Cardano outranks Bitcoin in global top intimate brands in new report

August 29, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Adoption

The blockchain developer ranks 26 out of 600 global brands in a new report which analyzes consumers’ emotional connection to brands.

Blockchain developer Cardano represents the crypto space with a top spot in a new report on global brand intimacy. Cardano ranks 26 among 600 brands and holds the top spot in the crypto industry, according to a report released by brand relations agency MBLM.

According to the report, brand intimacy refers to the emotional connections brands are able to create with their user base and audience. MBLM utilized artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to understand consumer relationships with some of the world’s leading brands, including Disney, Tesla and Apple.

Across 19 industries analyzed, crypto was among the top 10 perform, with Cardano in the lead, followed by Bitcoin as a brand at #30. Whereas crypto brands such as Uniswap and Solana took #261 and #265, respectively.

In comparison to last year, the surveyors said Cardano is not only a new entry but the highest ranked in crypto and the highest performing financial services brand in the study.

In a statement to Cointelegraph, Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Cardano, said the company was born of a simple belief that everyone is equal and should live in a fair society. Cardano works towards this through decentralization and merit, he added.

“What’s nice about that is that it doesn’t require a founder, a particular culture or country. Now we have people in the Cardano ecosystem from more than 100 different countries working together towards this end.”

On Twitter, users reacted to Cardano’s ranking, outpacing legacy brands like Google and eBay. One user tweeted that Cardano is not just a subject for internet memes but in a “league where the big boys are.”

Reflections from the report also highlight the impact of the global pandemic stating that brand performance has increased by 19% since before the pandemic.

Cardano’s high performance comes as the blockchain developer prepares for a major network upgrade. It is currently preparing for the long-awaited Vasil hard fork, which aims to reduce the size of transactions, lower costs, and allow more network activity.

The top ranks of the crypto industry as a whole speak to the increasing mass adoption of Web3 and decentralized technologies. A recent survey of parents in the United States revealed that 64% want crypto-related content taught in schools.

3 reasons why Chiliz is up 35% this week — and where is CHZ price heading next?

August 24, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

A mix of fundamental, on-chain and technical catalysts has driven the CHZ price to its best levels since April 2022. What's next?

The price of Chiliz (CHZ) has surged by approximately 35% week-to-date (WTD) to reach $0.26 per token on Aug. 24. In doing so, the token has outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which have been wobbling between gains and losses in the same period.

*CHZ/USD versus BTC/USD and ETH/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Here are the key catalysts that could be behind Chiliz's breakaway rally.

CHZ 2.0

On Aug. 22, Chiliz founder Alexandre Dreyfus announced their intentions to stop utilizing the Ethereum blockchain to launch their fungible and nonfungible tokens and replace it with its own native chain, CHZ 2.0.

"We don't have to rely forever only on ERC20 or ERC721 equivalent," said Dreyfus, adding:

"At @chiliz we think we can bring some innovation on top of fungible token formats. As we work with 100+ of the biggest brands in the world, it is easier to deploy and scale."

The announcement coincided with CHZ undergoing a 19% intraday price rally on Aug. 22, accompanied by a spike in trading volume. From a technical perspective, the move showed traders' conviction in the CHZ 2.0 announcement

*CHZ/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

The return of Chiliz whales

CHZ's price boom this week further coincided with the rise in whale activities.

Notably, the number of CHZ transactions whose value exceeds $100,000 reached 105 on Aug. 23, its highest since Mar. 29, according to data provided by Santiment. Moreover, CHZ's price rallied nearly 12.5% on the same day.

*Chiliz price versus whale activity. Source: Santiment*

The parallel rise in CHZ's whale activity, volume, and price suggest that most rich investors have been buying the token after the CHZ 2.0 announcement.

Technical breakout underway

Chiliz's ongoing price rally comes as a part of a technical breakout move that started mid August.

On the daily chart, CHZ broke out of its prevailing cup and handle setup on Aug. 14 after closing above the pattern's neckline range (the red bar), as shown below. A cup and handle pattern is considered a bullish reversal setup by traditional chart analysts.

