Ethereum layer 2 zkEVM ‘Scroll’ confirms mainnet launch

October 17, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain data from Etherscan suggest Scroll’s mainnet was live over a week ago.

Scroll, a new contender in the zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) space that works to scale the blockchain, has confirmed the launch of its mainnet.

The team behind Scroll announced the launch in an Oct. 17 post and added that existing applications and developer tool kits on Ethereum can now migrate to the new scaling solution.

“Everything functions right out of the box,” the Scroll team said.

After more than two years of building, we are thrilled to announce the launch of Scroll Mainnet.

As we open the doors to Mainnet, we want to take a moment to reflect on our journey thus far pic.twitter.com/WKfkjyIkB0
— Scroll (@Scroll_ZKP) October 17, 2023

A zkEVM solution such as Scroll’s aims to provide lower transaction costs at a higher throughput for decentralized applications running on Ethereum.

It works by batching thousands of transactions off-chain into one, then submitting a proof consisting of a minimal data summary to Ethereum’s mainnet.

Blockchain data suggests Scroll had withheld the news that its mainnet was live since Oct. 8 — the date at which the first smart contract was deployed on thScroll mainnet, according to Etherscan data.

Scroll said the mainnet launch came after 15 months of extensive testing and security audits across three separate testnets.

“Our bridge and rollup contracts were audited by OpenZeppelin and Zellic,” Scroll added. Its zkEVM circuits were reviewed by Trail of Bits, Zellic, and KALOS.

Across its three testnets over 450,000 smart contracts were deployed enabling over 90 million transactions across 9 million blocks. 280,000 ZK-proofs were also generated the firm said.

pic.twitter.com/BujREyNGqi
— Scroll (@Scroll_ZKP) October 17, 2023

About a month ago, Scroll co-founder Ye Zhang told Cointelegraph Scroll would launch with centralized features but plans to increasingly decentralize over time.

“We will have a centralized sequencer and the central approver button,” Zhang said. He added a plan is in place to remove that button, however.

“We have a roadmap [...] To solve the single point of failure and to incentivize the community to build better proving hardware.”

Zhang said the Scroll team will also pitch several proposals to let the community discuss what’s best for Scroll moving forward.

Scroll was founded in 2021 with the goal to be more community-driven. Other zkEVM solutions working to scale Ethereum include Polygon, zkSync, StarkWare and Immutable.

Jordi Baylina, technical lead of Polygon Hermez zkEVM, recently told Cointelegraph that such competition in the zkEVM space is only going to make the Ethereum ecosystem more robust:

“Having different projects adds a lot of experience, and it’s also a way to test different approaches, ways of handling things or solving things,” he said.

Magazine: Attack of the zkEVMs! Crypto’s 10x moment

Immutable links with AWS in latest Web3 gaming push

October 11, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Amazon

The blockchain gaming firm said it will gain access to a vast pipeline of game studio leads and support for successful deal closures.

Web3 gaming platform Immutable has partnered with Amazon Web Services to extend options for game developers as the cloud service provider expands its startup accelerator programs.

In an Oct. 10 blog post, Immutable said AWS added it to a list of companies within its ISV (independent software vendors) Accelerate Program, where organizations provide software solutions that run on or integrate with AWS.

Additionally, developers looking to build on Immutable’s blockchain can join AWS Activate, a program that provides perks including technical support, training and $100,000 worth of AWS cloud credits.

#Immutable @amazon

Amazon Web Services and Immutable are working together to shape the future of gaming!

Through our collaboration with Amazon, we will gain access to a vast pipeline of game studio leads, support for successful deal closures, and up to $100k in AWS cloud… pic.twitter.com/SX7xfFqrtK
— Immutable (@Immutable) October 10, 2023

AWS head of startups Australia, John Kearney, told Cointelegraph that Immutable is a “great example of a local Aussie startup that has gone global” and reaffirmed the cloud provider’s commitment to expanding Web3 game development using its infrastructure.

Immutable has been built with Amazon EventBridge and AWS Lambda, serverless services that use events to connect application components together. This has enabled the platform to "increase its scalability to handle a 10x increase in partnered games,” according to the announcement.

Concerns have previously been raised about the centralization of gaming and Ethereum along with the reliance on Amazon — the market leader capturing about a third of the cloud services market.

