Massive airdrop and AXS staking catapult Axie Infinity to a new all-time high

October 1, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Airdrop

Axie Infinity's price surged to a record high above $118 following the release of a huge airdrop to early supporters and the launch of staking for AXS token.

Airdrops have become the cryptocurrency ecosystem’s equivalent of stimulus checks over the past couple of years and further proof of this can be evidenced from popular protocols like Uniswap and dYdX which rewarded their early adopters with token drops that are now worth $30,000 to $2 million.

The latest protocol to surprise its userbase with a wallet fattening airdrop was Axie Infinity (AXS), a blockchain-based battle game that has risen in prominence over the course of 2021 as users embrace its play-to-earn (P2E) gaming model.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since bounding off a low of $47.92 on Sept. 21, the price of AXS has stormed 145% higher to establish a new record high at $118.00 as its 24-hour trading volume surged from $421 million to $1.95 billion.

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

Three reasons for the recent surge in AXS price over the past two weeks include the introduction of staking features for the AXS token, the release of a community airdrop early adopters and the increasing popularity of play-to-earn gaming protocols.

AXS launches staking

The growth of decentralized finance in 2021 has shone a spotlight on the ability of crypto holders to put their tokens to work and earn a yield through providing liquidity or staking.

In an effort to capture some of this momentum, as well as improve the overall tokenomics of the AXS token, the team at Axie Infinity announced the launch of staking capabilities on Sept. 30. This excited members of the community, and to date, holders have already staked nearly 9.8 million AXS in just two days.

*AXS staking dashboard. Source: Axie Infinity*

And it’s not just your average crypto user getting in on the staking action, as recent tweets show other gaming platforms in the crypto ecosystem, including Yield Guild Games, have announced that they are now staking their AXS holdings as a way to help increase the value of their respective ecosystems.

We are now staking all of our $AXS ($16.45M) from our treasury. Looking forward to the juicy AXS staking rewards! pic.twitter.com/mTNQiKCXXp
— Yield Guild Games (@YieldGuild) October 1, 2021

Axie Infinity is currently offering an APR of 240% for stakers with the rewards coming from a dedicated pool of 78.3 million AXS tokens that have been set aside by the team.

AXS airdrops tokens to early adopters

A second reason for the spike in price and activity for AXS was this week's community airdrop which rewarded users who engaged with the protocol prior to October 26, 2020.

Thank you @AxieInfinity! I received 4905 $AXS. Worth more than nearly everything I had at this time last year.

Being a part of the Axie community is an incredibly rewarding experience. Socially, Intellectually, and Financially.

Thank you @AxieInfinity! https://t.co/2NEsU3MlfL
— Artic (@Axie44) September 30, 2021

According to the team, 10,000 wallets were selected based on a snapshot that was taken on Oct. 26 to receive a share of the 800,000 AXS airdrop, depending on the wallet’s level of activity.

The more active users like the pseudonymous Twitter user ‘Arctic’ received larger allocations that are now worth nearly $500,000, while less active accounts received smaller allocations that are nonetheless still significant in terms of dollar value, especially in the more economically disadvantaged parts of the world where many Axie Infinity players reside.

Feels good to be an #AxieInfinity early believer 68 AXS received and ready for breeding. Trust the process https://t.co/FpzHa56Y6E pic.twitter.com/nNlXeBhpPG
— squarrre (@Sorareuk) September 30, 2021

The rising popularity of play-to-earn gaming

Another reason for the recent growth seen in Axie Infinity is the strength of the P2E gaming model which many analysts say will be the breakout sector in 2021.

Axie Infinity was actually the game that kicked off the P2E rally earlier in the year and this momentum translated to an uptick in other P2E protocols like Illuvium (ILV), Chain Guardians (CGG) and MyNeighborAlice (ALICE).

*Top 5 gaming protocols by the 90-day change in USD price. Source: Messari*

The P2E gaming sector of the crypto ecosystem has been gaining momentum in recent months as users begin to discover the benefits of playing a game that rewards participation, as opposed to the dominant free-to-play model which offers in-game purchases but leaves users with little to show after months of gameplay and investment.

