Monat: Februar 2023

Veröffentlicht am

Tencent eyes support for Web3 growth with Ankr, Avalanche partnerships

  • Tencent Cloud has signed an MoU with Web3 blockchain infrastructure platform Ankr.
  • The company also revealed partnerships with Avalanche, Ethereum scaling solution Scroll and Mysten Labs’ Sui blockchain.
  • Tencent Cloud is looking to help promote Web3 adoption.

Tencent Cloud, the cloud business division of tech giant Tencent, has signaled its commitment to Web3 development with a major announcement.

On 22 February, the company revealed it was looking to be a significant contributor to the evolution of Web3. Tencent made the developments public at the Tencent Cloud Web3 Build Day, an industry-focused event held in Singapore on Wednesday.

Tencent Cloud “preparing for the Web3 future”

As part of this goal, Tencent Cloud has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and sealed strategic partnerships with multiple blockchain platforms. Tencent’s roadmap towards the objective includes development of blockchain API services and foundational infrastructure for growing the Web3 global community.

Poshu Yeung, Senior VP at Tencent Cloud International, commented on these collaborations, noting that the company is bullish on the future of Web3.

“With more businesses now keen to explore and adapt to an efficient, transparent digital future, we are ready to leverage our many years of technical experience in the fields of games, audio, and video to provide strong technical support for Web3, and work with industry partners to create a more immersive experience and nurture a better Web3 ecosystem,” Yeung added.

Tencent partners Ankr, Avalanche and other blockchain platforms

As highlighted in our price prediction for Ankr (ANKR), Tencent Cloud has signed an MoU with the Web3 infrastructure provider in a collaboration that looks to help develop a suite of blockchain application programming interface (API) services.

Tencent also announced strategic partnerships with Ava Labs’ smart contracts blockchain platform Avalanche, zkEVM zk-Rollup platform Scroll and Mysten Labs’ Layer-1 blockchain Sui. The collaborations will help accelerate Web3 adoption, the firm said.

Apart from the three partnerships, the company has unveiled its Metaverse-in-a-Box product, a one-stop solution that offers high-performance, out-of-box software development kits (SDKs). The low-code solution offering provides for wide application across gaming, media and entertainment.

The post Tencent eyes support for Web3 growth with Ankr, Avalanche partnerships appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

Ankr price prediction: ANKR outlook after Microsoft and Tencent partnerships

  • Ankr (ANKR) price is up 70% this past week, while positive news has helped its value more than double on the 30-day timeframe.
  • Ankr has struck partnerships with Microsoft and Tencent.
  • The price outlook for ANKR is a potential retest of the resistance line at $0.058 and move higher, or a flip to recent demand zones.

The Ankr (ANKR) price soared to its highest price since August 2022, with bulls pushing past $0.05 to test a major resistance area.

While the token has pared some of the gains on Wednesday, the massive daily candle seen on Tuesday has helped to maintain weekly gains at 70% and 30-day gains at over 100%.

Ankr price forecast amid mega Microsoft and Tencent partnerships

ANKR’s breakout to highs of $0.058 happened as tech giant Microsoft announced a partnership with the blockchain platform. 

As covered by CoinJournal, the deal between Ankr and Microsoft is set to offer node services, and will focus on making it easy for enterprises and organizations to access blockchain data.  Microsoft will support the service via its Microsoft’s Azure marketplace.

The partnership with Microsoft comes on the back of another major collaboration with Tencent Cloud. In an announcement, the company said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Web3 infrastructure provider. The partners will jointly work on a “suite of blockchain API services” as they help power Web3 growth.

The news has greatly aided ANKR price action over the past two days, with the cryptocurrency now trading roughly 40% higher since the huge candle on Tuesday.

What’s next for the Ankr (ANKR) price?

The ANKR price is up about 6% on Coinbase as of 13:30 ET on 22 February and is changing hands around $0.049.

While it has decreased from yesterday’s highs, the price is still near a key resistance line and a breakout could see it not only retest the $0.058 supply wall, but offer bulls a likely target to early May and early April resistance lines at $0.066 and $0.100 respectively. The daily and weekly RSI indicators are trending bullish to support this outlook.

Ankr price chart showing major gains in the past two days. Source: TradingView.

But if the price turns bearish short term, a revisiting of old recent demand zones at $0.031 and $0.015 could be in play. Matthew Dixon, CEO of crypto ratings platforms Evai predicts ANKR price could even dip to its all-time low.

The post Ankr price prediction: ANKR outlook after Microsoft and Tencent partnerships appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

Are BTC mining stocks still a good bet after inflation ticked up in January?

  • U.S. consumer prices were up a more than expected 6.4% in January.
  • Bitcoin mining stocks still gained near 20% in the week ended Feb 19th.
  • Mike Colonnese reiterated his bullish view on BTC miners today.

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics said consumer prices were up a more than expected 6.4% in January. Still, H.C. Wainwright & Co analyst Mike Colonnese remains bullish on bitcoin miners.

Mining stocks gained near 20% last week

Colonnese quoted the price action for the week that ended on February 19th to defend his view in a recent note.

Despite inflation keeping well above the Fed’s 2.0% target, BTC gained about 12% in the said week prompting an even bigger near 20% increase in mining stocks.

That’s particularly encouraging when compared to the benchmark S&P 500 index that actually lost 0.3% in the week ended February 19th. Colonnese also said in his research note:

BTC prices also responded positively to news on 2/15 of the SEC’s proposal to expand existing qualified custodian rules for client assets held with investment advisers to crypto assets.

