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Ethereum Rival Records Nearly 2,000% Growth in Unique Active Wallets Last Year: DappRadar

Ethereum Rival Records Nearly 2,000% Growth in Unique Active Wallets Last Year: DappRadar

Crypto intelligence platform DappRadar says user activity on one Ethereum (ETH) challenger exploded in 2023 as decentralized applications (DApps) saw remarkable growth during the period. According to DappRadar’s yearly industry report, smart contract platform Near (NEAR) recorded 302,000 new unique active wallets (UAWs) last year, marking a year-over-year (YoY) increase of 1,902%, the most out […]

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead

$2,300,000,000 in Investment Funding Flows to Blockchain Gaming in First Three Quarters of 2023: DappRadar

,300,000,000 in Investment Funding Flows to Blockchain Gaming in First Three Quarters of 2023: DappRadar

New data from blockchain intelligence platform DappRadar reveals that $2.3 billion in funds have flowed into the crypto gaming sector in the first three quarters of 2023. In a new blog post, DappRadar says that investors see potential in blockchain gaming as $600 million flowed into the industry last quarter – leaving the sector atop […]

The post $2,300,000,000 in Investment Funding Flows to Blockchain Gaming in First Three Quarters of 2023: DappRadar appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead

Arbitrum (ARB) falls to all-time low as network usage metrics decline

ARB’s price slumps to a new low as a decline in TVL, a decline in active addresses engaging with its DApps and a general malaise across the crypto market take their toll.

Arbitrum has emerged as a leading contender within the Ethereum network’s layer-2 scalability solutions, boasting a significant total value locked (TVL) and notable activity. However, between Sept. 9 and Sept. 11, the price of Arbitrum (ARB) tokens experienced a sharp decline of 14.5%, marking its lowest point in history.

Investors are now eagerly seeking insight into the factors driving this movement and questioning whether Arbitrum still possesses the competitive edge, especially considering that irrespective of the ARB token performance, the network TVL exceeds $1.6 billion.

Arbitrum (ARB) vs. competitors Polygon (MATIC), Optimism (OP) and Loopring (LRC). Source: TradingView

It is worth noting that the past week has been challenging for most cryptocurrencies, but among Ethereum’s scaling solutions, none experienced a drop exceeding 9%, except for Arbitrum.

ARB governance proposals bring questionable benefits

One potential source of concern stems from the absence of any instances of fraud proof issuance since the launch of the Arbitrum mainnet in August 2021. Offchain Labs confirmed this information to Cointelegraph on Sept. 4. Developers, however, have explained that this situation aligns with the intended operation of the system, as validators with malicious intentions risk losing their entire stake. Consequently, this data is unlikely to have significantly impacted the price in the past week.

Additional factors that may help elucidate the recent price downturn are associated with governance proposals from Arbitrum's decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The first proposal, posted on Sept. 2, aims to allocate up to 75 million ARB tokens from the project’s treasury to address “short-term community needs” for active decentralized applications (DApps) within the ecosystem. However, even if approved, this allocation represents less than 2% of the DAO treasury holdings and is unlikely to have triggered the ARB token price correction, regardless of one’s stance on the proposal.

Another governance proposal that has garnered attention was introduced on Sept. 9 by PlutusDAO. This proposal seeks to return tokens from the DAO treasury to ARB holders through the activation of a staking mechanism, creating a native yield for participants, which could involve up to 2% of the total supply annually. Nevertheless, some investors view this inflationary approach as unnecessary and argue that it only exerts downward pressure on prices.

As user Psy highlighted on the X (formerly Twitter) social network, “dilution through inflation” does not contribute positively to the ecosystem, as it merely distributes DAO treasury holdings.

Beyond token governance, there are also concerns related to liquidation risks on both centralized and decentralized exchanges that offer leveraged trading. For instance, Lookonchain has observed a whale withdrawing ARB tokens from the Aave lending platform and transferring some to Binance.

The challenge with this analysis lies in the ambiguity of cause and effect. Typically, leverage long positions are compelled to close when token prices have already fallen, rather than the reverse. This underscores the importance of investors examining Arbitrum’s activity and deposit trends over the past couple of months, which could have potentially triggered the recent price performance.

