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  • 29th September: Bitcoin Leads, Ethereum Follows, Both Edging Up

    29th September: Bitcoin Leads, Ethereum Follows, Both Edging Up

    Konstantin Anissimov, Executive Director at CEX.IO

    BTC/USD

    The BTC/USD trading pair opened at $10,686 on Tuesday, 29th September, slightly below Monday’s open. The pair began the day on an upside course and continued that way later in the day, moving in waves. This local uptrend was observed until 15:00 UTC when a new hourly candlestick took the pair lower to the day’s open in a moment. The following slight rebound took the pair to the hour’s close at $10,790. Minutes later, the pair broke lower below $10,670 but finished the hour with a long lower wick, a short upper wick, and a small bearish body, forming a hanging man with a close at $10,703.

    The hanging man on the hourly timeframe was a good foundation for an upside reversal in the evening hours, and the reversal followed. At 18:00 UTC, the price began edging higher and closed the hour $58 above the open at $10,761. Less pronounced but still bullish, three hourly candlesticks followed up on that spike until 22:00 UTC. In the 22nd hour, the price paused at a local resistance formed around the day’s high. However, in the day’s closing hour, Bitcoin broke above the level to as high as $10,890 and closed the day at $10,875, adding $76 in one hour – the most progress in one hour on the day. In total, BTC/USD added 1.61% in Tuesday’s session.

    ETH/USD

    ETH/USD moved slightly down at Tuesday’s open, slipping toward $352 at 6:00 UTC. Then a local upside move began, mimicking Bitcoin’s dynamics through to 14:00 UTC, after which a corrective move followed. In the hours when Bitcoin slipped to the day’s new lows, Ethereum showed more resistance to the downside pressure, holding above $352 at 16:00 – 17:00 UTC. Eventually, ETH/USD finished the 17th hour of the day in the positive zone, closing at $355.5.

    Later, following Bitcoin’s upside move, ETH/USD began edging back to the 0.5 Fibonacci level positioned at $358.5, starting at 19:00 and through to the end of the hour. In the next few hours, the pair was modestly climbing up to above $360, with the last hourly marubozu candlestick closing the day at $361, which translated into 1.86% growth for ETH/USD on Tuesday.

    What to expect later this week

    Bitcoin appears stagnant in the range of $10,980 – $10,720, with the mid-September sideways channel limiting Bitcoin’s further upside progress. However, Bitcoin is sitting above the 50-period simple moving average on the 4-hour chart and the 20-day simple moving average, which is positive for the buyers. The local resistance at above $11,100, formed on 19th September, and the 50-day SMA are the most prominent barriers Bitcoin will have to overcome to pave the way to $11,625.

    With the positive dynamics for Bitcoin in the past few days, we are eligible to expect a continuation of the upside move later this week. Because the 50-day SMA is likely to have a major impact on Bitcoin’s further price action, traders should pay close attention to it.

    Ethereum appears to be following Bitcoin’s price action to a large extent; therefore, those trading ETH/USD should keep track of the Bitcoin market situation. Presently, the 0.5 Fibonacci level and the mid-September lows are putting pressure on Ether, limiting its upside retracement. The ETH/USD pair seems locked in a limited price range between $351.5 and $364.50. However, with Bitcoin advancing higher on its ongoing uptrend, Ethereum can rise to the $378 daily resistance level, which is presently a major resistance level.

    With the positive dynamics in Bitcoin and the modestly developing recovery in Ethereum, traders can count upon Ethereum going higher this week – as high as $378. But the closest goal at hand for Ethereum will be to capitalize above the 0.5 Fibonacci level at $358.5, which will be a viable confirmation of further Ethereum gains.

  • Top 3 Coins to Watch – Week 40

    Top 3 Coins to Watch – Week 40

    This week’s selection of top 3 coins to watch features three altcoins, which belong to three promising projects. Since we are already a bit late with publishing the article, let’s cut right to the point.