The technical setup, coupled with the CHZ 2.0 announcement, could have influenced traders to remain bullish on CHZ. It could also mean that the token would keep rallying until it hits the cup and handle pattern's profit target at around $0.32, up another 35% from today's price.

The target is determined by measuring the cup and handle's maximum height and adding the outcome to the neckline. In other words, CHZ price could reach it by September, given it current upside momentum.

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

Solana (SOL) price is poised for a potential 95% crash — Here’s why

August 16, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

SOL price gained 75% in the past two months, but technical analysis suggests it could be an elaborate bull trap.

Solana (SOL) price rallied by approximately 75% two months after bottoming out locally near $25.75, but the token's splendid upside move is at risk of a complete wipeout due to an ominous bearish technical indicator.

A major SOL crash setup surfaces

Dubbed a "head-and-shoulders (H&S)," the pattern appears when the price forms three consecutive peaks atop a common resistance level (called the neckline). Notably, the middle peak (head) comes to be higher than the other two shoulders, which are of almost equal height.

Head and shoulders patterns resolve after the price breaks below their neckline. In doing so, the price falls by as much as the distance between the head's peak and the neckline when measured from the breakdown point, per a rule of technical analysis.

It appears SOL has been forming a similar bearish setup on its longer-timeframe charts.

*SOL/USD weekly price chart featuring H&S breakdown. Source: TradingView*

On the weekly chart, the token has been forming the right shoulder of the overall pattern, suggesting a correction toward the neckline at $27 during the second half of 2022. Meanwhile, a breakdown below $27 could result in an extended correction toward $2.80.

In other words, a 95% price decline by the end of 2022 or early 2023, a setup also projected by pseudonymous analyst "PROFIT BLUE."

I will leave this here, now that it looks better.. #Solana pic.twitter.com/w03Y4Ffl8o
— PROFIT BLUE (@profit8lue) August 14, 2022

Is this a bear market rally?

Solana's extremely eerie bearish setup appears as it closely tails trends across risk-on markets, mainly driven by the Federal Reserve's hawkish response to inflationary pressures.

For instance, SOL closed the week ending Aug. 14 at a 10.5% profit, similar to Bitcoin (BTC) and the benchmark S&P 500 index. These markets reacted to a softer-than-anticipated U.S. consumer price index (CPI), raising possibilities that the Fed would slow the pace of its interest rate hikes.

*SOL/USD and S&P 500 daily correlation coefficient. Source: TradingView*

But many analysts have warned about these ongoing price rallies in the risky corners of the market, citing pieces of historical evidence of similar bear market bounces. So, SOL's 75% rebound risks turn into a fakeout if its correlation with riskier assets remains positive.

From a fundamental perspective, Solana also faces extreme FUD due to its recurring network outages and rumored centralization. However, the project's backers have introduced new upgrades to fix these issues, as Cointelegraph discussed.

But even then, a 95% price crash is too "wild," suggests market analyst IncomeSharks, saying that it would mean Solana is a rug pull project like Terra (LUNA) — now Terra Classic (LUNC).

The next big drop could have SOL explore bounce opportunities near a multi-year ascending support trendline, as shown below.

*SOL/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

In other words, SOL's bearish continuation could last until its price hits $20, down over 55% from August 16's price.

Shiba Inu eyes 50% rally as SHIB price enters ‘cup-and-handle’ breakout mode

August 14, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

The Shiba Inu breakout appears almost ten days after SHIB's addition to Binance Card.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) broke out of its prevailing "cup-and-handle" pattern on Aug. 14, raising its prospects of securing additional gains in the coming weeks.

Shiba Inu could soar 50%

A cup-and-handle appears when the price falls and rises in a U-shaped trajectory in the first stage, followed by a swift move sideways or downward in the second. Notably, the price trend develops under a common resistance level.

Typically, cup-and-handle patterns resolve after the price breaks above the resistance level; SHIB did the same on Aug. 14 after rising 27% to $0.000016, as shown below.