Declining network activity is most likely the culprit

Arbitrum's TVL has notably declined to $1.67 billion, marking its lowest level since mid-February.

Arbitrum network total value locked. Source: DefiLlama

This 25% decrease over the past two months raises several concerns, primarily indicating a loss of investor confidence. This downturn has the potential to reduce liquidity and undermine the project’s overall viability. Furthermore, it might deter new participants, impeding network growth and adoption.

Next, it's crucial to examine the number of active addresses within the network's top DApps.

Arbitrum network top decentralized applications by active addresses. Source: DappRadar

There is a noticeable decline in 30-day active addresses, even among well-established DApps like Uniswap, 1inch, Radiant, SushiSwap and GMX. Therefore, when considering the decrease in TVL alongside reduced user activity, it becomes evident that there is a substantial decline in demand for the network. While pinpointing a singular cause for this movement is challenging, one can speculate that competing chains such as zkSync Era and Coinbase’s Base may have contributed.

The data suggests that Arbitrum’s 14.5% correction appears to result from a combination of investor dissatisfaction with the governance mechanism and the network’s lackluster activity, despite offering significantly lower fees compared to Ethereum. Unless there is an upswing in transactions and an expansion of its user base, it is unlikely that ARB will be able to close the price performance gap with its competitors.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead

Ethereum price risks losing the $1.6K support as multiple ETH price metrics decline

A lack of network activity and ground lost to competitors could eventually play a role in ETH losing the $1,600 support.

Ether (ETH) price surged by 31.3% from March 10 to March 18, coinciding with the U.S. Federal Reserve's injection of $300 billion to address the insolvency of Silicon Valley Bank.. Since then, Ether’s price consistently maintained a daily closing price above $1,600. 

However, investors are now casting doubt on Ether's ability to sustain this support level, given the prevailing bearish sentiment in the cryptocurrency space and declining metrics on the Ethereum network.

Over the past six months, the cryptocurrency sector has been plagued by negative developments. Notably, the Digital Currency Group (DCG), the owner of Grayscale mutual fund manager, has faced financial troubles. Concerns are mounting that a portion of the $4.8 billion worth of ETH deposits held in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust could be liquidated to address DCG's debts.

Furthermore, two major global exchanges, Binance and Coinbase, are currently facing legal action from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Additionally, investors initially expressed excitement when several requests for futures-based Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surfaced in early August. However, it's important to note that these instruments, unlike spot ETFs, would not involve actual ETH coins if approved.

On-chain metrics point to declining demand

Aside from a handful of unfavorable market conditions, Ethereum's on-chain metrics point to a stagnation in demand, both in terms of ETH investments and smart contract transactions.

Number of Ethereum addresses with ETH minimum $1,000 deposits. Source: CoinMetrics

Notably, the number of Ethereum addresses holding a minimum of $1,000 worth of ETH deposits has reached its lowest level in nearly six months. This is concerning, considering that Ether's price reached a peak of $2,130 in mid-April, which should have attracted new investors.

Part of the lack of investor interest can be attributed to the fact that Ethereum's average transaction fee has remained above $4 for the past six months. Consequently, despite fluctuations in network staking metrics, there appears to be no increase in the total number of investors when using the $1,000 threshold as a proxy.

Moreover, data on decentralized application (DApps) activity on the Ethereum network corroborates the notion of a dearth of new users.

Ethereum network top DApps, 30 day active addresses. Souce: DappRadar

Even excluding the significant 60% decline in the Uniswap NFT Aggregator, the average number of active addresses across the top Ethereum network DApps decreased by 4% compared to the previous month.

From cryptocurrency games to decentralized exchanges, NFT marketplaces, and Web3 services, every sector has witnessed a decline in the number of active users, according to DappRadar. Regarding token activity on the network, with the exception of stablecoins and wrapped ETH, no project has recorded more than 13,000 unique receiver addresses over the past week.

Top token by unique receivers, last 7 days. Source: Etherscan.io

This analysis underscores the fact that Ethereum's network is currently constrained by its relatively high transaction fees, which limits the number of active users. Without an uptick in network activity, the catalysts for a price recovery are lacking, such as potential network upgrades and implementations that could lead to lower costs or enhanced user privacy.