    1. ChainLink (LINK)

    ChainLink aims to provide data and price oracles, which are essential for the normal function of smart contract-enabled blockchain platforms. ChainLink’s price and real-world data oracles have seen numerous implementations and their popularity has only been increasing. Their oracles are said to be reliable and trustworthy and the connection with smart contracts is end-to-end secured, leaving very little space for the manipulation of the execution of smart contracts. Furthermore, ChainLink is developing a framework, which allows developers to build customized decentralized oracles. The project launched in 2017, when it also raised $32 million of funding through an ICO. The ChainLink mainnet was launched in June 2019. The associated LINK token has a total supply of 1 billion tokens and is built on the ERC-677 standard.

    Technical analysis shows that LINK is at a breaking point pricewise

    LINK being featured in this article is largely a consequence of its recent price action. The token reached its all-time high of $20 on August 16, 2020, amidst the peak of the DeFi hype. The bullish market carried Link up and cemented the project among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, where it remains until today, despite loosing more than 50% of its value since then. After a rather long bearish market, the price of LINK dropped to mere $7 last week, but in a swift recovery that followed, LINK reached a price above $10 again.

    As of now, the technical analysis shows that LINK is at a tipping point, as it could go either up or down from here. The token is currently trading just below the 21-day EMA, which coincides with the .618 fib extension. Both of which currently represent a major resistance level. Technical analyst Kevin Svenson believes, that if ChainLink manages to close the daily candle above this resistance level, it’s bound to go up to $13.25 (+30% from the current price). If it closes below that line, however, we might see a drop to $9.2 (8% drop). He advises not to place any orders until it is clear where LINK is headed.

    2. Uniswap (UNI)

    UNI is a governance token of Uniswap an automated liquidity protocol and currently the most popular decentralized exchange (DEX). UNI tokens are ERC-20 tokens and allow holders to decide the on the future of Uniswap by voting on proposals. The governance token holders also overs the usage of funds from the community treasury, and the protocol’s fee switch.

    Uniswap just released Version 3.0.0

    The team behind the project has just recently released the update 3.0.0 of the Uniswap interface, with further updates already scheduled. In addition, Uniswap v3 is set to move from HTTP to IPFS, a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol. Uniswap users recently received 400 UNI tokens for each Ethereum address that interacted with the exchange, increasing the number of UNI available for trading. All recent changes to the protocol can be found on Uniswap’s GitHub repository.

    3. Lisk (LSK)

    Lisk is a blockchain platform and associated cryptocurrency that emerged in 2016 forking of Crypti. The blockchain boasts with extremely fast transaction times as a new block is created every 10 seconds. This as achieved by utilizing blockchain apps with their own sidechains and a Distributed Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism. The project has also partnered with Microsoft, whose Azure Blockchain makes use of Lisk for its cloud computing infrastructure.

    Lisk Block Reward Reduction Took Place on September 27    

    The Lisk protocol saw its fourth block producer reward reduction this week. The event, which was scheduled to happen at block number 13451520, halved the reward from previous 2 LSK to just 1 LSK. This happened on September 27, 2020 at 10:58:12 PM (CET). The protocol started with a block producer reward of 5 LSK, but the block reward has seen a 1 LSK reduction each year. More information about the block rewards and fees can be found in the team’s official documentation.  Nevertheless, some investors believe that the block reward reduction will likely have little effect on the price of LSK. Perhaps we will see a reduced sell-pressure in the long run, but until Lisk rolls out some crucial updates, the token is going to trade sideways more or less. Lisk 3.0.0. is expected to launch in 2021.

  • Introducing Omni, the Next-Gen Social Platform Which Shares its Profits with Users

    Introducing Omni, the Next-Gen Social Platform Which Shares its Profits with Users

    Bitcoin Press Release: Omni.ai release details of their Social Media platform, which aims to provide the next leap in innovation with gamification & profit share.

    28th September 2020 – In 2020’s lightning-paced media landscape, and in response to current untapped technological opportunities, it’s imperative to innovate. The giants of today, and indeed yesterday, have all brought something unique to the table – from Facebook’s often-touted “7 circle of separation”, to Instagram’s feed, and now TikTok’s viral video-based success, unicorn status comes from breaking the mold and providing something nobody else has thought of.

    Gamification: The Golden Goose in a Market Begging for Something New

    Omni understands the importance of gamification & social reward in deepening and strengthening communities regardless of their location, age, or gender. Not only that, but to forge new connections between them, and to create new links between content creators and content consumers, which have not yet been available on any social media platform.