*SHIB/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Per the rule of technical analysis, a cup-and-handle breakout target is determined by measuring the distance between the pattern's lowest point and resistance line and adding it to the breakout point. As a result, SHIB could head toward $0.00002253.

In other words, a 50% price rally by September.

A nonsense rally, nonetheless?

Fundamentally, Shiba Inu's 27% intraday price rally on Aug. 14 had no visible catalysts except a metric showing that SHIB's burn rate surged by 825% in a day. But the amount of burned SHIB is worth only over $4,500.

*Shiba Inu burn rate. Source: Shibburn.com*

On the whole, however, the Shiba Inu network has burned over $6.36 million worth of SHIB tokens in its lifetime.

In addition, the Shiba Inu rally came almost ten days after Binance's announcement to add SHIB support on its payment cards issued in Europe. In doing so, the crypto exchange raised SHIB's potential to find new users in the emerging European cryptocurrency space.

We are pleased to announce that @binance has added SHIB to the list of supported tokens for the Binance Card issued in Europe.

You can now pay with SHIB at 60+ million merchants worldwide. Furthermore, get up to 8% cashback and zero annual or FX fees!https://t.co/0Xj7IXPyt0 pic.twitter.com/FqINtnHFWx
— Shib (@Shibtoken) August 5, 2022

Weak fundamentals could offset SHIB's technically bullish bias, however, given tha cup-and-handle setups have only a 61% success rate in meeting their profit targets, according to veteran analyst Tom Bulkowski.

Therefore, a failed cup-and-handle breakout—also on a pullback from the 200-day exponential moving average (200-day EMA; the blue wave in the chart below) near $0.00001755—could have SHIB eye an initial correction toward $0.00001306, down 20% from today's price.

Shiba Inu's cup-and-handle setup could fizzle because of the token's overbought daily relative strength index (RSI). Notably, the RSI has crossed above 70, which typically results in a period of sideways consolidation or correction.

Ominous Solana technicals hint at SOL price crashing 35% by September

August 13, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

Solana is tailing broader crypto market trends while battling concerns about repeated network outages and centralization.

Solana (SOL) risks a significant price correction in the coming weeks owing to a classic bearish reversal setup.

A 35% SOL price correction ahead?

On the three-day chart, SOL's price has been painting a rising wedge, confirmed by two ascending, converging trendlines and falling trading volumes in parallel.

Rising wedges typically result in breakdown, resolving after the asset's price break below the lower trendline. If the price follows the breakdown scenario, it could fall by as much as the maximum distance between the wedge's upper and lower trendline.

SOL is far from a breakdown but trades within a falling wedge range, as shown in the chart below. The token eyes an immediate pullback from the wedge's upper trendline with its interim downside target sitting at the lower trendline around $45.

*SOL/USD three-day price chart. Source: TradingView*

It will risk falling toward $30 if the price breaks below the lower trendline while accompanying a rise in trading volumes. In other words, a 35% price drop by September.

Conversely, a bounce from the lower trendline could have SOL eye an immediate rebound toward the wedge's apex point at around $53.50.

A decisive breakout above the upper trendline would invalidate the bearish reversal setup, if SOL rises to the 50-3D exponential moving average (50-3D EMA; the red wave) near $58.

$SOL daily close above $45

Entered 25% size (bear market size)

will stop with close under $42 otherwise targeting $56-60 https://t.co/US0ucViHN6 pic.twitter.com/xo7zfDGMrZ
— Pentoshi (leading cattle to butcher) (@Pentosh1) August 13, 2022

Battling FUD

Solana's rising wedge breakdown setup appears as it battles a flurry of negative events, including repeated network outages, centralization concerns and a widespread exploit that targeted Solana wallets.

Nevertheless, SOL rallied nearly 40% in August, mirroring other crypto assets that gained around 11% month-to-date on average.

A part of Solana's gains also after its team quickly clarified that Slope, a Web3 wallet provider, was solely responsible for the $8 million exploit of crypto wallets, including Solana's.