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for AXS have been favorable for some time.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. AXS price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for AXS climbed into the dark green zone on Sept. 26 and reached a high of 87 around 35 hours before its price began to increase by 55% over the next three days.

The NewsQuake™ service from Cointelegraph Markets Pro registered two significant news announcements prior to the price rise, including a listing announcement from Bitstamp exchange and the team's announcement that AXS staking had launched.

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.

Second-largest Ethereum mining pool to suspend all operations

September 27, 2021 Coin Telegraph

China

Launched in China in 2018, SparkPool controls over 22% of Ether’s hashrate as of today, second only to Ethermine.

Sparkpool, the second-largest Ethereum mining pool in the world, is suspending operations due to the ongoing Chinese crackdown on crypto.

The mining pool officially announced Sept. 27 it has suspended access to new users in mainland China in response to Chinese authorities initiating new measures to combat crypto adoption in the country.

Following initial restrictions made last Friday, Sparkpool will continue shutting down services, and plans to suspend existing mining pool users both in China and abroad on Sept. 30.

According to the announcement, the measures intend to ensure safety of users’ assets in response to “regulatory policy requirements.” “Further details about the shutdown will be sent out through announcements, emails, and in-site messages,” Sparkpool noted.

Launched in China in early 2018, SparkPool has emerged as one of the world’s largest mining pools for mining Ether (ETH) alongside the world’s largest Ethereum mining pool Ethermine. At the time of writing, SparkPool’s mining power makes up 22% of Ethereum’s global hashrate, slightly lower than Ethermine’s share of 24%, according to Poolwatch.io.

The news comes amid the Chinese government reinforcing its negative stance on crypto, declaring all crypto-related transactions illegal in the country last Friday. Some of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Huobi have subsequently suspended new account registrations from mainland China, reportedly keeping servicing users in Hong Kong.

SparkPool did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

SparkPool’s shutdown comes as Ethereum continues its switch from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake model in 2022 — part of the long-planned upgrade known as Ethereum 2.0. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Ether miners will not have many choices after Ethereum 2.0 finally arrives, as their mining equipment is set to become obsolete.

Ethereum drops more than Bitcoin as China escalates crypto ban, ETH/BTC at 3-week low

September 24, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

The second-largest cryptocurrency falls 13.30% versus Bitcoin's 9.38% decline as China's move scares investors away.

The price of Ethereum's native token Ether (ETH) crept lower Friday after China extended its crackdown on cryptocurrencies by deeming their transactions as "illegal."

"Financial institutions and non-bank payment institutions cannot offer services to activities and operations related to virtual currencies," the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website Friday, adding that online crypto services to Chinese residents offered by offshore exchanges are also "illegal financial activities."

Bids for the ETH/USD pair dropped by up to 13.30% to $2,735 in response. At its week-to-date (WTD) high, traders paid as much as $3,346 for a single Ether token but fell to as low as $2,651 after a tumult in China's heavily indebted property sector hit crypto markets.

*ETH/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView.com*

As a result, Bitcoin, the world's leading cryptocurrency, also fell from its WTD high of $47,358 to as low as $2,651. Meanwhile, its prices fell by 9.38% on Friday—a massive intraday decline but lower than Ether's drop in the same period.

So it appears, traders decided to dump the digital assets that posted better long-term profits than Bitcoin. For instance, even after the latest declines, ETH/USD's year-to-date (YTD) gains came out to be above 280%. In contrast, Bitcoin's YTD profits were a little over 40%.

ETH/BTC falls to multi-week lows

Ether also underperformed directly against Bitcoin, with the ETH/BTC pair falling to 0.066 BTC for the first time in more than three weeks. At its yearly high, the pair traded at 0.079 BTC.

*ETH/BTC daily price chart. Source: TradingView.com*

Nonetheless, Ethereum charts suggest that Ether would grow stronger against Bitcoin in the coming sessions. That is mainly due to a Bull Flag formation in ETH/BTC market, a bullish continuation pattern that surfaces when prices consolidate lower/sideways (FLAG) following a strong uptrend (FLAGPOLE).

A Bull Flag typically sets its profit targets at length equal to the Flagpole's size if the price breaks above its channel's upper trendline. That said, ETH/BTC may undergo a bullish breakout to eye its previous local high of 0.0824 BTC.