Immutable product marketing lead, Michael Powell, alleviated some of those concerns — explaining to Fortune in an Oct. 11 report:

“A lot of blockchain purists are very big into the idea of decentralization and that everything has to be on-chain and that’s a massive deviation from where game developers actually build.”

In August, Immutable began public testing its zkEVM, or zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine, in collaboration with Polygon Labs.

According to the firm, zkEVM will lower development costs for game developers while providing the security and network effects that come with the Ethereum ecosystem.

Immutable was valued at $2.5 billion in March 2022 following a $200 million Series C funding round led primarily by Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek.

Magazine: Singer Vérité’s fan-first approach to Web3, music NFTs and community building

Web3 game Gods Unchained releases ‘Sealed Mode’ to mimic paper card games

September 14, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Immutable’s Gods Unchained game launched a new tournament mode that allows players to build a deck with random cards.

Web3 game Gods Unchained released a new gameplay format that allows players to compete with semi-random cards they receive at the start of a tournament. Called “Sealed Mode,” the format is intended to reward highly skilled players, even if they don’t have a large or expensive card collection. The new format was announced via a blog post on Sept. 13.

“Sealed deck” tournaments are common in paper collectible trading card games such as Magic: The Gathering, but are relatively rare in digital trading card games.

⚜️ ⚜️

Will you?

️ Coming Sept 14th 11am AET

Full details: https://t.co/mKSGSCrMW7 pic.twitter.com/LHCdIs7LjK
— Gods Unchained (@GodsUnchained) September 8, 2023

According to the post, players can participate in sealed mode if they pay an entry fee of 15 Gods Unchained ($GODS) tokens, worth approximately $2.65 at the time of publication. Once they pay this fee, they receive a random selection of three gods they can choose to build a deck around. In addition, they receive 60 random cards drawn from multiple Gods Unchained card sets, including Etherbots, Mortal Judgement, Winter Wanderlands, and others.

Although the pool of cards is semi-random, it also contains a minimum number of cards of specific types to ensure that a viable deck can be built with it. For example, each pool has at least 12 cards that cost 3 mana or less.

Out of each player’s pool of 60 cards, they must build a minimum 30-card deck, the post stated. The players must build their decks entirely out of the cards provided and cannot use cards from their own personal collection.

After building a deck, players compete until they either lose three matches or win seven. The players with better records at the end of the tournament receive more rewards than the players who have worse records. Some cosmetic rewards are only available in sealed mode and can only be obtained by players who win four matches or more.

'Sealed mode' in Gods Unchained is meant to be similar to 'sealed deck' or 'draft' tournaments for face-to-face card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, and Magic: The Gathering. Players of these games often use sealed formats to collect cards. However, because most digital card games do not allow players to 'own' their cards in any meaningful sense, sealed tournaments were virtually unknown in the digital card game world. In Gods Unchained, each card is represented by a nonfungible token stored on the Immutable X network, a layer-2 of Ethereum.

Gods Unchained was one of the first Web3 video games released by Immutable. In May, Immutable stated it was developing a wallet application called “Passport” that would allow gamers to log in without needing to copy down seed words. On Aug. 15, Immutable released its zkEVM testnet, which it claimed will help scale Ethereum for video game players.

Immutable zkEVM begins testnet phase with 12 Web3 games in development

August 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The Web3 gaming company announced that its fully Ethereum-compatible network is now available for public testing.

Web3 gaming platform Immutable has commenced public testing of its Immutable zkEVM in collaboration with Polygon Labs.

Work on the zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machine (zkEVM) network began in March after Immutable announced a partnership with Polygon Labs. Polygon's own 'holy grail' Ethereum-scaling zkEVM hit mainnet on March 27.

In an Aug. 14 announcement, Immutable said its zkEVM will give game developers access to lower development costs, and the security and network effects that come with the Ethereum ecosystem. In March, Immutable co-founder and president Robbie Ferguson said the zkEVM is aimed at increasing ownership rights for Web3 gamers.

*Immutable zkEVM developer documents. Source: Immutable.*

Over 20 gaming companies have partnered with Immutable to support the launch, including GameStop, TokenTrove marketplace, Web-based game distributor Kongregate, game designer iLogos, and others, according to Immutable.