Hashprices touched a four-month high

A 9.1% week-over-week increase in the network hash rate to 319 EH/s also fed into his constructive view on BTC miners. Continued upside in bitcoin prices pushed hashprices up to $0.08/TH in the said week – a more than 12% increase.

The aforementioned SEC proposal aims to protect investors against a qualified custodian bankruptcy. To that end, Colonnese wrote:

We view the proposal as a net positive, so long as new requirements for qualified crypto custodians are not onerous, as proposed changes could increase investor protections, and instill greater confidence in crypto ecosystem.

Of the six bitcoin mining stocks he covers, Colonnese currently has a “buy” rating on five.

The post Are BTC mining stocks still a good bet after inflation ticked up in January? appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

BUSD briefly falls to $0.20 on Binance

  • Binance USD (BUSD) temporarily plunged to $0.20 on Binance on Wednesday.
  • The depeg against DAI happened after a single $647,000 sell order.
  • BUSD quickly regained its $1 peg, with the Binance orderbook showing a $3.38 million aggregated sell order.

Stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) briefly depegged to 20 cents on Wednesday, with the BUSD token losing its peg against the DAI stablecoin.

The stablecoin’s plunge to $0.20 happened amid a liquidity issue on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

BUSD plummets after single $647k sell order

According to on-chain data, BUSD’s sharp depeg resulted from a single $647,000 sell order. However, there was an instant move back to the dollar peg against the DAI stablecoin as arbitrage traders acted swiftly to plough the opportunity by buying the token lower and selling it on other exchanges. The action quickly saw BUSD back to $1 on Binance.

The Binance orderbook is showing a $3.38 million aggregated sell order magnitude from the $1 to $0.20 slip. As such, it now needs $3.38 million in market sell orders for the stablecoin’s price to dip to today’s low again.

The temporary depeg against DAI for BUSD comes in the wake of regulatory push from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After NYDFS ordered BUSD issuer Paxos to cease minting the stablecoin, the SEC announced it was suing the company for issuing an unregistered security.

The developments affected market sentiment and saw Paxos end its relationship with Binance. On its part, Binance revealed it could look at alternative stablecoins, including the potential to revisit algorithmic options as BUSD witnessed massive withdrawals.

The post BUSD briefly falls to $0.20 on Binance appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

How Web3 can change social media forever

If Karl Marx were around today, he would be forced to concede that social media is the opium of the people. The current internet generation is beholden to TikTok, YouTube, Snap, Insta et al: platforms that control their data, their identity, and their freedom to interact with their fellow humans.

As the saying goes, if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. While few begrudge social media giants the right to monetize, there is a growing sense that this has come at the expense of user experience. As disaffection with social media giants grows, web3 platforms have been making overtures to webizens. But can new tech make social media great again, or is it irreparably broken?

Time, money, and social media

It might not seem like it as we watch our 100th TikTok in a row, but time is the greatest resource we have. That’s why we grumble when our social media binging is interrupted by adverts and pop-ups. Gripe as we might, however, web2 is monetized this way because it works. The user experience might suck, but for as long as users suffer the constant interruptions and privacy intrusions, social media platforms will continue foisting them upon them.

If web users are to take control over their social media experience, they will also need to take the ball and play elsewhere on platforms whose business model is radically different. In practice, this means venturing into web3: blockchain-connected platforms that allow users to choose what they value more: time or money.

Web3’s take on the Attention Economy

In the digital age, there is increased competition for people’s attention, which has become a valuable commodity. 

The attention economy, as it’s known, has prompted the rise of new business models such as targeted advertising and subscription-based services, which rely on capturing and retaining user attention in order to generate revenue. Nowhere has this monetization model been more eagerly latched onto than in web3.

The core principles of web3 are user sovereignty, privacy, and freedom from opaque data storage and reselling. But if web3 platforms aren’t able to sell user data, how are they meant to generate revenue?

Snapmuse provides a case study in what a user-centric social media platform might resemble. It’s designed to directly connect creators and their fans, allowing vloggers to directly monetize from their staunchest supporters who earn exclusive perks in return.

This business model, which is radically different to the tried-and-tested ad model favored by web2, relies on a few things to make it work. 

Firstly, creators need to build and maintain an audience that feels passionately about their content and is willing to subsidize it. It also requires viewers and creators alike to break the chains of web2, eschewing the familiar confines of YouTube for the brave new world of web3.

Convincing web users to migrate to new social media platforms is something of a chicken and the egg problem – which Snapmuse is solving with a carrot and a stick. The web3 platform has been seeing success through convincing influencers to migrate, taking their most ardent fans with them. With YouTubers receiving just 55% of the ad revenue their shows generate, there are ample incentives for creators to take their business elsewhere.

Giving a voice to the voiceless

Not everyone is willing to spend money on supporting their favorite creators; in fact the majority would rather suffer ads and trackers galore than dip into their own pocket, even for creators whose shows they love. But if a fraction of fans are prepared to pay for content, it’s enough to create a robust economy in which creators are fairly remunerated for their time and viewers for their attention.

The emancipation of social media users is long overdue. For too long, the viewers of popular video platforms and users of social media networks have been treated as product, not people. There to be advertised at, targeted, tracked, and monetized, disenfranchised and – should they voice discontent – deplatformed.

Social media users deserve an upgrade. Web3 might not be for everyone, but if it captures a slice of the attention economy, it will have liberated millions and leveled the playing field for creators and viewers alike.

The post How Web3 can change social media forever appeared first on CoinJournal.