Bullish fundamentals persist

Meanwhile, the Ethereum token also expects to surge overall because of its growth in the emerging decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. As Cointelegraph reported earlier, the total value locked (TVL) across the decentralized applications (dapp) industry reached $142 billion in August 2021, out of which 68% was concentrated on the Ethereum network.

That ensures more demand for Ether tokens for its ability to power smart contracts that back dapps. On the other hand, its active supply across the board anticipates declines as holders continue to lock their ETH holdings into Ethereum's proof-of-stake smart contract.

*The total value staked into the Ethereum PoS smart contract has jumped from 11,616 ETH to 7.76 million ETH in nine months. Source: CryptoQuant*

More supply expects to go out of circulation as the Ethereum network continues to burn a portion of its daily 13,000 ETH issuance following its Aug. 5 London Hard Fork upgrade. According to WatchTheBurn, the network has burned 358,616 ETH worth over $1 billion.

Presearch, Frontier and Algorand book double-digit gains as altcoins soar

September 9, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Algorand

FRONT, ALGO and PRE rallied in excess of 40% as altcoins capitalize on Bitcoin’s range-bound price action.

On Thursday, bulls made a strong showing as Algorand (ALGO) and Solana (SOL) each steamrolled to new highs even as Bitcoin (BTC) continues to flounder under the $47,000 mark.

The strong performance from the altcoins gives further credence to the argument that the market is in an 'altseason', a phase that is typically characterized by surging altcoin prices when BTC is range-bound.

*Top 7 coins with the highest 24-hour price change. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were Presearch (PRE), Frontier (FRONT) and Algorand (ALGO).

Presearch integrates Wyre into its marketplace

Presearch, a blockchain-based decentralized search protocol, registered a 61.3% gain in the past 24-hours and it appears that investors reacted positively to the project's recent addition as a search engine option on Android phones.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for PRE on Sept. 5, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. PRE price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for PRE elevated into the green zone on Sept. 5 and reached a high of 71 around 84 hours before its price began to increase by 94% over the next day.

The renewed interest in PRE comes following the platform’s integration with Wyre that allows users to purchase PRE tokens directly through the marketplace with a credit card.

Frontier prepares to go mobile

The second-biggest gainer on the 24-hour chart is Frontier, a chain-agnostic decentralized finance aggregator that supports a number of blockchains, including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain and Harmony.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for FRONT on Sept. 4, prior to the recent price rise.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. FRONT price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for FRONT began to pick up on Sept. 3 and reached a high of 72 on Sept. 4, around 48 hours before the price increased 80% over the next three days.

The surge in price on Sept. 9 comes as the project dropped a teaser video in their Twitter feed hinting at “A New Frontier” for the project and provided a screengrab of the Frontier protocol interface on a smartphone.

Algorand adoption on the rise

Algorand (ALGO), a permissionless pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol, is once again on the list of top performers after hitting a new multi-year high at $2.48.

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for ALGO have been favorable for some time.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. ALGO price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for ALGO entered the green zone coming into the week and registered a high of 70 on Sept. 4, around 3 days before the price increased by 114%.

The continued bullishness for ALGO comes as the protocol prepares to roll out governance capabilities on Oct. 1 and the project also received a big vote of confidence from the government of El Salvador after it was chosen to help develop the country's blockchain infrastructure.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.143 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 41.1%.

Near Protocol, Algorand and PowerPool rebound while Bitcoin consolidates

September 8, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Algorand

NEAR, ALGO and CVP notched gains in excess of 37% while the wider market attempts to recover from Tuesday’s sharp correction.

The wider cryptocurrency market appears to be in the early stages of a recovery with many altcoins regaining their footing after correcting by 20% to 30% on Sept. 7 when Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $43,000.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were NEAR Protocol (NEAR), Algorand (ALGO) and PowerPool (CVP).

NEAR Protocol gains 64%

The top gainer NEAR Protocol is a decentralized proof-of-stake protocol focused on offering faster transaction speeds at a lower cost to help facilitate the adoption of blockchain technology.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after dropping to a low of $5.44 on Sept. 7, the price of NEAR surged 100% to a new record high at $10.79 on Sept. 8 as its 24-hour trading volume surged 260% to a record $2.27 billion.