At least 12 games have already started building their Web3 titles on zkEVM, it added. These include CoinArcade, Galaxy Commanders, Medieval Empires, MetalCore, Meta Toy, DragonZ SAGA, Rune Realms, Shardbound, Infinite Victory, EF Defense, and SimWin Football. MetalCore in particular has announced a beta launch date of September 15 on Immutable zkEVM.

Immutable zkEVM testnet will use zero-knowledge proofs to secure transfers between itself and Sepolia Ethereum, allowing developers to test out how the mainnet version will work once it launches.

The network is fully compatible with Ethereum applications, meaning that developers can port Ethereum projects over to it with minimal changes, Immutable stated. The team will also be deploying an “Immutable Relayer for currency abstraction and gas sponsorship” soon, which will allow developers to create gas-less wallet accounts.

Immutable chief technology officer and co-founder Alex Connolly expressed his view that the new network will be “irresistible” to developers, stating:

“This chain, combined with our suite of platform products, is the first end-to-end EVM solution dedicated exclusively to making games successful. We’re already seeing a massive influx from games, players and partners that will make the Immutable ecosystem irresistible for the next generation of web3 games."

Immutable is the developer of the Gods Unchained Web3 trading card game, which was originally launched on Ethereum. In April 2021, the company launched its first zero-knowledge-based layer 2 network Immutable X in an attempt to lower transaction fees for players of its games.

However, that network is not fully compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM), the computation engine that Ethereum uses. For this reason, users of Immutable X must create derivative keys through a web interface in order to use the network. By contrast, users should now be able to simply switch networks within their wallets to access Immutable zkEVM.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has recently weighed in on the benefits and disadvantages of zkEVMs, saying that they may cause data inefficiency and latency issues but may also greatly improve the scalability of Ethereum.

Immutable’s Gods Unchained launches on Epic Games Store

June 22, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The trading card game, which features NFT cards, will now be available to Epic Games’ 230 million customers.

Immutable Games’ Web3 trading card game Gods Unchained is now listed on the Epic Games Store and is available to its 230 million customers, according to a June 21 announcement.

Gods Unchained is a collectible trading card game similar to Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering Arena but with cards players can own and trade. Each card is represented by a nonfungible token (NFT) on the Ethereum layer-2 network Immutable X. The game was released in June 2019 and grew its player base over the next two years to reach 80,000 weekly active players in January 2022.

The Epic Games Store is a digital game distribution platform similar to Steam or GOG.com. Over 230 million PC gamers use Epic Games to find new games to play, according to the developer’s “2022 Year in Review” post from March.

*Epic Games Store homepage. Source: Epic Games*

Daniel Paez, executive producer of Gods Unchained, sees the Epic Games listing as a pivotal moment in the game’s history. “It is hard to overestimate the significance of Gods Unchained’s launch on Epic Games Store, one of the largest PC gaming platforms in the world,” he stated. “We are extremely excited to present our game to a completely new and truly massive audience of traditional PC gamers and TCG enthusiasts.”

The listing comes at a time when Web3 publishers continue to counter hostile actions from Steam, the world’s largest PC game distributor. In October 2021, Steam announced that Web3 games were not welcome on its platform while also delisting Age of Rust due to the perks the game offered to holders of its NFTs.

In March, former MetaMask team members released a rival distribution platform called Hyperplay to combat Steam’s action. Hyperplay provides access to the Epic Games and GOG.com stores from within its interface and offers its own list of Web3 titles. On June 8, the Hyperplay team raised $12 million to further the platform’s development and expand its reach.

What is Immutable, explained

May 1, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Explore Immutable, the leading Web3 game development platform to build and scale Web3 games.

What are the DApps on Immutable?

The majority of DApps on Immutable fall under the category of Gaming and Collectibles.

Several games are currently being built on the Immutable platform ranging from RPGs to sci-fi exploration, and autobattlers to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Some of these include:

Illuvium: Illuvium is a decentralized game studio building an open-world RPG adventure game. Players are immersed in a unique combination of sci-fi and fantasy while capturing Iluvials, creatures inhabiting the world of Illuvium.
Gods Unchained: Released in 2018, Gods Unchained is a leading Web3 play-to-earn trading card game that has already seen over 52 million cards exchanged. Despite being in beta, the game has over 450,000 registered users.
Guilds of Guardians: Guild of Guardians is a multiplayer action RPG developed by Mineloader and published by Immutable Games. While the game is yet to be launched in 2023, over 1 million players have pre-registered for the game.
Immortal Game: Immortal Game is building chess on the blockchain, enhancing the classic game by introducing a crypto layer that enables players to own stylish NFTs tied to pieces called Immortals.

