DeFi space the constant innovation that we see.

The Ethereum deposit contract for Phase 0 of the Ethereum 2.0 launch went live on Nov. 4, slating the launch of Phase 0 on Dec. 1. Stakers would need to deposit 32 Ether (ETH) into the contract to participate. The deposit contract needs to accumulate 16,384 deposits of 32 ETH i.e., $200 million for the launch to be successful.

Read the original here:

Ethereum 2.0 to boost DeFi but delayed launch may set the network back - Cointelegraph

Ethereum, Ripples XRP, litecoin and chainlink are the world's biggest cryptocurrencies after bitcoin and they've suddenly soared this week.

Ethereum, XRP, litecoin and chainlink, with a combined market value of around $100 billion, have each added between 20% and 50% this weekoutpacing even bitcoin's rally.

While ethereum, XRP, litecoin and chainlink have been boosted by bitcoin's growing reputation as digital gold through 2020, other cryptocurrency trends have also pushed them up.

Ethereum has added 20% over the last week, with other major cryptocurrencies, including Ripple's ... [+] XRP, litecoin, and chainlink, all making similar double-digit gains.

This week, the ethereum price passed $500 per ether for the first time since June 2018. While ethereum remains far below its all-time high of around $1,500 set in January 2018, the ethereum price is up almost four-fold on March 2020, when the coronavirus crash wiped out global markets.

"Ethereum's touching $500 for the first time since June 2018 represents a significant milestone," Paolo Ardoino, the chief technology officer at British Virgin Islands-based Bitfinex, said via email.

"Ethereums up and coming transition to proof-of-stake is being closely watched. [Its] strong price performance underlines a mood of optimism that seems to be lifting the crypto space. While bitcoin is the undisputed king of crypto, the flourishing ethereum community is alive with many possibilities."

The ethereum price has shot over $500 per ether token this week, adding a whopping 50% in just the ... [+] last month.

One such part of the ethereum community is chainlink, an ethereum-based cryptocurrency token that powers a decentralized network designed to connect smart contracts to external data sources.

The chainlink price is up a staggering 500% over the last year and has exploded amid a flurry of interest in decentralized finance (DeFi)using crypto technology to recreate traditional financial instruments such as loans and insurance.

"Accelerating bitcoins growth is the growing demand for yield and the rise of DeFi, the fastest growing sector within the blockchain industry," Sergey Nazarov, the co-founder of chainlink, said via email. Nazarov expects bitcoin to break $100,000 per bitcoin "during this market cycle," pushed on new DeFi cryptocurrency projects.

"Now, for the first time in bitcoins history and coinciding with a historic rise in inflation; not only can someone buy bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, theyre also able to receive a far larger APR or yield than they can expect to get from traditional finance."

See the rest here:

Why Ethereum, Ripples XRP, Litecoin And Chainlink Are Suddenly Soaring - Forbes

On Nov. 4, Ethereum (ETH) core developers hit a significant milestone. In a quick update on the Ethereum Foundation blog, developer Danny Ryan confirmed the release of the v1.0 specs for the hotly anticipated Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, which includes the mainnet deposit contract address. Anyone who wants to participate as a validator on the Ethereum 2.0 mainnet can now start depositing their minimum stake of 32 ETH.

The initial results looked promising, with 14,000 ETH (worth around $5 million) staked in the first eight hours alone. However, the developers have set a minimum total stake of 524,288 ETH from 16,384 validators as the trigger for launching the mainnet, known as the beacon chain. The target must be met at least seven days beforehand, so by Nov. 24. If this doesnt happen, the launch will take place seven days after the minimum staking threshold is met.

At the time of writing, less than 20% of the total amount has been staked. If staking continues at the current rate, the Ethereum 2.0 mainnet will launch not on Dec. 1, but in the early weeks of 2021.

Of course, the participation rate could change. As Nov. 24 draws closer, the growing anticipation may encourage more people to stake their ETH. Ben Edgington, the lead product owner at ConsenSys Quorum Protocol Engineering advising on Ethereum 2.0 development across the ConsenSys organization, maintains a positive outlook on the Dec. 1 launch date, telling Cointelegraph:

The numbers show that the potential is there, as the number of addresses holding 32 ETH hit an all-time high of 126,852 in the hours following the news. This means that fewer than 13% of addresses need to participate to hit the threshold.

On the other hand, those who do stake will be locking up their tokens in a one-way contract until the current Ethereum mainnet joins the beacon chain. Exactly when this happens, nobody knows, although the current Ethereum 2.0 roadmap specifies it will be in 2021.

Whether the beacon chain launches on Dec. 1 or in the weeks following, there wont necessarily be any big bangs to look forward to on the launch. The role of the beacon chain is to secure transactions on shard chains, which wont be available until later. The current Ethereum 1.0 mainnet will continue running as it does now.