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

The spike in momentum for the project comes as it launches its METABuild hackathon event which is offering more than $1 million in prizes to participants.

Algorand takes steps toward decentralized governance

Algorand is a permissionless pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol focused on transaction speed, efficiency and the goal of becoming the base layer for the financial industry.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for ALGO on Sept. 3, prior to the recent price rise.

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for ALGO climbed into the green zone on Sept. 3 and reached a high of 73 around 42 hours before its price increased 62% over the next three days.

The uptick in interest for Algorand comes as the protocol prepares to launch decentralized governance features on Oct. 1 and the team is also building out its decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible token (NFT) offerings.

PowerPool launches a BSC index token

PowerPool is a project that helps users accumulate governance power in Ethereum-based protocols through the creation of token pools and community voting.

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for CVP have been favorable for some time.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. CVP price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for CVP first began to pick up on Sept. 4 and climbed to a high of 76 on Sept. 5, around 61 hours before the price increased 98% over the next day.

The spike in interest for PowerPool comes following its launch and promotion of the BSCDeFi index pool which contains the top DeFi tokens on the Binance Smart Chain including PancakeSwap (CAKE), Venus (XVS), Mdex (MDX) and Ellipsis (EPS).

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.068 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 41.9%.

ETH 2.0 Contract Exceeds 7.4 Million Ether, Close to $30 Billion Locked, Liquid Staking Pools Grow

September 6, 2021 Bitcoin.com

How the Bitcoin model can solve the social media dilemma

September 6, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Decentralized social media platform built on the Bitcoin model puts privacy first in its new messenger that can send crypto.

Social media platforms are constantly under fire for their lack of total end-to-end encryption, existing privacy policies and censorship – but a blockchain-based solution might spell the end to an era of centralized social media dominance.

In many ways, social media is a vital component of daily life for both businesses and the average consumer. Today, these platforms connect individuals with their desired type of content based on their own inputs. This streamlined feed being served to users leading them to the businesses waiting at the end, should be the perfect scenario. However, when it comes to distributing the rewards, the results are often incredibly skewed.

Algorithms constantly change to create new sources of revenue for the platform while disenfranchising users. Moreover, building these algorithms involves collecting mass amounts of data from individual users. Often, this can be just as invasive as it is effective.

Meanwhile, a complete right to freedom of speech is absent in most centralized platforms. By merely referring to the fine print in its Terms of Use, platforms can opt to police and censor comments from users.

The most crucial aspect of all is, perhaps, the need for encryption on platforms. Although most major social messaging platforms claim to have end-to-end encryption in place, they often require users to connect with a phone number. This compromises a user’s right to complete privacy.

Across platforms, these inherent problems come down to the fact that social media is by and large centralized. However, a blockchain run by equal nodes, just like any decentralized cryptocurrency, could fix this.

The Bitcoin model

A decentralized social media platform built on the Bitcoin model would put the end user back in charge of ensuring their right to privacy and eliminating these obstacles. Aside from the obvious benefits of economic decentralization, where equal value is shared between node holders and creators, a blockchain-based solution could even enhance usability.

Essentially, users can log in with their private keys and immediately pull in all the personalized settings from the blockchain. Users can then post content, vote for its quality, promote it and subscribe to creators.

The Bastyon network, recently rebranded from Pocketnet, is one such decentralized social network modeled on Bitcoin. However, although its codebase is loosely derived from Bitcoin, Bastyon uses a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm.

Creators of content are typically pseudonymous users identified by their public keys and information they choose to reveal about themselves.

Meanwhile, nodes maintain the blockchain and respond to RPC socket calls from the front end. Only if they perform these services, will they be rewarded.

Encryption and direct crypto transfers

Bastyon recently released a decentralized peer-to-peer encrypted messenger – a private messenger that is not connected to a user’s phone number. The blockchain provides a ledger that allows for an exchange of encryption keys to establish secure asynchronous channels.

In this way, all one-on-one conversations have end-to-end encryption by default, and so too do any images sent or received through the chat. As an added layer of privacy, message history is only stored for seven days.