What are IMX and Immutable Marketplace?

Immutable uses a decentralized governance system via IMX as the native utility token on the Immutable platform.

The IMX token is an ERC-20 token with a total token supply of 2 billion. Incentives among traders, creators and markets are balanced by the IMX token, ensuring rewards go to pro-network activities on Immutable. The Immutable white paper describes three core uses of IMX: fees, staking and governance.

Immutable has its own marketplace as the default home for trading NFTs on the protocol. The Immutable Marketplace supports Ethereum wallets without the need to switch networks. NFTs are free to mint for users on the Immutable Marketplace, and since there is only a 2% sell-on fee, it is a low-cost avenue for launching new collections with near-zero gas fees.

Apart from its own marketplace, Immutable’s Orderbook and Marketplace Network facilitates partnerships with 10 leading NFT marketplaces, such as GameStop, Token Trove, OKK, etc. Thanks to the power of the orderbook, games and marketplaces building on the Immutable platform experience doubled liquidity as evidenced by the fact that half of all trades on Immutable are filled on non-origin marketplaces.

In November 2022, Immutable partnered with GameStop, the leading global video game retailer, to integrate its global orderbook into the GameStop NFT marketplace. This will bring current and upcoming projects on Immutable to GameStop, including Gods Unchained, Guild of Guardians, Ember Sword, Playco, GreenPark Sports, Illuvium and many others.

What are the key features of Immutable?

Immutable aims to provide a fast, secure and cost-effective solution for decentralized applications (DApps) while solving numerous issues around scalability and gaming.

The key features and technologies of the Immutable platform include:

Enterprise-grade security with massive scalability

The integration of zero-knowledge proofs into the Immutable platform allows for a substantial decrease in transaction costs and an increase in the number of transactions per second (TPS) compared to traditional Ethereum platforms. At the same time, the technology guarantees the confidentiality of sensitive information while permitting the verification of statements.

The largest ecosystem in Web3 gaming

Immutable offers access to a growing ecosystem of over 1 million players and $2 billion in investor funding for games building on Immutable, along with over 150 well-known titles that have selected Immutable as their gaming platform.

Frictionless user experiences

The full suite of Immutable products and vetted smart contract templates have been created specifically to reduce onboarding complexities, generate native gameplay experiences, and empower game studios with the tools they need to provide delightful Web3 experiences to their communities.

Game-centric development platform

Immutable has five years of experience building and scaling some of the promising Web3 games, such as Illuvium, Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians. Drawing from this, it has used that expertise to ensure game developers have a one-stop-shop platform containing everything they need to achieve mainstream adoption.

How does Immutable work, and what problem does it solve?

Immutable is a complete end-to-end development platform for building and scaling Web3 games on Ethereum, with industry-leading security and frictionless developer and gaming experiences.

Immutable use zero-knowledge Rollups (ZK-rollups) to achieve layer-2 scalability. ZK-rollups fuse an array of hundreds of transactions off-chain and then send them to Ethereum as a single transaction, allowing faster validation of transactions and thereby ensuring gas fees are kept to a minimum.

In March 2023, Immutable announced its second scaling solution, Immutable zkEVM, for games alongside the existing Immutable X, a ZK-rollup powered by StarkWare. Set to fully launch later in 2023, this new EVM-compatible ZK-rollup will be powered by Polygon technology with full Immutable platform support to help make Web3 games faster, straightforward to develop and less risky from development to launch.

The partnership between Immutable and Polygon, along with the creation of Immutable zkEVM, solves many problems for Web3 game development. Here’s how:

One-stop gaming solution: Immutable’s platform with zkEVM tech offers Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, low cost, massive scale and Ethereum security all while providing direct integration into Immutable’s full-stack gaming platform. This provides developers with a suite of solutions needed to succeed.
Network effects: Developers can access the combined network of Immutable and Polygon to get access to gamers, tools and funding.
Reduced development costs: For existing games, the opportunity to migrate existing smart contracts to the Immutable zkEVM environment is provided via Immutable’s smart contract templates.
Enhanced gameplay mechanics: From staking and crafting to advanced functionalities, including dynamic NFTs that equip other NFTs are possible with Immutable zkEVM.
Seamless interoperability: With Immutable zkEVM, game developers can create games that are seamlessly interoperable with other games or platforms in the Ethereum ecosystem, enabling broader access and economies of scale.
Secure gaming environment: Immutable’s quality control measures are designed to protect gaming studios and users from malicious activity, poorly designed contracts or validators, and conserve the chain’s bandwidth for gaming-specific activities.