    To this end, interacting with fellow omni users gives users a chance to earn Omni. Inviting new users gives a chance to earn Omni Coins. In fact, everyday functions users pay little attention to on other social media platforms can all earn users Omni Coins – From following, sharing a status or video, chatting with friends, to livestreaming – almost every aspect of the platform has a real chance to win users Omni Coin. And that’s what is going to make Omni such a powerful force.

    “The first system that truly gamifies the delivery of crypto will rocket to exponential growth, upending the current system for good. That will set the initial playing field dynamically and allow players who never would have gotten into the game to compete. The more people who can participate, the more efficient and valuable the network becomes”

    Daniel Jeffries, Hackernoon

    The Power of Linking Profit & Activity

    Tapping into the innate human desire to be rewarded is an extremely effective way to engage users. And the true revolution in Omni’s app is powered by linking personal activity to company profit. Subject to applicable laws, the tokens earned on the Omni App can then be sold back to the company at a rate relative to company profit.
    What this means is that as user activity rises, company profits rise, which means that advertisers become more interested in the platform, raising profits. And since company profits dictate personal reward, this raises the users’ payouts which should result in a positive feedback loop.

    “Recent neuroscience has revealed that our dopamine system works to keep us searching through desire. The hunt itself is rewarding, and it explains why so many of our favorite mobile apps and social networks are so addictive”.

    Sheana Ahlqvis
    • Omni App – Proposed Feature Highlight
    • Secret Chat – Share disappearing messages with other users.
    • Stores – Businesses can create stores where users can shop using Omni.
    • Channels – Follow channels you like or simply create one for your audience.
    • Content – Create or follow channels for viral video content sharing & viewing
    • Dub & Duet – Dub your favorite song from the millions of songs & videos. Users can also perform duets with other Omni App users.

    For Omni, social media is, rightly, viewed as an absolute staple of modern day business. This is embodied in Omni’s design in tokenization, which is nothing less than a revolution in social media. The diverse range of capabilities offered by the platform will help users transform how they engage with their friends, family, businesses, brands, and more. The opportunity to allow users to benefit from their participation is the icing on the cake because users can earn Omni by spending time on the things they love.
    As they say, “social media should enhance your life, not detract from it.” Omni app does just that. One platform, multiple features. No intrusive message reading. Full privacy, and most of all, earn your share of the social media market you help to create.

    Don’t be a product of your environment. Make your environment your product. Check out the Omni website today to learn more at omni.ai

    Join the community on Telegram: https://t.me/omni_app

    Media Contact Details
    Contact Name: Manny Hernandez
    Contact Email: press@omni.ai

    About Bitcoin PR Buzz: Bitcoin PR Buzz has been proudly serving the crypto press release distribution needs of blockchain start-ups for over 8 years. Get your Bitcoin Press Release Distribution today.

    Omni is the source of this content. This Press Release is for informational purposes only. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. Cryptocurrencies and tokens are extremely volatile. There is no guarantee of a stable value, or of any value at all

  • DeFi in The World of Cryptocurrencies

    DeFi in The World of Cryptocurrencies

    If you have been paying attention to the world of cryptocurrency, you’ll have seen that there isn’t a day that goes by without some mention of DeFi (otherwise known as Decentralized Finance). Between September 2017 and September 2020, the value locked up in DeFi contracts has skyrocketed from around $2 million to almost $10 billion. Just in 2019, the total value locked into DeFi increased by 1,500%.

    With an increasing number of users (and therefore cash and volume) flocking toward DeFi applications every day, many experts consider DeFi to be an exceeding promising sector, one that looks set to revolutionize the world of finance. The value of most tokens, cryptocurrencies, and stable coins used in DeFi smart contracts have consequently strongly increased and impacted cryptocurrency trading.

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    What is DeFi?

    Nowadays, access to technology is no longer the main obstacle to accessing classic financial services, as most people outside the banking system have access to the Internet.

    The main challenge for many people today is meeting the requirements of financial institutions – providing adequate proof of identity, meeting minimum revenues, or country-specific restrictions are what prevent these people from accessing financial and banking services, such as checking or savings accounts, debit or credit card, loans, merchant services, or investment solutions.