Users will also be able to directly transfer the platform's native crypto token Pocketcoin (PKOIN) through the platform. In order to obtain PKOIN, users can trade up to 19 crypto tokens, including BTC, ETH and DOGE, on several exchanges.

Bastyon’s interface isn’t limited to one particular geography either. The platform is available in a plethora of different languages such as English, German, Mandarin, Korean, French and Russian.

According to Bastyon, virtually all of the power and wealth in the current internet landscape is concentrated in the hands of a few. The decentralized social network aims to solve this by bringing the foundations of Bitcoin to the world of internet platforms.

“Users keep jumping into centralized apps and then those platforms betray them once they become big. Bitcoin provides a blueprint for all decentralized apps, and Bastyon is really the Bitcoin of social networks,” said the project’s founder Daniel Satchkov.

Bastyon messenger is available at bastyon.com, as an Android app and a desktop app

Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor this article can be considered as an investment advice.

Altcoin Roundup: Time to rotate! Data suggests traders are shifting from NFTs to DeFi

September 3, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin Watch

Timing the market is near impossible, but these five metrics can help traders identify when a sector rotation is underway.

An important part of preserving investing profits is knowing when an asset or sector is showing signs of exhaustion and when a sector rotation is underway.

This is especially important in the rapidly moving cryptocurrency markets, which can change direction in a heartbeat and turn crypto millionaires into depressed bag holders.

Most investors know that the nonfungible token (NFT) sector has been on fire since July, and as CryptoPunks, Mutant Ape Yacht Club and pet EtherRock NFTs fetched six- and seven-figure sums, while top NFT marketplace OpenSea surpassed $4 billion in total sales. While the frenzy has been exciting, many new projects have launched across a variety of blockchain networks, and the recent decline in transaction volumes could be a signal that investors are looking to move to different pastures.

In the first quarter of 2021, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and their related tokens were the focal points for investors, but this sector cooled off in March as the NFT market underwent its first bull market. Now it appears that the tide has begun to change, and the profits made from NFT trading could be making their way back into altcoins and DeFi markets.

Here are five signs that a capital rotation might be underway from NFTs into the DeFi sector.

Large- and small-cap DeFi tokens rally

DeFi Perp is an index token on the FTX cryptocurrency exchange that comprises a basket of 25 of the top DeFi-related cryptocurrencies, including Maker (MKR), Polkadot’s DOT, Solana (SOL), Curve DAO Token (CRV), Uniswap (UNI) and SushiSwap (SUSHI).

Data from TradingView shows that the price of DeFi Perp has been on the rise since bottoming out at $5,331 on July 20, and it has since rallied 138% to a daily high at $12,771 on Sept. 2.

*DEFIPERP 1-day chart. Source:* *TradingView*

The surging price of DeFi Perp back to the $12,500 support and resistance level, which is shown to be an important level during the rally between February and May in 2021, is a sign that funds are beginning to flow back into the DeFi ecosystem just as the daily trading volumes and price floors for NFTs are on the decline.

NFT prices are cooling off

Since rapidly rising NFT prices have been the main feature catching the public’s attention, it is also a red flag and a good metric for judging the overall health of the sector. As shown in the chart below, which tracks the daily average price floor of NFTs sold in the market, the average price floor reached a high of 1.02 Ether (ETH) on Aug. 29 and has since pulled back to 0.5 ETH.

*NFT price floor tracker. Source:* *Dune Analytics*

The fact that NFTs are selling for less or that new high-volume projects are selling at lower prices could be a sign that the market may be becoming saturated and that the momentum is beginning to wane.

Active users and transactions on DeFi platforms surge

Another sign that the DeFi ecosystem continues to grow is the steadily increasing number of DeFi users over time, as shown below in data from Dune Analytics.

*Total DeFi users over time. Source:* *Dune Analytics*

New users interacting with protocols are likely attracted to the steady yields and no-hassle token staking, and Cointelegraph has reported that investors from traditional finance are also deeply interested in what DeFi has to offer.