What is Immutable, and why is it important for blockchain gaming?

Immutable is a game development platform that simplifies building Web3 games on the Ethereum blockchain.

Headquartered in Sydney and co-founded in 2018 by James Ferguson, Robbie Ferguson and Alex Connolly, this leading Web3 gaming platform is focused on a mission to bring digital ownership to players by making it easy to build Web3 games for mainstream adoption. Immutable is funded and backed by prominent crypto VC funds and transformational tech investors like Bitkraft Ventures, King River Capital, AirTree, Temasek, Coinbase and more.

The Immutable platform empowers gaming studios and developers with a powerful suite of products, delivering clear solutions that amplify their capabilities and transform the way they create, launch and distribute games.

Its pre-built solutions designed for ease of use enable developers to launch their games faster without compromising on either security or the gaming experience, thereby solving two major blockchain gaming industry-wide issues. Additionally, builders receive Web3 guidance, live support for their communities and access to Immutable’s extensive gaming ecosystem.

Immutable has also been at the forefront of enabling zero-knowledge (ZK) scaling solutions for Ethereum and offers multiple ZK-based scaling options, including Immutable X, a rollup based on StarkWare technology, and Immutable zkEVM, powered by Polygon.

Immutable Games, its own gaming studio, is a global player in Web3 game development and pioneered the world’s first blockbuster nonfungible token (NFT) trading-card game Gods Unchained. It is currently building the highly anticipated mobile role-playing game (RPG) Guild of Guardians while also partnering with third-party game developers on games such as MetalCore, Infinite Victory and Shardbound.

Studio games by Immutable

Polygon Teams Up With Ethereum-Based Crypto Project To Create Blockchain Dedicated to Gaming

March 22, 2023 The Daily Hodl

These 5 cryptocurrencies may continue to surprise to the upside

March 19, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Binance Coin

Bitcoin, ETH, BNB, STX, and IMX remain strong on the charts, increasing the likelihood of more gains in the near term.

Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to close the week with gains of more than 23%. The banking crisis in the United States and Europe seems to have boosted buying in Bitcoin, indicating that the leading cryptocurrency is behaving as a safe haven asset in the near term.

All eyes are on the Federal Reserve’s meeting on March 21 and 22. The failure of the banks in the U.S. has increased hopes that the Fed will not hike rates in the meeting. The CME FedWatch Tool shows a 38% probability of a pause and a 62% probability of a 25 basis points rate hike on March 22.

*Crypto market data daily view. Source:* *Coin360*

Analysts are divided on the consequences of the current crisis on the economy. Former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan believes that the U.S. will enter a period of hyperinflation while pseudonymous Twitter user James Medlock believes otherwise. Srinivasan plans to wage a millionaire bet with Medlock and another person that Bitcoin’s price will reach $1 million by June 17.

Although anything is possible in crypto markets, traders should be prudent in their trading and not get carried away with lofty targets.

Let’s study the charts of Bitcoin and altcoins that are showing signs of the resumption of the up-move after a minor correction.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin soared above the $25,250 resistance on March 17, completing a bullish inverse head and shoulders (H&S) pattern.

Usually, a breakout from a major setup returns to retest the breakout level but in some cases, the rally continues unabated.

*BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView*

The rising 20-day exponential moving average ($24,088) and the relative strength index (RSI) in the overbought territory indicate advantage to buyers. If the price breaks above $28,000, the rally could pick up momentum and surge to $30,000 and thereafter to $32,000. This level is likely to witness strong selling by the bears.

Another possibility is that the price turns down from the current level but rebounds off $25,250. That will also keep the bullish trend intact.

The positive view will be invalidated in the near term if the price plummets below the moving averages. Such a move will suggest that the break above $25,250 may have been a bull trap. That could open the doors for a possible drop to the psychologically critical level of $20,000.

*BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows that the BTC/USDT pair is facing profit-booking near $27,750 but a positive sign is that the pullback has been shallow. Buyers will try to drive the price above $28,000 and resume the uptrend. The pair could then climb toward $30,000.

On the other hand, if the price turns down and slumps below the 20-EMA, it will suggest that the traders are rushing to the exit. That may pull the price down to the important support at $25,250 where the bulls and the bears may witness a tough battle.

Ether price analysis

The bulls conquered the $1,800 resistance on March 18 but could not sustain the higher levels. This shows that the bears are protecting the $1,800 level on Ether (ETH) with vigor.

*ETH/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView*

The critical support to watch on the downside is the zone between $1,680 and the 20-day EMA ($1,646). If the price rebounds off this zone, it will signal that the sentiment has turned positive and traders are buying on dips.

Buyers will then again try to resume the uptrend and drive the price toward the next target objective at $2,000. This level may prove to be a major hurdle for the bulls to cross.

Contrarily, if the price turns down and slumps below the moving averages, it will suggest that the bulls are losing their grip. The ETH/USDT pair may then drop to $1,461.

*ETH/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows that the pair bounced off the support at $1,743. This suggests that the bulls are buying the shallow dips and are not waiting for a deeper correction to get in. Buyers will next try to kick the price above $1,841. If this level is taken out, the pair may sprint toward $2,000.

Contrarily, if the price turns down and plunges below $1,743, short-term traders may book profits. The pair could then slide to the next important support at $1,680.

BNB price analysis

BNB (BNB) rose above $338 on March 18, which invalidated the bearish H&S pattern. Usually, when a bearish pattern fails, it attracts buying from the bulls and short covering by the bears.

*BNB/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView*

The onus is on the bulls to keep the price above the immediate support at $318. If they manage to do that, the BNB/USDT pair could first climb to $360 and thereafter dash toward $400. The upsloping 20-day EMA ($309) and the RSI near the overbought territory indicate that the path of least resistance is to the upside.

If bears want to gain the upper hand, they will have to yank the price back below the moving averages. This may not be an easy task but if completed successfully, the pair could tumble to $280.

*BNB/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows that the bulls are buying the dips to the 20-EMA. The bears tried to halt the recovery at $338 but the bulls have pierced this resistance. Buyers will try to push the pair to $346. If this level gives way, the pair may continue its uptrend.

Alternatively, if the price turns down and breaks below 20-EMA, it will suggest that the short-term bulls may be booking profits on rallies. The pair could then slump to $318 where the buyers may step in to arrest the decline.

Stacks price analysis

Stacks (STX) rallied from $0.52 on March 10 to $1.29 on March 18, a sharp run within a short time. This suggests aggressive buying by the bulls.

*STX/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView*

The STX/USDT pair is witnessing profit-booking near $1.29 but a positive sign is that the bulls have not ceded much ground to the bears. This suggests that minor dips are being bought. Typically, in a strong uptrend, corrections last for one to three days.

If the price turns up and breaks above $1.29, the pair could resume its uptrend. The next stop on the upside is likely to be $1.55 and then $1.80.

The first sign of weakness on the downside will be a break and close below $1. That could clear the path for a drop to the 20-day EMA ($0.84).

*STX/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The pair has corrected to the 20-EMA. This is an important level for the bulls to defend if they want to resume the up-move. If the price rebounds off the 20-EMA, the pair could retest the overhead resistance at $1.29. If bulls overcome this barrier, the next leg of the uptrend may begin.

Conversely, if bears sink the price below the 20-EMA, the pair could slide to $1 and then to the 50-simple moving average. A deeper correction may delay the resumption of the up-move and keep the pair stuck inside a range for a few days.

Immutable price analysis

Immutable (IMX) skyrocketed above the overhead resistance of $1.30 on March 17, which completed the inverse H&S formation. This suggests the start of a potential new uptrend.

*IMX/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView*

Meanwhile, the price may retest the breakout level of $1.30. If the price rebounds off this level with strength, it will suggest that the bulls have flipped the level into support. Buyers will then try to kick the price above $1.59 and resume the uptrend. The IMX/USDT pair may then rally to $1.85 and later to $2. The pattern target of the reversal setup is $2.23.

This positive view could be negated in the near term if the price slips below the moving averages. Such a move will suggest that the break above $1.30 may have been a bull trap. The pair could then drop to $0.80.

