Metacade Will Offer The Biggest Selection of Arcade Games Online – And A Potential 10X Investment

There’s no question that GameFi is a burgeoning area of Web3 and one of the areas most likely to be positively impacted by the benefits of blockchain infrastructure and decentralized finance (DeFi), especially when play-to-earn (P2E) gaming is taken into consideration.

Although there are numerous projects already in the GameFi space, it’s the disruptive newcomer Metacade (MCADE) that is really making waves due to the high potential of the project and the projected returns for investors quick enough to secure their MCADE tokens in its presale.

But why does Metacade show so much potential, and why does the project have investors believing it could be a leader in the GameFi revolution?

Metacade is an unbelievably good investment opportunity

Metacade has released a groundbreaking plan to deliver an incredible set of features, putting the project in pole position to establish itself at the core of the GameFi arena. These plans, released in the form of a comprehensive whitepaper outline the project’s cohesive plan to disrupt gaming, giving gamers the ability to earn an income for playing games in a huge and helpful community hub.

At the heart of the Metacade ecosystem is the most impressive component of the platform — its flagship play-to-earn (P2E) arcade. The blockchain gaming arcade will offer the biggest selection of arcade games online and, in doing so, distinguishes the Metacade platform from the vast majority of GameFi.

It’s this differentiation that is getting many investors excited; most GameFi projects struggle to keep their user base engaged because all activity is focused around a single game. With Metacade having a vast collection of arcade games online, it means that the project is far more likely to keep users active as they play a host of different titles in the arcade.

How high could MCADE go in 2023?

The price of MCADE is likely to be tied to its platform usage, as the token will be essential for accessing key features. With an ever-growing library of games, Metacade is expected to continually attract new users to the platform. In this case, the token will remain in demand, which is an attractive quality for investors. 

Additionally, Metacade’s robust roadmap has well-considered features, like buybacks and token burns, that will likely help maintain the value of MCADE tokens in the future.

With such excitement across investment groups, it is likely that prices will jump dramatically when the token is released to the public as more and more investors are concerned about missing out secure their MCADE tokens. 

Metacade is expected to establish a high market cap in 2023 as a result of the inevitable user growth, meaning that if it were able to achieve just 25% of Axie Infinity’s all-time high market cap of $10 billion, it would mean that the price of the MCADE token would smash through the $1 mark.

Is cryptocurrency a good investment?

Cryptocurrency markets can be more volatile than other, more established assets, and that can sometimes lead novice investors to question whether cryptocurrencies are a good investment at all. In fact, there has been no better investment class over the last decade, with $100 invested in 2013 now worth more than $150,000.

All asset classes have had a tough time with the global economic turmoil, but with many experts suggesting that now may be the bottom of the market, it’s a perfect time to buy to maximize the gains made if you can find the best crypto to buy now.

What is Metacade?

Metacade has a clear ambition to deliver the largest P2E arcade, complete with the most diverse collection of arcade games online, to allow gamers to earn an income for playing their favorite titles.

The Metacade project has created a stir thanks to the stunning success of the presale, raising a staggering $5 million in just the first 10 weeks. Since then, the project has shown no signs of slowing down, having continued on to $6.2m as investors flock to secure their MCADE at discount presale prices.

How does Metacade work?

Metacade users can benefit from its extensive rewards system thanks to the robust external revenue streams. The platform will make money through paid advertisements and job listings on the site, and for access to Metacade’s gaming community. External gaming companies will also be charged a fee to launch their games on the platform. Revenue will be generated internally through pay-to-play games and tournament entry fees.

The MCADE token is the currency used throughout the platform, both for rewards and all other value exchanges. The token also benefits from staking options which are likely to reduce the circulating supply as investors who see the long-term potential stake their tokens for a passive income.

Metacade’s Metagrants scheme will empower MCADE holders to vote on the distribution of funding for game development. With talented game development teams able to pitch their ideas directly to the community, this program brings the entire community together while also driving user growth and retention.

Why should investors invest in Metacade?