So what are the next steps, and when can Ethereum become fully scalable? The beacon chain launch is known as Phase 0 on the Ethereum 2.0 roadmap. The next significant developments are slated for 2021 and will involve the launch of 64 shard chains, which will operate under the proof-of-stake consensus validated by those who staked ETH. However, in their initial state, shard chains wont support smart contracts or user accounts.

Perhaps the most significant milestone for the existing Ethereum 1.0 ecosystem will be Phase 1.5, when the Ethereum mainnet joins the beacon chain as a shard chain. This will mark the transition of Ethereum to a full proof-of-stake consensus. Again, its set to happen in 2021, but no exact date is available as of yet.

Only when the final stage of Phase 2 comes around will it be possible to assess the full effect of the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade on the networks scalability. At this time, shards will be fully operational, supporting smart contracts and all transaction types. However, this could be as long as two years away. On the roadmap, the Ethereum Foundation states, Phase 2 is still very much in the research phase, effectively confirming that development isnt yet underway.

Even if all the roadmap phases are delivered within the next 18 months, which is a big if, it will be well into 2022 before the full scalable potential of Ethereum 2.0 is visible. However, rather than focusing on the development of Ethereum 2.0 as the endgame, its worth taking a birds eye view on the evolution of the Ethereum ecosystem over the coming years.

Despite coming into some criticism, layer-two solutions still offer the best hope of Ethereum scalability in advance of the Ethereum 2.0 mainnet becoming fully operational. Even Vitalik Buterin himself appears to favor other layer-two platforms as the current scaling solution of choice.

This year, both Matic Network and the OMG Network unveiled layer-two solutions based on variations of Plasma, which makes use of side chains to take processing load off the main Ethereum chain.

However, while Plasma was the scaling technology of choice for a while, the focus for much of this year has been on rollups, a solution also endorsed by Vitalik Buterin. Additionally, privacy protocol Aztec has launched private smart contracts based on zero-knowledge rollups. Zero-knowledge rollups bundle transactions together using zero-knowledge proofs to verify validity.

Another type of rollup, called optimistic rollups, is also in development by several projects. Optimistic rollups use game theory to avoid the need for the heavy computational load required by zk-Rollups. Erick De Moura, founder and CEO at Cartesi, explained to Cointelegraph how he believes rollups outperform Plasma-based scaling solutions:

Cartesi is set to launch its own version of optimistic rollups on its testnet during early 2021. The launch will come with a Linux-based infrastructure, effectively making a scalable version of Ethereum available to developers used to mainstream standards.

Its worth pointing out that the arrival of Ethereum 2.0 wont negate the development efforts of the layer-two platforms currently attempting to solve for scalability. Instead, technologies such as rollups or side chains will continue to help Ethereum 2.0 scale beyond its renewed capacity once sharding is fully implemented.

So, strap in and settle down for a long ride. Ethereum 2.0 may be gearing up for an initial launch, but its still only the first of many steps on the long road to scalability. The ongoing development of layer-two solutions means theres plenty of company along the way.

See the article here:

Ethereum 2.0s long and winding road to scalability launch - Cointelegraph

On Nov. 18, blockchain solutions provider BlockApps launched a blockchain-based agricultural crop tracking network called "TraceHarvest" and one of the largest companies in the world, Bayer, is among its first users.

TraceHarvest reportedly provides users with the ability to trace the life cycle of agricultural products starting from the source of seeds, all the way to defining the responsibilities of each party involved in the supply chain. The platform also provides users with information in real-time, ideally mitigating problems associated with manually tracking crops.

TraceHarvest is open to all participants in the supply chain such as farmers, dealers, manufacturers, distributors, and technology providers, and also aims to provide farmers with the opportunity to enter new markets and generate additional income.

Besides tracking crops, the platform can be used for environmental and consumer protection for example, carbon offset credits and food safety recalls. Additionally, the company hopes that the data stored on the platform can be used by researchers to make the food supply chain more sustainable.

BlockApps collaborated with Bayer Crop Science on this project, a subdivision of German pharma giant Bayer. Bayer helped with the development of the network, and has been using it for the past two years in customer-related operations in the United States and Brazil to track soybean and corn yields, as well as several other crops.

BlockApps President and CEO, Kieren James-Lubin said of the launch, Blockchain technology is already revolutionizing the agricultural industry and, thanks to our partnership with Bayer, we are pioneers in this area. Together we have succeeded in making this concept a reality.

Recently, many countries and companies have also moved to adopt blockchain in supply chains related to crops. In October, world-leading agribusiness firms from the United States, France, China, and the Netherlands launched a joint venture that will use blockchain technology to streamline logistics processes in the agricultural sector in Brazil.

Likewise, in September, Steven Marshall, Prime Minister of South Australia launched a blockchain-based Entrust project with the primary goal of protecting the wine and dairy industries from fake fraud in global markets and achieving efficiency savings across agricultural sectors.

More here:

BlockApps launches Ethereum-based Agritech network in collaboration with Bayer - Cointelegraph