While this metric tracks the number of unique wallet addresses that interact with DeFi protocols and it’s possible that some users have multiple addresses, the situation has become more complicated in recent times. The longer-term nature of earning a yield in DeFi via staking, providing liquidity or locking tokens on protocols has arguably led to a decline in users switching between multiple wallets and paying high gas fees to constantly move assets.

The continued entrance of new users into the DeFi space could signal that some who have made profits in NFTs are now looking to lock in profits and earn a yield, while newcomers to the market are attracted to its lower-risk opportunities.

$4,000 ETH signals a rotation in play

Another development that could signal a sector rotation toward DeFi is the rising price of Ether.

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

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of Ether has rallied 125% since reaching a low of $1,706 on July 20, with its most recent surge of 23% pushing its price from $3,134 on Aug. 30 to a high at $4,029 on Sept. 3.

With most of the top DeFi protocols located on Ethereum, the top altcoin is one of the main assets in the DeFi ecosystem and is widely used to stake and purchase other tokens.

DeFi TVL hits a new all-time high

A final metric that indicates that a sector rotation into DeFi is underway is the total value locked (TVL) on all DeFi protocols. On Sept. 2, the figure reached a new record high of $171.5 billion.

*Total value locked in DeFi. Source:* *Defi Llama*

Previous surges in TVL were in large part due to increases in Bitcoin and Ether prices, but the current push comes as both tokens trade well below their 2021 highs, indicating that the rise in TVL has more to do with the rising value of DeFi tokens and the increased use of stablecoins.

While the NFT boom might not be over, multiple data points suggest that the bullish momentum has reached an exhaustion point, and the current run-up in altcoin and DeFi prices is a signal that a rotation is in its early stages.

Want more information about trading and investing in crypto markets?

NFT whale ‘Pranksy’ pranked by fake Banksy for 97.7 ETH
Internet Computer to release 10,000 free NFTs in debut drop
Decentralized exchanges and aggregators drive DeFi growth
Surge in activity and token prices show ‘DeFi Summer 2.0’ already started
Ethereum price breaks $3,500 and hits 3-month highs against Bitcoin

NFT projects and high yield opportunities back Zilliqa’s strong rebound

September 2, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin Watch

A rapidly expanding ecosystem, lucrative staking opportunities and support for NFTs back the strong rebound in ZIL price.

One of the most important factors in the long-term success of a blockchain platform is having an active community of supporters and developers that work to showcase the capabilities of the network by creating new products and interacting with projects on the protocol.

Zilliqa (ZIL) is one project that saw its price surge throughout August as developers built out its ecosystem and made improvements to the protocol.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $0.05 on July 20, the price of ZIL proceeded to rally 145% to an swing high at $0.1244 on Aug. 24

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

Three reasons for the bullish momentum seen in ZIL include a rapidly growing ecosystem that is attracting new participants, the launch of nonfungible token (NFT) projects on the network,and attractive staking and decentralized finance opportunities that remove tokens from the circulating supply.

A rapidly expanding ecosystem

The most recent quarterly report from Zilliqa shows that the project's ecosystem now has more than 180 partners and projects building on the network and this shows that there is significant interest in the capabilities of the protocol.

As the ecosystem grows, the number of new users as determined by new wallet addresses has continued to increase by an average of 150,000 addresses per month.

Every token holder a user

Based on address growth stats, it seems we're on track to do this! This year alone, we've seen parabolic growth in April and a steady 150k+ new addresses each month since.

Utility

The 12% with ZIL on a CEX, why aren't you using your ZIL yet?

- KT pic.twitter.com/H2s2xz9BJr
— Zilliqa (@zilliqa) August 16, 2021

NFTs excite the community

A second reason for the uptick in ZIL price is the launch of NFT projects on the network.

#Zilliqa #zil #unicutes #NFT pic.twitter.com/eGNbYcN7DZ
— Unicutes (@unicutes) September 1, 2021

The NFT sector dominated headlines all throughout August and transaction volumes on platforms like OpenSea surged to a record $3 billion.

High fees on the Ethereum network also have forced crypto users to migrate to competing networks that offer decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFT trading in a lower-cost environment.

Some of the existing and soon-to-be-launched NFT and gaming protocols on Zilliqa include Unicuties, DeMons, Heroes of Lowhelm and Blox.