*IMX/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The pair is witnessing a mild correction, which is finding support at the 20-EMA. Buyers are trying to clear the overhead hurdles at $1.59 but the bears are not relenting. If the price breaks below the 20-EMA, the pullback could reach $1.30.

Another possibility is that the price rebounds off the 20-EMA. That will indicate solid demand at lower levels and enhance the prospects of a break above $1.59. If that happens, the pair may resume its uptrend.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Crypto market cap reclaims $1T, and derivatives point to further upside

March 17, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Crypto market cap reclaims T, and derivatives point to further upside

Banks

Bitcoin's performance has outpaced Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway over the past six months as crypto markets appear to have turned a corner.

The total crypto market capitalization increased by 26% in seven days, reaching $1.16 trillion on March 17. Bitcoin (BTC) was the biggest winner among the top 20 coins, up 31.5%, though some altcoins gained 50% or more during that period.

*Total crypto market cap in USD, 12-hour. Source: TradingView*

The surge in cryptocurrency prices occurred as the United States Federal Reserve was forced to lend banks $300 billion in emergency funds. According to PBS News Hour, nearly half of the money went to failed financial institutions Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and was used to pay uninsured depositors. The remaining $153 billion was obtained through a long-standing program known as the "discount window," which allows banks to borrow funds for up to 90 days.

While appearing to protect the banking sector, additional funding for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and credit facilitation using Fed resources ultimately creates a "false sense of confidence," according to activist billionaire investor Bill Ackman.

The $30 billion plan devised by U.S. regulators to avoid a major liquidity crisis in First Republic Bank (FRB) "raised more questions than it answers," said Ackman, who manages the hedge fund Pershing Square. Furthermore, Ackman stated that "half measures don't work when there is a confidence crisis."

Warren Buffett, the billionaire, is on the losing side of the bet

As the banking crisis worsened, Warren Buffett, the largest shareholder and co-founder of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB), a $650 billion financial conglomerate, saw his holdings rapidly deteriorate. Berkshire Hathaway, for example, is the largest holder of Bank of America (BAC) stock, which has fallen 15.5% year-to-date. This position alone has cost Buffett's investment vehicle $5.2 billion.

Buffett, a well-known cryptocurrency critic, has stated that he has no interest in Bitcoin, even if the entire float is offered at $1,300. The 91-year-old, with a net worth of around $102 billion, claimed that Bitcoin doesn't produce anything, whereas farmland and residential real estate do.

However, Bitcoin's price increased by 31.5% in the six months preceding March 17, while Berkshire's stock increased by 5.8%. So, for the time being, the so-called "rat poison," as Buffett once described Bitcoin, is outpacing his own financial management firm.

$1 trillion market capitalization support quickly restored

Let's look at the performance of the top 80 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization to see if the surge above the $1 trillion mark has boosted the confidence of altcoin investors.

*Weekly winners and losers among the top 80 coins. Source: Messari*

Conflux Network (CFX) gained 97.6% after KuCoin Ventures announced a $10 million investment in stablecoin issuer and blockchain-based payment service provider CNHC, which is available on Ethereum and Conflux networks.

Stacks (STX) rallied 75.7% as the network is scheduled to undergo an upgrade on March 20, introducing Stacks 2.1 with new features and improvements.

Immutable X (IMX) rose 71.7% following a much-anticipated partnership announcement scheduled for March 20.

Option traders are extremely confident about market conditions

Traders can gauge the market's sentiment by measuring whether more activity is going through call (buy) options or put (sell) options. Generally speaking, call options are used for bullish strategies, whereas put options are for bearish ones.

A put-to-call ratio of 0.70 indicates that put option open interest lags behind the more call options. In contrast, a 1.40 indicator favors put options, which is a bearish sign.

*BTC options volume put-to-call ratio. Source: laevitas.ch*

Since March 12, the demand for neutral-to-bullish call options has increased, indicating the growing risk appetite of derivatives traders. The movement peaked on March 17, when the volume of call options exceeded the volume of protective put options by a three-to-one ratio.

The gap favoring call options has stabilized at two-to-one, indicating that professional investors are unconcerned following the March 17 rejection of the $1.16 trillion market capitalization level. In the end, data indicate a strong conviction for Bitcoin's support at $26,000, so bulls are in a stronger position to continue their rally.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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