Competitors are benefiting from the stablecoin volumes

In the meantime, recent developments have left Ethereum enthusiasts somewhat disappointed. Visa, the payment processor, has incorporated Solana blockchain settlement capabilities, following Circle USD (USDC) introducing native accounts and transfers on the Base chain. In response, Coinbase exchange promptly announced its intention to assist partners in converting old, bridged versions of USDC to the new format.

Furthermore, Rune Christensen, co-founder of MakerDAO, has put forth a proposal to develop the decentralized finance project's upcoming native chain based on Solana's codebase, despite its longstanding affiliation with Ethereum.

In light of the prevailing bearish sentiment in the cryptocurrency market, which includes exchanges facing legal challenges from the SEC and diminishing interest in cryptocurrencies, as indicated by the latest Google Trends data, the likelihood of Ether's price dipping below the $1,600 support level has increased.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead

​​NFT marketplace Rarible sees uptick after commitment to royalties

NFT aggregator Rarible said by October it would cut off aggregate orders from competitors that don’t enforce royalties, such as OpenSea.

Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Rarible has seen a substantial uptick in trading volume over 24 hours following a public statement in support of maintaining NFT creator royalties.

It comes as competitor NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea have rewound support for royalties and royalty enforcement — prompting other NFT projects to also begin rewinding support for OpenSea.

Data from the analytics platform DappRadar shows that 24-hour fiat trading volume on Rarible reached $1,500 across 38 sales for Aug. 23, clocking a 653% increase from the day before.

While the figures are small relative to its competitors over the same period, Rarible’s 653% volume increase beat out OpenSea — which saw a 15% trading volume drop over 24 hours — and LooksRare and X2Y2 with respective 24-hour volume increases of 5.8% and 14%.

Rarible’s volume rise follows co-founder Alex Salnikov stating on Aug. 22 that it “will no longer support marketplaces that neglect royalties” and by Sep. 30 it won’t aggregate orders from OpenSea, LooksRare or X2Y2.

“This space is about redefining the paradigm in which creativity is valued and compensated,” Salnikov said. “We cannot continue to standby as that promise is taken away.”

Related: Bitcoin Ordinals NFT trading volume tanks 98% since May — DappRadar

In February, OpenSea scrapped enforcing NFT creator royalties — admitting it lost ground to Blur, another popular NFT marketplace that doesn’t enforce creator royalties.

On Aug. 17, OpenSea announced it would shutter its royalty enforcement tool allowing creators to blacklist non-royalty enforcing marketplaces due to a lack of adoption.

Meanwhile, royalties earned by Ethereum-based NFT projects hit a two-year low according to July data from analytics firm Nansen.

Magazine: NFT Collector: Grails’ lucky dip of famous NFT artists, new hope for PFP holders

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead

Bitcoin Ordinals NFT trading volume tanks 98% since May: DappRadar

Alongside the declining trading volumes, the number of Bitcoin Ordinals transactions dropped by 97% to just 20,571 in mid-August.

DappRadar has pointed to an “alarming plunge” in Bitcoin Ordinals nonfungible token user activity, with trading volumes tanking around a whopping 98% since May.

In an Aug. 17 report, DappRadar highlighted its data showing that the total Bitcoin Ordinals sales volume had decreased from peak levels of $452 million in May to roughly $3 million as of Aug. 14.

In line with that drop, the number of transactions also declined by around 97% to 20,571 within that same time-frame.

Ordinals trading volume and sales count. Source: DappRadar.

DappRadar described it as a grim scenario for the Ordinals market, but did also emphasize that more time is required to determine whether this is a “temporary setback” or something that represents a “systemic problem of Bitcoin-based NFTs.”

“This steep decline in both sales volume and count within such a short period is alarming for Bitcoin Ordinals. The diminishing sales count underscores the waning enthusiasm or perhaps confidence in Bitcoin NFTs,” the report noted, adding that:

“While fluctuations in sales volume could be attributed to market dynamics, a consistent decline in transaction count may point toward broader issues. It suggests that fewer traders are engaging with Bitcoin Ordinals, which could raise concerns about its longevity and relevance in the NFT space.”

The decline comes after a hype-filled second quarter for Bitcoin Ordinals, which saw trading volumes and user activity skyrocket compared to Q1.

DappRadar went on to suggest that a key issue around the sustainability of Ordinals is that the Bitcoin community has a divided outlook on whether NFTs should be on the network or not — something which isn’t an issue for Ethereum and other blockchains.