After an investigation by developers, ecosystem teams, and security auditors, it appears affected addresses were at one point created, imported, or used in Slope mobile wallet applications. 1/2
— Solana Status (@SolanaStatus) August 3, 2022

Similarly, Solana released its first "Validator Health Report" on Aug. 10 in response to accusations that its network is heavily centralized. It reported that Solana's proof-of-history (PoH) blockchain has over 1,900 block-producing nodes worldwide.

Nearly 88% of those nodes are operated by independent entities, the report added.

Additionally, in May, Solana developers focused on implementing the early stages of their Mainnet Beta v1.10 series, introducing QUIC and Quality of Service (QoS) packets by stake weight and fee prioritization to defend the network against potential outages.

"It appears that the network showed signs of stabilization post-v1.10 as lower transaction fees occurred and the daily transaction count reversed the trend between the middle of May and the end of June," noted James Trautman, a researcher at Messari, in his Solana Q2 report.

*Solana network usage. Source: Messari/Solscan*

Solana's transactions per second (TPS) also improved, from as low as ~700 during network outages to all-time highs above 3,000 after v1.10 began to roll out. Trautman added:

"If implementations of v1.10 and subsequent versions continue to drive stability along with successful ecosystem growth strategies, fundamentals will likely move in a positive direction, and network value may too."

Celsius Network is bankrupt, so why is CEL price up 4,000% in two months?

August 13, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

Takeover rumors and an ongoing short squeeze help CEL price rally but is there enough momentum for more upside?

Crypto lending platform Celsius Network has an approximately $1.2 billion gap in its balance sheet, with most liabilities owed to its users. In addition, the firm has filed for bankruptcy protection, so its future looks bleak.

Still, Celsius Network's native utility token CEL has soared in valuation by over 4,100% in the last two months, reaching around $3.93 on Aug. 13 compared to its mid-June bottom of $0.093.

In comparison, top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) rallied 40% and 130% in the same period.

*CEL/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Takeover rumors behind CEL explosion?

Technically, the price rally made CEL an excessively valued token in early August when its relative strength index (RSI) crossed above the 70 threshold.

Takeover rumors appear to be behind CEL's upside strength. Notably, Ripple wants to purchase Celsius Network's assets, according to an anonymous source cited by Reuters on Aug. 10.

Reuters reported that Ripple is interested in Celsius assets but there's no confirmation yet from either companies. Celsius has halted withdrawals from the platform since June and has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy which will enable them gradually payback what they owe.
— Tajo Crypto (@TajoCrypto) August 10, 2022

CEL's price more than doubled after the piece of news hit the wire.

In July, rumors also surfaced about Goldman Sachs' intention to acquire Celsius Network for $2 billion. CEL was changing hands for as low as $0.39 around that time.

CEL price short squeeze

An army of retail traders also appears to be behind the CEL's giant upside push in the last two months.

Some traders have organized a short squeeze to limit CEL's downside prospects. A short squeeze is when an asset's price rises suddenly, forcing short sellers to buy back the asset at a higher price to close their positions.

Bitcoin & Celsius Update

BTC is very choppy so my focus is on altcoins & CEL. I'd like btc to hold 22k for bullish bias. Cel wants breakout again, Iam looking to buy more above 2.6 with #CELShortSqueeze army behind it, could CEL pump to $3 next?

LIKES/RETWEETS APPRECIATED pic.twitter.com/5axZiwcl1Q
— WSB Crypto Mod (@traderrocko) August 12, 2022

It is possible to create a short squeeze because of CEL's lowering circulating supply, primarily due to the freeze on Celsius Network's token transfers.

Interestingly, FTX had about 5.1 million CEL tokens on Aug. 13, approximately 90% of all the total circulation across exchanges. Meanwhile, the amount of open short positions on the exchange was around 2.66 million CEL versus the monthly high of 2.96 million CEL on Aug. 11.

*FTX sport short. Source: Legacy Synthesis*

In other words, short traders have closed about 300,000 CEL positions in just two days.

What's next for Celsius toke?

Short squeezes are hard to sustain over a long period, history shows.