    Introducing DeFi!

    DeFi aims to transform the current traditional and centralized financial system into a new, open financial peer-to-peer ecosystem where everyone benefits from different financial services and products, without any centralized control or intermediaries. For that, DeFi developers have been using immutable smart contracts (mostly on the Ethereum blockchain, but elsewhere as well).

    The key principles of DeFi to improve transparency, ensure financial security, unlock growth opportunities, and develop a new financial system are decentralization, rapidity, resiliency, transparency, immutability, programmability, and interoperability.

    What are the main categories dominating the DeFi world today?

    Decentralized Finance is all about providing financial services to all without any restrictions (as long as one has an Internet connection). Therefore, the DeFi ecosystem has launched many protocols, financial instruments, and other “dApps” (decentralized applications) in which crypto-assets can be used in more ways than fiat-assets could ever be used.

    Here is a list of use cases in which DeFi can be utilized:

    • Asset Management and Savings – Melon, Insta.dapp, Yearn.Finance
    • Borrowing and Lending – Aave, Compound, Maker
    • Data and Analytics – Alethio, Blocs, DeFi Pulse, DeFi explore, DexIndex, DuneAnalytics, MyDeFi
    • Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) and Trading – Bisq, Binance DEX, Curve, Margin DDEX, Fulcrum
    • DAOs – Aragon, Colony, DAOStack, DXdao, Daohaus, PieDAO
    • Insurance – Etherisc, VouchForMe
    • Risk management, KYC procedures and Identity – Bloom, identity.com, SelfKey Stablecoins – Augmint, DAI, DefiDollar, EOSDT, Gemini Dollar, Paxos Standard, USD Coin
    • Staking – Certus One, Dokia Capital, HyperBlocks, Mythos
    • Tokenization – OpenFinance, Securitize, Tokensoft
    • Wallets – Argent, MetaMask, Gnosis Safe

    A final word

    Today, we’re heading towards a new financial order, with a system that is more decentralized than ever, using new open protocols that programmable, immutable and automatic. Of course, DeFi has been increasingly popular within the crypto-world over the last few years, but its goal isn’t to be for the crypto-initiated only – DeFi is for everyone!

  • A Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency: The Dos and Don’ts of Your First Steps into the world of Crypto

    A Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency: The Dos and Don’ts of Your First Steps into the world of Crypto

    As they say, every beginning is difficult, but in this article, we share with you some useful tips that will make your entry into the world of cryptocurrency smoother. Following these pieces of advice, you are more likely to avoid the most common beginner mistakes and become a confident cryptocurrency investor in no time. Since we learn best by doing it, we recommend the hands-on approach.

    Begin at the beginning: Purchasing some Bitcoin is arguably the best bet

    While the general rule is not to invest more that you can afford to lose in high-risk assets, which crypto naturally is, we advise that you start even smaller by investing just a tiny portion of your free capital. Absolutely no need to go to extremes, few tens or hundreds of USD or EUR will be enough to begin with. The purpose of your first purchase should be familiarizing yourself with basic concepts and tools, not necessarily turning in a huge profit!

    There are currently more than 5,000 different cryptocurrencies, so picking the right one for your first investment can be a hard task. Although opinions differ, we believe that becoming the owner of some of the world’s first cryptocurrency – Bitcoin, is the safest way to dive in, since Bitcoin (BTC) has been around since 2009 and has the most advanced infrastructure. There are many ways of obtaining Bitcoin, so you have the freedom to pick up the one it suits you the most.

    Determine the place where you will buy your Bitcoin

    If you would like to make an online purchase, there are cryptocurrency exchanges that act as a fiat-crypto outlets, such as he Binance, Coinbase, OKEx and eToro. For this you will only have to create an account and follow their registration procedure. An identification will be necessary to confirm your account. An alternative for urban people are Bitcoin ATMs. You introduce some fiat currency and scan your mobile wallet QR code in order to receive the purchased Bitcoins. But beware, acquisition of BTC at a Bitcoin ATM tends to be associated with very high fees.

