REN price dips after major Ren Protocol announcement

  • REN price fell to lows of $0.94 after Ren Protocol announced the transfer of all crypto assets to FTX debtor wallet.
  • Ren says all assets will be sent to cold storage wallets belonging to the debtor.
  • FTX/Alameda acquired Ren, a cross chain bridge protocol, in February 2022.

The price of REN (REN) fell sharply on Wednesday morning after Ren Protocol announced it would be transferring all of its assets to the FTX debtor’s wallet.

As the broader market traded cautiously amid wider anticipation of economic data later in the day, REN holders were spooked into heavy selling. REN price nosedived from above $0.10 to lows of $0.94, shedding nearly 12% of its value against the US dollar.

The sharp declines were accompanied by huge sellside volume, with data from CoinGecko showing daily trading volume had spiked by more than 45%.

REN price nosedives on major FTX-related Ren announcement

Ren Protocol is a cross-chain bridge that FTX, through its subsidiary Alameda Research, acquired in February 2022. Following the collapse of the Sam Bankman-Fried led crypto exchange last November, the platform’s assets moved to the debtors’ amid the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

Now the Ren Protocol team says the FTX “Debtor” has asked them to transfer all crypto assets it holds to cold storage wallets controlled by the debtors. The platform noted that the transfers are meant to help secure the cryptocurrencies ahead of any possible shutdowns of infrastructure and systems related to FTX.

Ren will send the cryptocurrency to segregated wallets, with assets moved from bridge protocol stored separately from other assets secured by the Debtor.

In December, Ren announced that its v.1.0 remained operational after the FTX/Alameda debacle. However, the team recognised the network could go offline and urged holders of Ren assets to bridge back to the native chains.

While the REN/USD pair has clawed back a little, the token remains vulnerable to further downside. However, buyers are battling to keep the support zone near $0.98. Some REN holders are also looking at the dip as an opportunity to buy low, pointing to the promise of Ren v.2.0.

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Bitcoin miner stock CleanSpark has upside to $12, analyst says

  • H.C. Wainwright reiterates CleanSpark Inc its top pick for 2023.
  • Analyst Mike Colonnese explained why in a research note today.
  • CleanSpark stock is already up more than 50% for the year.

Shares of CleanSpark Inc (NASDAQ: CLSK) are up nearly 15% this morning after an H.C. Wainwright analyst named the bitcoin miner his top pick for 2023.

CleanSpark stock could quadruple from here

On Tuesday, Mike Colonnese reiterated his “buy” rating on the crypto company and said its shares could climb to $12 – about a 300% upside from here.

The bullish call on Clean Spark stock arrives only hours after it revealed to have bought 45,000 new Antminer S19 XPs from Bitmain for about $145 million.

CLSK secured machines for a very attractive $23/TH, the lowest we’ve seen for these rigs, and 12% below the going rate for high efficiency ASICs based on Luxor’s Bitcoin ASIC Price Index.

With this purchase, the analyst added, CleanSpark will be able to improve its hash rate to 16 EH/s in line with the company’s year-end target.

CleanSpark stock is significantly undervalued

CleanSpark is expected to report its Q2 financial results next month. Consensus is for it to lose 37 cents a share this quarter versus 5 cents of EPS a year ago.

For the year, CleanSpark stock is up more than 50% at writing. Still, Colonnese is convinced that it’s significantly undervalued. His research note reads:

It’s trading at 46% discount to peers on market cap to deployed hash rate, which we view as unwarranted. Today’s announcement should give investors more visibility and conviction into CLSK.

In terms of fleet efficiency, CleanSpark is ahead of everyone else in the industry following today’s deal with Bitmain, the analyst concluded.

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Crypto industry “healthier” than what market prices indicate: a16z report

  • Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has released its second edition of the State of Crypto report.
  • According to the venture capital firm, the crypto industry has steadily grown over the years, even as prices flactuate.
  • a16z has also unveiled the “State of Crypto Index,” a tool to help track the health of the crypto industry.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a leading venture capital firm that backs some of the best projects in the emerging technologies industry, has released its latest “State of Crypto report”.

The Silicon Valley based VC giant says in the report that the cryptocurrency sector is healthier than what the prevailing market prices suggest.

The report also notes that cryptocurrency prices have been characterised by periods of massive gains and then crypto winters. Commeting on this, a16z researchers Daren Matsuoka, Eddy Lazzarin, Robert Hackett and Stephanie Zinn wrote:

“In the period marked by our now-annual State of Crypto report, it would be easy for a casual observer to overlook the rapid progress the crypto industry is making. Major infrastructure improvements like The Merge – a momentous achievement in decentralized and open source development – simply don’t make headlines as often as high-profile bankruptcies, busts, and flameouts.”

Crypto “healthier” than the story prices tell

a16z’s second report comes after a period of turbulence for crypto in 2022, with the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX the low point for the industry in terms of its impact as a setback.