Such prospects put CEL at risks of facing extreme correction in the coming weeks or months. As said, the token is already overbought, which further adds up to the downside outlook.

*CEL/USD three-day price chart. Source: TradingView*

Drawing a Fibonacci retracement graph from $6.5-swing high to $0.39-swing low churns out interim support and resistance levels for CEL. Notably, the token now eyes a breakout above its 0.618 Fib line (~$4.21), with its upside target at $5.25, up 45% from today's price.

Conversely, a break below the support level at the 0.5 Fib line (~$3.48) risks crashing CEL toward $2.75, down 25% from the current price level.

Insta-rally! FLOW token jumps 50% amid Instagram adoption euphoria

August 4, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

FLOW latest price rally has turned it into an "overbought" asset, which could amount to an imminent correction.

Flow (FLOW) logged its best daily performance on Aug.4 after becoming the latest blockchain to support Instagram's nonfungible token (NFT) features.

Insta-made FLOW rally

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Aug. 4 that Instagram had expanded its NFT support to 100 more countries in Africa, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas. As a result, more users can post digital collectibles minted on the Flow blockchain on Instagram.

The high-profile integration helped FLOW surge 54% to reach an intraday high of $2.83 a token. Interestingly, the token's massive upside move accompanied a spike in its daily trading volumes, confirming some weight behind the bullish trend.

*FLOW/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Like any blockchain native asset, the ups and downs in FLOW's demand are tied to the adoption of its parent chain. In general, FLOW serves as a legal tender within the Flow's proof-of-stake ecosystem for the following purposes:

Staking
Staking rewards
Transaction fees
Account storage deposits
Collateral for a stablecoin and DeFi products
Participation in protocol governance and ecosystem development

That explains the token's bullish response to Instagram's adoption.

Another 30% gains ahead?

From a technical perspective, FLOW eyes another 30% rally from its current price levels.

FLOW's recent price trends appear to have painted a bullish pattern called the "Bump-and-Run-Reversal (BARR) bottom" on its daily chart. Now, the token has entered a breakout stage with its upside target near the level where the BARR bottom's formation began at around $3.20.

*FLOW/USD daily price chart featuring BARR setup. Source: TradingView*

According to veteran analyst Tom Bulkowski, BARR patterns are "surprisingly good performers," with a 76% chance of meeting its profit target. That raises FLOW's potential to rise another 30% to $3.20, further supported by strong fundamentals.

On the flip side, FLOW's latest bull run has pushed its daily relative strength index (RSI) above 70, or overbought territory, which suggests heightened sell-off risks.

Solana’s Investigation Indicates Wallet Exploit Tied to Slope Mobile App

August 4, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Lido DAO: Ethereum’s biggest Merge staker just jumped 30% — will LDO rally into September?

August 3, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

LDO price is up roughly 30% over the past day, gaining approximately 500% since mid-June.

Lido DAO (LDO) price edged higher on Aug. 3, primarily due to similar upside moves elsewhere in the crypto market and a rising euphoria around Ethereum's network upgrade in September.

On the daily chart, LDO's price reached an intraday high of $2.40 a day after bottoming out locally at $1.84. The sharp upside reversal amounted to nearly 30% gains in a day, suggesting traders' strengthening bullish bias for Lido DAO.

*LDO/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Lido DAO is a liquid staking solution for Ethereum by total value deposited. In other words, it allows users to participate in the running of Ethereum's upcoming proof-of-stake (PoS) chain in exchange for daily rewards.

Ethereum's Ether token (ETH) has rallied by more than 90% since mid-June in part due to buzz around its blockchain's PoS upgrade called the Merge, expected in September.

Lido DAO, the biggest Merge staking serve provider, has benefited from the craze simultaneously, with LDO, its governance token, rallying nearly 500% in the same period.

Notably, the total number of Ether staked into the Merge smart contract—also called ETH 2.0—via Lido has surged from 3.38 million on June 13 to 4.16 million on Aug. 3, according to DeFi Llama.