    Download a wallet

    Once you buy Bitcoin, your digital asset will need to be kept in a place. While some exchanges offer integrated online wallets, you should never keep large sums of cryptocurrency in there. There is a saying within the community that goes along the lines: “Not your keys, not your crypto”, implying that as long as you are not the one in possession of the private wallet keys, you are technically not the owner of the coins kept in the said wallet. For less experienced a good choice is Bread mobile wallet or the Exodus desktop wallet, which are both simple to operate. As you make bigger investments into crypto, it is recommended that you get a hardware crypto wallet, such as Ledger or Trezor to enhance the security of your crypto holdings.

    Your second, third and later investments

    As you may have heard cryptocurrencies tend to be very volatile. It is frequently that cryptocurrencies, especially those with smaller market capitalizations, surge up or plunge down by 50% or even more in less than a day. If you would like to diminish the effect of these fluctuations in the price of crypto, we recommend using the dollar cost averaging strategy. This method is best described by investing on a regular basis independent on the crypto’s price at the time; for instance, investing $100 into Bitcoin every month.

    Additionally, it is not recommended that you put all your money into just one cryptocurrency. You should diversify in order to build a dispersed and balanced portfolio. In order to do so, you will need to steer away from isolated Bitcoin investments and turn to other cryptocurrencies.

    Look at other options: Purchasing some Altcoins

    There are plenty other cryptocurrencies you can buy. As we already mentioned before, more than0 5,000 cryptocurrencies have been launched since the release of Bitcoin to the public in January 2009, the majority of which saw only average success. For all cryptocurrencies, which are not Bitcoin, we use the term altcoins. The total valuation of their markets (i.e. total market capitalization) may differ from billions of dollars to considerably smaller. This are some of the most popular altcoins:

    Since the prices of the altcoins are prone to even greater fluctuations, they are usually seen as a riskier investment compared to Bitcoin. To determine which altcoin suits you the most, you will need to do your own research. Our weekly article Top three coins to watch this week might aid you in narrowing down the selection. In addition, we recommend reading our Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency Research. We also recommend following the news that might influence the price of these assets, if big money is involved.

    Stay Up to Date by Following reliable News Sources

    Staying up-to-date is crucial in the cryptocurrency, where things alter every day. Some of the most popular outlets for crypto related news include Coindesk, Cointelegraph and CoinCodex news page. You can also subscribe to some of the numerous channels relevant to the cryptocurrency and follow your favourite commentators on social media sites like Twitter and Reddit.

    Once you become more invested into a project, we recommend following their official blog page and other social media sites. Checking the coin’s social stats is a good indicator of the project’s ability to grow a community and reach even more people. On CoinCheckup, you can see the community size in the Analysis tab for each of the coins under the Brand awareness/Buzz section.

    When holding gets boring, you can start trading

    Even though the “buy and hold” strategy is the one that the majority will follow, since with active trading you can rapidly generate losses, trading is still appealing to many cryptocurrency investors. Once you came to the stage when just holding crypto doesn’t give you enough thrill anymore, you can start investigating advanced trading options. Binance is the most popular centralized exchange for trading cryptocurrency. Exchanges can offer spot trading cryptocurrency derivatives trading, or both.

    Crypto derivates provide more options and lower fees, so they are becoming increasingly popular. Some platforms also provide crypto leveraged trading, which allows you to turn in a profit on the slightest price movements. But watch out, as every rose has its thorns, leverage trading is associate with extremely high risks, as the price can also go the other way you predicted.

    Conclusion

    Cryptocurrencies emerged as an important alternative to conventional investment products. The cryptocurrency markets are still very young, so the regulations around them and technical characteristics are still changing fast. However, this also means that there are still plenty of good investment opportunities within the space. You can go for the short time or long-term investments; you are free to explore and find your own way to success. That probably will not go without wrong decisions, missed chances and insecurity, but you know, if there is no pain, there is no gain. Most important is, that you will enjoy the process, and you will become a pro in cryptocurrencies in no time.

  • Binance Futures Announces $1 Trillion in YTD Trading Volume Exponential Growth at Market Leading Derivatives Exchange in First Year

    Binance Futures Announces $1 Trillion in YTD Trading Volume Exponential Growth at Market Leading Derivatives Exchange in First Year

    23 September 2020, 11:00 UTCBinance, the global blockchain company behind the world’s largest digital asset exchange, today announced its cryptocurrency derivatives platform has transacted $1 trillion in year-to-date volume. Binance Futures started a year ago in September 2019, and has rapidly grown into a market leader.