Crypto prices tumbled towards the end of the year before making a decent recovery in the first quarter of 2023. Of this aspect, the Andreessen Horowitz report says it is easy to miss the point when it comes to overall development across the industry.

In particular, the researchers highlight Web3 technology at the latest intersection of this trajectory.

“Our 2023 report aims to address the imbalance between the noise of fleeting price movements – and the data that tracks the signals that matter, including the durable progress of web3 technology. Overall, the report reflects a healthier industry than market prices may indicate, and a steady cycle of development, product launches, and ongoing innovation,” the report states.

a16z also announced the “State of Crypto Index,” which it says is an interactive tool that will help people “track the health of the crypto industry.” According to the VC firm, the tool focuses on innovation and technological advances, rather than on the financial aspect of the industry.

The index will provide a nuanced measure of what crypto development entails, looking at 14 industry metrics, including total verified smart contracts, active addresses, DEX volume, transacting wallets and active developers among others.

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Conflux price prediction: CFX outlook after 15% spike today

  • Conflux price spiked 15% after Binance announced support for the CFX mainnet.
  • The CFX outlook on the 4-hour chart shows price recently broke out of a symmetrical pattern.
  • The RSI is trending in overbought territory, which could see CFX price fall.

Conflux price is up nearly 15% today after the cryptocurrency’s massive network activity in recent weeks. The coin’s sharp gains add to a bullish outlook for a coin that experienced a parabolic increase in the value of the native CFX token.

After trading to lows of $0.029 in late January following the brutal 2022 bear market, CFX price rose to top $0.47 in March. While prices have recently been sideways as the broader market waded in negative sentiment, the latest upside coincides with a major boost for the coin from crypto exchange Binance.

CFX/USD is also rallying at a time the crypto market cap has jumped over 4% in the past 24 hours amid Bitcoin price breaking above $30,000. 

Major altcoins rallied on Tuesday as Ethereum broke above $1,900 as ETH bulls eyed the psychological $2,000 level ahead of the highly anticipated Shanghai upgrade.

Why CFX price jumped 15% today

Conflux is a top layer 1 blockchain platform that’s regulatory compliant in China. 

The platform has recently made huge steps in its development roadmap, signaling further network growth with key partnerships, including with China Telecom, DeFi protocols platform dForce, and blockchain game platform Samurai.

On Tuesday, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume Binance announced it would support Conflux’s mainnet integration. With the support, Binance will add deposits and withdrawals for the CFX tokens. Users can access the tokens through Conflux eSpace, Conflux Core Space and the BNB Smart Chain.

CFX reacted to the Binance news with a sharp price increase. 

CFX price prediction

Conflux price recently broke out of a symmetrical triangle pattern. However, the sharp rise to the multi-week highs of $0.45, sellers appear to be returning as the 4-hour RSI suggests CFX is overbought.

Conflux price movement on the 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The 4-hour MACD indicator shows bulls remain in a strong position though and likely selling pressure as investors take profits could see CFX/USD rely on a new support level at the previous hurdle of the symmetrical triangle resistance trendline.

In the short term, a bullish outlook for Conflux price will remain in place if buyers consolidate gains above $0.42. If not, then bears can target fresh moves below $0.40, with $0.36 providing the primary support level.

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Solana on-chain staking now on crypto exchange Crypto.com

  • Solana is a top blockchain network and its native SOL token ranks among the largest by market cap.
  • SOL on-chain staking is now supported on Crypto.com.
  • Investors can earn rewards of up to 5% when they stake SOL on Crypto.com.

Solana on-chain staking is now available on Crypto.com, a leading cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore.

An announcement from the exchange on Monday revealed that Crypto.com now supports SOL on-chain staking. According to the crypto platform, SOL holders can now earn more SOL rewards when they stake on Crypto.com, with up to 5% APR.

There are also no fixed terms or minimum staking amount, the exchange announced via the Crypto.com Institutional Twitter account.

Solana among best crypto assets for staking

Crypto staking platforms are crypto exchanges, brokers, or apps that allow users to earn rewards on their crypto assets by making it possible for them to lock the tokens in wallets or staking pools for a reward that comes after a set period.

The staking process allows proof-of-stake blockchains to use staked coins to support and secure the network – which is different from the mining process of proof-of-work blockchains like Bitcoin.

Solana is the third-largest crypto asset by staking market cap, behind only Ethereum and Cardano. However, according to the latest on-chain data for staking, the Solana network boasts the largest market share when it comes to staking reward ratio.

Staking ratio refers to the percentage count of tokens eligible for staking that are being staked, and Solana’s ratio is currently at over 71%.

In comparison, Ethereum, which transitioned to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism in September 2022 via the Merge, only has staked ETH at 15.64%. Ethereum staking was introduced in December 2020 with the Beacon Chain genesis.

Cardano and Cosmos have about 67% of tokens eligible for staking.

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