*Total ETH deposited into Ethereum Merge contract via Lido DAO. Source: DeFi Llama*

Charts hint at LDO price rally ahead

Furthermore, LDO's technicals appear skewed to the upside due to its "bull flag." This technical pattern typically appears during an uptrend, when the price consolidates lower inside a descending channel after a strong upside move.

LDO has been forming a similar pattern. On the daily chart, the token's price has been reversing course after undergoing a strong uptrend that topped at around $2.66 on July 28.

*LDO/USD daily price chart featuring 'bull flag' setup. Source: TradingView*

As a result, the Lido DAO token now eyes a break above its current descending channel range, similar to the upside move that followed its bull pennant formation in July.

As a rule, the bull flag's profit target comes to be at length equal to the size of the previous uptrend, called "flagpole," or $4 by September, up 65% from today's price.

Bull flag failure scenario

On the flip side, a bull flag's potential to reach its upside target stands at around 67%, according to research conducted by Samurai Trading Academy. Therefore, LDO's bull flag could fail if its price breaks below the pattern's lower trendline.

The trendline coincides with a support confluence made up of $1.91‚ which capped LDO's upside moves in late July, and the 20-day exponential moving average (20-day EMA; the green wave in the chart below) at around $1.80.

Thus, a bear flag breakdown, or a break below the support confluence, could have LDO eye the 50-day EMA (the red wave) near $1.43 as its downside target.

This level coincides with the 0.236 Fib line around $1.42, which served as a price floor in February and May.

Is the end of this crypto winter in sight? | Find out now on Market Talks with Ted Warren and Mark Yusko

July 28, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

Join us as we discuss this and other topics with Tim Warren, co-host of Coffee N Crypto, and Mark Yusko.

In this week's episode of Market Talks, we welcome the founder, chief investment officer and managing director of Morgan Creek Capital Management, Mark Yusko.

Mark W. Yusko is an investor and hedge fund manager. He is the founder, chief investment officer and managing director of Morgan Creek Capital Management and also the Co-Founder & Partner of Morgan Creek Digital.

The main topic for discussion with Mark is if we are finally at the end of this crypto winter and what that could mean for the future of the crypto market. Are we going to continue to move upwards in price or is there another fall below $17K not far off?

With everyone's eyes on the latest FOMC meeting, we ask Mark about his thoughts on the importance of the FOMC meeting and what the hike in interest rates means for you as an individual and the markets as a whole.

Even though some people might not want to admit it, it seems the US economy is in a recession, we ask Mark what his thoughts on the matter are and also why recessions are not necessarily a bad thing and might be an important part of any financial system. You might be wondering what is the best way to navigate the current market condition, don't worry we ask Mark what the best strategy is to use right now so you don't have to wonder any longer.

Tesla has been in the news again after they sold 75% of their Bitcoin holdings. We discuss what impact this has had, if any, on the cryptocurrency market and why a company that has been pro-Bitcoin in the past might want to sell a major chunk of their holdings?

Bear markets are usually a great time for companies to innovate and build, we ask Mark what innovations he is most excited about seeing going forward in the crypto space and which areas he sees the most potential in. Now might be a great time to accumulate more crypto, but which crypto asset is best to invest in right now for the long term? Bitcoin or Ethereum (ETH)?

Tune in to have your voice heard. We’ll be taking your questions and comments throughout the show, so be sure to have them ready to go.

Market Talks with Crypto Jebb streams live every Thursday at 12 pm ET (4:00 pm UTC). Each week, we feature interviews with some of the most influential and inspiring people from the crypto and blockchain industry. So, be sure to head on over to Cointelegraph’s YouTube page and smash those like and subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.

Altcoin

CHZ 2.0

The return of Chiliz whales

Technical breakout underway

A major SOL crash setup surfaces

Is this a bear market rally?

Shiba Inu could soar 50%

A nonsense rally, nonetheless?

A 35% SOL price correction ahead?

Battling FUD

Takeover rumors behind CEL explosion?

CEL price short squeeze

What's next for Celsius toke?

Insta-made FLOW rally

Another 30% gains ahead?

Charts hint at LDO price rally ahead

Bull flag failure scenario

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