Related: Bitcoin Ordinals team launches nonprofit to grow protocol development

“There are voices within the community that view Bitcoin primarily as ‘digital gold,’ suggesting that its primary function should remain as a store of value. On the other hand, Ethereum is often referred to as ‘digital oil’, indicating its role in fueling the digital economy,” the report reads, adding:

“The coming months will be crucial in determining whether Bitcoin finds a foothold in the ever-evolving NFT landscape or reverts to its primary role as a store of value.”

According to CryptoSlam data, the Bitcoin network is currently ranked seventh in terms of NFT sales volume over the past 30 days with $14.6 million generated from 21,989 buyers.

Top 10 blockchains in terms of 30 day NFT sales volume. Source: CryptoSlam.

Magazine: Big Questions: Did the NSA create Bitcoin?

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead

Crypto survey finds 47% of investors expect Ether to ‘surpass’ Bitcoin

Fidelity Digital Assets gave a bullish forecast for ETH in the next 12 months, while a separate survey from CryptoVantage found 47% of investors expect Ether to “surpass” Bitcoin.

Fidelity Digital Assets released a “Q2 2023 Signals Report” on July 18, which claimed that Ether’s outlook for the next 12 months and the long term is positive. Year-to-date, Ether (ETH) has gained 62%, but while the investment firm might be short-term bullish on Ether, that does not mean it believes that the month-long bullish channel will be sustained.

While institutional investors like Fidelity Digital Assets may have a bullish longer-term vision for ETH's price, let’s compare their analysis against network and market data to see if they’re on the money.

Ether/USD 1-day price index. Source: TradingView

Beyond the technical indicators, the rationale behind Fidelity’s bullish outlook for Ether is the network’s higher burn rate versus coin issuance, the “new address momentum” and a growth in the number of network validators.

Fidelity “Q2 2023 Signals Report,” July 18. Source: Fidelity Digital Assets

According to the Fidelity report, the net issuance since the Merge in September 2022 resulted in a net supply decrease of more than 700,000 Ether. Additionally, the analysts claim that Glassnode data showing an increasing number of Ethereum addresses that transacted for the first time ever proves healthy network adoption.

The report also points to a 15% increase in the number of active Ethereum validators in the second quarter.

The expectation around EIP-1153 is also building momentum for the Ethereum network, as the “transient storage opcode” improves smart contract efficiency, reduces costs and amplifies the Ethereum Virtual Machine design. The change is especially meaningful for decentralized exchanges (DEXs), where Ethereum’s dominance declined to 46% from 60% six months prior, according to DefiLlama data.

Dencun upgrade expected to reduce transaction costs

Another potentially bullish factor for the Ethereum network is the anticipated upgrade on the leading DEX, Uniswap. According to a July 17 presentation at the Ethereum Community Conference, the upcoming Uniswap v4 will allow users to build unlimited types of pools using programmable buttons (hooks), native ETH support and a singleton contract that performs internal transactions before settling final balances.

The announcement fueled the likelihood that EIP-1153 will be included in the next “Dencun” upgrade, which triggered Slingshot and DeFi Pulse co-founder Scott Lewis.

If approved, the implementation will be vital for the Ethereum network to recoup the market share lost due to high gas fees, as the seven-day average transaction cost has been above $4 since February. Consequently, Ethereum’s total value locked has dropped to its lowest level since April 2020, at 13.55 million ETH, according to DefiLlama.

Moreover, decentralized application activity has dwindled, as shown by DappRadar’s unique active wallets’ 30-day data: Uniswap, minus 28%; 1inch Network, minus 14%; MetaMask Swap, minus 8%; and OpenSea, minus 5%. As a comparison, in the same period, BNB Smart Chain’s PancakeSwap gained 10%, and Polygon’s Uniswap users increased 8%.

Derivatives metrics remain flat

Ether quarterly futures have been signaling unease among professional traders. Those fixed-month contracts typically trade at a 5% to 10% premium compared to spot markets to compensate for the delayed settlement, a situation known as contango.

Ether 3-month futures premium. Source: Laevitas

According to data from Laevitas, the Ether three-month futures premium currently stands at 4%, which is below the neutral threshold and lower than the 5.5% level seen on July 14. This indicator is clear evidence that traders are less inclined to use leverage for bullish ETH positions.