    “The story of Binance becoming the world’s largest crypto exchange through our spot trading volume in our first year is one that we strived hard for. We are grateful that our Futures exchange has also been well-received by our users. We applied what worked for us in spot trading with Futures, ensuring platform stability, product innovation, excellent user-friendly interface and user support. We will continue to provide the community with the most engaging experience. User-centricity remains at the core across the entire Binance ecosystem,”.

    Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Founder and CEO of Binance

    Binance Futures saw a month-on-month increase of 74% in August ($184.6bn in volume), according to third-party data aggregator-

    We took Binance’s user-first creed to heart and built a robust foundation to support the community’s growth. We invested in an unparalleled matching engine that has proven itself time and again, and we focused our initial development in our first product to ensure we get it right. We now have 90 products across four product lines, to meet user demand for greater diversification. Binance Futures offers a wide selection of altcoin products, including coin-margined and USDT-margined futures, options, and our innovative Binance Leveraged Tokens. Altcoins account for about 40% of our volume,”

    Aaron Gong, VP of Binance Futures.

    Market research shows Q1 2020 and Q2 2020 both exceeded $2 trillion in volume each, with Q2 2020 volumes increasing 165% YoY over Q2 2019, indicating an acceleration in global crypto derivatives trading.

    Binance Futures is currently hosting its anniversary trading tournament to mark its first year, with a dynamic prize pool of up to $1,600,000 in BNB tokens. For more information visit: https://www.binance.com/en/futures/activity/anniversary-competition

    About Binance Futures

    Binance Futures allows experienced users to trade crypto futures contracts with up to 125x leverage. Binance Futures’ NASDAQ level matching engine processes orders with ease with minimal latency (avg. 5ms at 100,000 orders per second). Learn more at: binance.com/en/futures.

    About Binance Exchange

    Binance.com is home to the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. Binance Exchange serves users from 180+ countries and regions, with an average daily trading volume totaling over $2 billion. With an innovative matching engine capable of executing over 1.4 million orders per second, Binance Exchange is trusted by millions worldwide for its security, speed, and robust selection of innovative features, including Spot & Margin trading, Futures & Options trading, Savings & Staking services, support for fiat gateways, and more.

    Media Contact
    pr@binance.com

  • Bitcoin and Ethereum Continue Stagnant, Aiming for Lower Lows

    Bitcoin and Ethereum Continue Stagnant, Aiming for Lower Lows

    Bitcoin Awaits for High Volatility

    The so-called “September Effect” continues to haunt investors, especially those in the cryptocurrency industry. Since 2010, the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin has suffered significant corrections during September, and this year the same history appears to be repeating itself. Bitcoin is down more than 14% since the beginning of the month, and the losses may increase.

    Indeed, BTC’s failure to stay above the $11,000 level is something to be concerned about. The rejection from this critical support barrier on Monday, September 21st, pushed prices back to the $10,500 mark. Given the correction’s significance, Bitcoin spent most of Tuesday’s trading session hovering around this level.

    When looking at the hourly chart, the pioneer cryptocurrency was mostly stuck within a $100 trading range on September 22nd. The $10,400 support rejected any downward price action while the $10,500 resistance contained prices from advancing further. Although there were two occasions where BTC traded outside of this range, it quickly reversed back to it.

    The lackluster price action seen on Tuesday, September 22nd, saw the Bollinger bands squeeze within the 1-hour chart, indicating that a period of high volatility is coming soon. But for now, Bitcoin could be bound for more consolidation until either the support or resistance levels previously mentioned break. As the bellwether cryptocurrency mostly remained dormant throughout Tuesday’s trading session, investors were only able to grasp a 0.91% daily return.

    Ethereum Remains Dormant While Whales Accumulate

    Like Bitcoin, Ethereum looks bound for further losses. The smart contracts giant broke out of a bear pattern on Sunday, September 20th, and since then, it has done nothing but depreciate in price. This technical formation forecasts that ETH may continue to plummet all the way down to $235, representing a 35% downswing from the breakout point.