DeFi and staking features decrease ZIL's circulating supply

Another reason for the rising strength seen in Zilliqa is its growing DeFi ecosystem and attractive staking rewards that offer high yield returns for users.

ZilSwap, the network’s dominant decentralized exchange, has more than $61 million locked in its protocol and it regularly engages the community through governance votes aimed at improving the reward structure, liquidity and volumes.

1/ LIP-9 PASSED It was a tight race to the very end, but we greatly appreciate all our community members for participating in this vote!

The formula proposed in LIP-9 was designed to benefit $ZWAP holders long-term. ⬆️Liquidity and volume = ⬆️ Fees earned for $ZWAP holders pic.twitter.com/SypQbOaI9G
— ZilSwap (@ZilSwap) August 23, 2021

ZIL token holders can also stake their tokens on the network and earn 12.79% APY and according to Zilliqa, 34.22% of the circulating supply is currently being staked on the network.

According to the most recent quarterly report, 14% of 'tradable' ZIL is locked up in DeFi, leaving 51.2% of the available supply in circulation.

Solana hits record high with SOL price up over 218% in six weeks — What’s behind the rally?

August 27, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain

SOL price keeps rising as the U.S. securities regulator registered a Solana-centric fund for institutional investors and crypto market data network Pyth announced going live on the Solana blockchain.

Solana (SOL) prices printed another milestone of nearly $85 high on Aug. 27 as traders assessed a flurry of optimistic fundamentals, including Solana's potential foray into Wall Street.

On Aug. 24, digital asset management firm Osprey Funds registered a first-of-its-kind Solana fund with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In doing so, the New York firm hinted at giving institutional exposure to SOL markets as the token's value surged by more than 4,300% in 2021.

A day later, real-time data feeder Pyth Network announced that it is going live on Solana's proof-of-stake blockchain. The firm provides "high-fidelity streaming data" from trading firms and exchanges, which allows it to cover global market activity without depending on any single data source.

Pyth will use Solana's cross-chain communication protocol "Wormhole" to broadcast market data with decentralized applications functioning atop Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Terra blockchains.

The uplifting events assisted the SOL/USD exchange rate rise to a record high of $84.96 on Friday, up more than 218% in six weeks of trading.

*Solana daily price chart. Source: TradingView.com*

SOL bulls see higher demand prospects

Traders apparently raised their bids on the pair, anticipating that its foray into Wall Street, coupled with adoption in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, would boost the demand for SOL tokens in the future.

That is primarily because SOL serves two primary cases in the Solana network. First, users can stake their SOL holdings directly on the network or by delegating them to an active validator to secure the blockchain. In return, stakeholders receive inflation rewards proportional to their staking balance.

Second, users can use SOL as fees for conducting transactions or running smart contracts. Therefore, the more the projects get deployed into the Solana ecosystem, the higher the promise to boost the demand for SOL tokens.

The previous weeks attested to ongoing growth in the Solana ecosystem. For instance, Solana forayed successfully in the non-fungible token (NFT) sector mid-Aug with the launch of Degenerate Apes. The project saw a collection of the 10,000 pictures of comic apes selling out in just eight minutes.

As it happened, the overall trading volume reached almost 96,000 SOL (over $5.9 million at that time).

Significant move on #Solana against the market. That for me (a guess) suggests cash rotating in for the NFT market that's just beginning to warm up.
— Tyler (@TylerDurden) August 26, 2021

SOL/USD technical setup

Solana's latest upside move has prompted it to test an upward sloping trendline as resistance, which constitutes an Ascending Channel, as shown in the chart below.

*SOL/USD 4H chart featuring an ascending channel setup. Source: TradingView.com*

The SOL/USD price rally has slowed down near the Channel's upper trendline, awaiting either a bullish breakout or a pullback towards the Channel's lower trendline, with the 50-4H exponential moving average (the velvet wave) near $72.14 as interim support target.

Meanwhile, the daily SOL/USD chart also alerts potential downside risks due to overbought relative strength readings (RSI above 70). Nonetheless, strong fundamentals could keep providing bullish backstops even in the face of interim price corrections.

Proof-of-Stake