More concerningly, Ether’s 59% gains year-to-date might have caused investors to become overly optimistic. A recent survey from CryptoVantage of 1,000 North Americans that invested in cryptocurrencies over the past five years found that 46% named Ether as the top contender to surpass Bitcoin (BTC).

Related: Bitcoin rally will lead to "speculative blow-off top” in 2024, Mark Yusko predicts

Coins with the best chances of surpassing Bitcoin. Source: 2023 CryptoVantage survey

This is a somewhat startling point of view, but it could be misleading since the survey did not ask whether any coin would eventually flip Bitcoin, so respondents don’t necessarily place strong odds on this outcome.

Fidelity’s analysis has given valid reasons for why the firm is bullish on Ether’s 12-month price performance, but in the shorter term, the recurrent high gas fees and lack of interest from leverage buyers signal increased odds of the Ether price breaking below the channel support.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead

Bitcoin Ordinals volume hits $210M in Q2 – DappRadar

The advent of Bitcoin Ordinals NFT inscriptions led to more $210 million in trading volume through the first half of 2023.

The creation of nonfungible token inscriptions on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain has led to over $210 million of trading volume for Bitcoin Ordinals, according to the latest quarterly report from DappRadar.

The data, which has been independently verified by Cointelegraph, shows that Bitcoin Ordinals' booming popularity led to a sharp increase in trading volume through the second quarter of 2023.

Bitcoin Ordinal trading volume increased from $7.18 million in the first quarter of the year, before a significant increase in trading value left the total trading volume for the Bitcoin-based NFTs at $210.7 million. DappRadar pins the quarterly increase at 2834%.

The report also notes that all-time Bitcoin Ordinals trades amounted to over 550,000 in Q2, with some 150,000 unique traders contributing to the inflated trading volume midway through 2023.

Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace data. Source: Dune analytics

A Dune blockchain analytics dashboard reflecting a number of Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace metrics from user @domo also shows that unique users increased sharply from May 2023. UniSat, an open source Chrome browser extension for Bitcoin Ordinals & brc-20 tokens, Magic Eden and Ordinals Wallet account for the majority of unique users by marketplace.

Bitcoin Ordinals unique users by marketplace. Source: Dune analytics

The rise in popularity in Bitcoin Ordinals has had an interesting effect on the NFT landscape. Near the end of May 2023, Bitcoin surpassed Solana to become the second-most popular NFT blockchain, leaving the preeminent cryptocurrency blockchain behind Ethereum alone in terms of facilitating NFT trading volumes.

Related: Bitcoin Ordinals surpass 10M inscriptions as creator Rodarmor steps down

Ordinals have also been a boon to the Bitcoin mining industry. BTC miners have netted around $184 million through the first half of 2023, with Coin Metrics highlighting Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens for their role in the boost to fees which has already surpassed the 2022 total for BTC miners.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also credited Bitcoin Ordinals for reigniting a “builder culture” in the Bitcoin ecosystem in a Twitter Space broadcast on July 6.

Magazine: Ordinals turned Bitcoin into a worse version of Ethereum: Can we fix it?

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead

About Half of Crypto Hacks and Exploits in May Targeted BNB Chain, According to DappRadar

About Half of Crypto Hacks and Exploits in May Targeted BNB Chain, According to DappRadar

New data reveals that 50% of all crypto hacks and exploits during the month of May targeted BNB Chain (BNB), the blockchain of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange platform. According to a new report by market intelligence platform DappRadar, May saw two dozen incidents amounting to $54 million in losses, a sharp decrease from […]

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead

NFT Sales Plummet in May Amid Memecoin Frenzy and High Ethereum Fees, According to DappRadar

NFT Sales Plummet in May Amid Memecoin Frenzy and High Ethereum Fees, According to DappRadar

Non-fungible token (NFT) sales have plummeted this month amid the recent memecoin frenzy and a surge in the price of Ethereum (ETH) gas fees. According to blockchain intelligence platform DappRadar, NFT trading volume has only reached $333 million this month so far, putting May on track to be the first month in 2023 with a […]

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: BTC Consolidation Points to Potential Shifts Ahead