    Despite the high probabilities of further losses, on-chain data reveals that large investors have been taking advantage of the downward price action to add more tokens to their holdings. The top 100 Ethereum non-exchange addresses now hold over 26 million ETH combined. This is a 20.6% jump in cumulative holdings compared to two months ago.

    Given the rising buying pressure behind Ether, prices seem to have taken a breather on Tuesday, September 22nd. On this day, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization remained stagnant. Its price mostly traded between an $11 range marked by the $335.6 support and the $346.6 resistance level.

    The volatility levels were so low on Tuesday’s trading session that Ethereum closed 0.68% higher than where it opened. Regardless of the minuscule returns, the Bollinger bands are also squeezing on ETH’s 1-hour chart. Such behavior indicates that a significant price movement is underway, so traders beware.

    A Major Price Movement on the Horizon

    The top two cryptocurrencies by market capitalization appear to have entered a consolidation period after the significant losses incurred so far this month. While everything from a technical perspective indicates that prices will drop further, there is still hope among market participants that the downtrend will reverse. But the only way the bearish outlook will be jeopardized is if Bitcoin regains the $11,000 as support and Ethereum rises above $400.

    Until this happens, investors should be prepared for a steeper correction. A further spike in the selling pressure behind BTC could see it drop towards $9,000. Meanwhile, the bear flag that developed on ETH’s daily chart forecasts a target of $235.

  • Top 3 Coins to Watch – Week 39

    Top 3 Coins to Watch – Week 39

    The cryptocurrency markets continue moving at a rapid pace, and we are seeing leading crypto and blockchain projects coming out with significant updates every day. However, it can be hard to keep up with all of the innovation that’s happening in crypto – here’s where we can help you out. Let’s check out 3 projects that will be particularly interesting to follow this week.

    1. Neo (NEO)

    NEO is a blockchain platform that supports smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). NEO also allows users to create and deploy custom tokens through NEP-5 and other token standards. NEO leverages a dBFT (delegated byzantine fault tolerant) consensus mechanism. Users who hold NEO periodically receive GAS, which is necessary for paying transaction fees and running dApps on the NEO blockchain.

    Why NEO? The Mainnet Upgrade Takes Place   

    The NEO mainnet was upgraded to the newest version of neo-cli v2.12.0 on September 20. Due to the upgrade, the NEO blockchain experienced a hard fork at block 620,000.

    The update introduced an increased free sys_fee GAS threshold, which  increased from 10 GAS to 50 GAS. In addition, the maximum amount of transactions allowed per block was adjusted to 200, and a bidding mode was  implemented for all transactions.

    2. Avalanche (AVAX)

    Avalanche is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that’s strongly focused on scalability. The Avalanche platform supports smart contracts, making it suitable for launching highly scalable decentralized applications. Like other blockchain platforms that support smart contracts functionality, Avalanche is suitable for DeFi apps, non-fungible tokens, DAOs and more. Avalanche also allows users to create highly complex digital assets that feature custom rules, covenants, and riders (smart assets).

    Why Avalanche? The Mainnet Launched This Week

    The Avalanche mainnet launched on September 21, meaning that the platform can now start supporting DeFi activities through its EVM-compatible feature set. Applications built on Avalanche can benefit from the platform’s impressive throughput of around 4,500 transactions per second.

    Avalanche is positioning itself as a convenient way to help Ethereum-based applications scale without having to make significant changes to their code. This is possible because the Avalanche Contract Chain (C-Chain) is an implementation of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

    3. Binance Coin (BNB)

    Binance Coin is a cryptocurrency created by the Binance cryptocurrency exchange in 2017. Originally deployed as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, BNB is now the native asset of the Binance Chain blockchain. In addition to its use on Binance Chain, BNB provides several benefits to users who hold the token on the Binance exchange. BNB holders enjoy reduced trading fees on Binance and have access to some of the exchange’s exclusive products.

    DeFi push and Binance Card

    Binance continues to release new products and expand its offering. The exchange is making a move into the DeFi space with their Binance Smart Chain, and has set up a $100 million fund to attract developers onto its blockchain platform.

    The exchange has also created multiple new programs that incentivize users to hold BNB.

    First, Binance has launched its Binance Card crypto card, which allows users to spend their cryptocurrency wherever Visa cards are accepted. By holding BNB on Binance, Binance Card users can benefit from better cashback rates, and this could serve as yet another driver of demand for the BNB token. In addition, BNB holders can participate in Binance Launchpool by staking their BNB. In exchange for staking BNB, users receive tokens from new projects that are about to be listed on the Binance exchange. Projects that have participated in the Launchpool program so far include Bella Protocol and Wing.

  • Binance Card Offers Up to 8% Cashback – Here’s How to Get One

    Binance Card Offers Up to 8% Cashback – Here’s How to Get One

    If you’ve been around the cryptocurrency space, you’ve most likely already heard of Binance – it’s certainly one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges around. Binance is known for listing a massive variety of cryptocurrencies and typically adds new trading products before the competition. Earlier in 2020, Binance acquire Swipe, a company that developed its own cryptocurrency card. Thanks to the acquisition, Binance is now able to offer the Binance Card, which is a Visa-powered card that can be used practically anywhere in the world. 

    It’s worth pointing out that when you’re using a crypto card, the merchant doesn’t actually receive cryptocurrency. When you top up your card with cryptocurrency, your coins are then converted to fiat currency to pay merchants.

    What are the advantages of Binance Card?

    If you want to use your cryptocurrency to pay for everyday purchases, a crypto card like Binance Card could be a great product for you. The Binance Card is also useful for cryptocurrency investors who intend to be long-term holders of Binance’s BNB token. The more BNB you hold, the better cashback percentage you’ll get.

    Another advantage of Binance Card is the fact that Binance doesn’t charge any transaction, maintenance or subscription fees when using the card.

    What are the requirements for getting Binance Card?

    There’s 3 main requirements you need to fulfill before you can order a Binance Card. First, you need to have an account on Binance. Then, you need to pass KYC level 2 verification – this step will also ensure that you live in a country that’s supported by the Binance Card product.

    Create Binance Account

    Note: You can get Binance Card either in digital or physical form. Physical cards aren’t shipping yet, so you’ll first receive a digital card than can be loaded into digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. 

    Once you’ve created your Binance Account and completed KYC, you can go to the Cards section of the Binance website where you can select the Order Card option. You’ll receive the virtual version of the Binance Card until you receive and activate the physical version of the card.

    The Binance Card can be topped up by transferring funds from you Binance Spot Wallet to your Card Wallet. Currently, the card supports 4 crypto assets – Bitcoin, Binance Coin, Swipe and Binance USD.

    Can I get Binance Card in my country?

    At the moment, Binance Card can only be ordered by European users. However, Binance is looking to expand the card’s availability, and it should become available to a broader range of customers in the future. To learn if your country is supported, check the Binance Card FAQ.

    Binance Card cashback bonus

    Binance Card is looking to distinguish itself from competitors by offering an impressive cashback program. Whenever you make a payment with the card, you will receive a percentage of the payment back in the form of BNB tokens.

    The more BNB you hold, the better your cashback percentage will be. For the 1% cashback, you don’t need to hold any BNB in your Binance account at all. However, the highest tiers get quite expensive – if you want the highest 8% cashback, you need to have been holding 6,000 BNB on Binance for the last 30 days.

    Given current BNB prices, 6,000 BNB is well over $100,000, so most users will likely try to get a cashback percentage somewhere in the middle. Here’s how many BNB you need to hold to reach the different cashback tiers (data accurate as of September 21, 2020):

    Card LevelAverage BNB Held Within 30 DaysBNB Rewards on Your Purchases
    101%
    2102%
    3503%
    42004%
    55005%
    62,0006%
    76,0008%

    Looking for another crypto card?

    If you can’t get Binance Card in your country, or you’re not too impressed by what it has to offer, you can choose between a host of other crypto cards. Here are some of the best Binance Card alternatives available on the market today:

    • MCO Visa
    • Plutus
    • Monolith
    • Wirex
    • Coinbase Card

    The main differences between various crypto cards will be their fees, supported coins, and cashback programs (some crypto cards don’t offer a cashback program at all). Some cards also offer additional perks to their users – for example, certain tiers of the MCO Visa Cards come with free Netflix and Spotify subscriptions.