Metacade looks set to be at the forefront of the GameFi revolution, and so the extremely low prices of MCADE available during the presale are a rare opportunity to get in very early on a project that has the potential to dominate a sector growing aggressively.

With 100x gains looking very possible, the presale that is already seeing so much attention is likely to sell out before long. Who can be surprised with MCADE is shaping up to be one of the best cryptos to buy now?

You can participate in the MCADE presale here.

The post Metacade Will Offer The Biggest Selection of Arcade Games Online – And A Potential 10X Investment appeared first on CoinJournal.

Bakkt to sunset app as focus turns to scaling B2B business

  • Bakkt App will officially terminate on 16 March 2023, the firm announced today.
  • However, Bakkt says app users will still access their cryptocurrencies and cash through a new web experience.
  • The company says its focus now is on scaling its business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) solutions.

Bakkt, a leading custody and digital economy provider for cryptocurrency, loyalty, and commerce, has announced its sunsetting its consumer app. Instead, the company will focus more on providing the market with scalable business-to-business (B2B) technology solutions.

However, even as it pulls the consumer-facing app, it will continue to offer a platform from which businesses can leverage the benefits of crypto and loyalty programs.

Bakkt to focus on B2B2C strategy

A press release the company published on Monday stated that app customers will still access digital assets through SaaS and API solutions. These solutions will now be available on a new, secure and compliant web platform.

Gavin Michael, President & CEO of Bakkt, commented that the move is part of the company’s “business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) strategy.

“We are laser focused on providing our partners and clients with seamless solutions that best serve their needs,” he noted. 

According to the Bakkt chief executive, discontinuing the consumer app gives it an opportunity to continue supporting the relationship the firm’s partners and clients have had with respective customers. He added:

“With this move, we are focusing our investment on our core solutions that have product-market fit and are positioned to scale quickly.”

As noted in the press release, Bakkt expects to officially sunset the consumer app on 16 March 2023.

App users will still access their crypto and cash after this date though, with this possible across all devices via new web experience. For instance, customers will still have access to crypto balances and transaction reports – the latter being helpful for tax purposes.

Crypto regulation 

Bakkt signaled its move last November with the planned acquisition of Apex Crypto, a turnkey platform by Apex Fintech Solutions, Inc. The platform offers integrated crypto trading services to over 30 fintech partners and more than 5 million customers. 

But its announcement today comes amid increased regulatory activity, particularly after last week’s news that crypto exchange Kraken had agreed to pay a $30 million fine over its staking-as-a-service offering. Kraken also agreed to halt the crypto staking service in the US. 

The latest in the crypto actions is stablecoin issuer Paxos Trust being ordered to stop issuing the BUSD stablecoin, with reports the SEC was suing the company for offering an “unregistered security.” As reported, one crypto expert believes the recent SEC actions suggest the war on crypto is just but beginning.

The post Bakkt to sunset app as focus turns to scaling B2B business appeared first on CoinJournal.

The Best Crypto Staking Platforms To Earn Passive Income in 2023

Crypto investors can benefit from advanced financial services through decentralized applications and blockchain networks. Not only do cryptocurrencies represent lucrative investment opportunities, but users can also stake to earn a passive yield. This can boost the overall return on investment and provide a passive income for anyone, anywhere in the world.

Here are the best crypto staking platforms available right now:

  • Metacade (MCADE)
  • Polygon (MATIC)
  • Aave (AAVE)
  • Polkadot (DOT)
  • Avalanche (AVAX)
  • Tezos (XTZ)
  • Cosmos (ATOM)
  • Algorand (ALGO)
  • Cardano (ADA)
  • Ethereum (ETH)

1. Metacade (MCADE)

Metacade could be the best crypto staking platform for the future. The project supports many different play-to-earn crypto games and looks destined to become a leading project in the GameFi sector.

As well as offering vast earning potential to users through several key features, Metacade offers staking to MCADE token holders. Stakers can earn a passive yield on a high-potential long-term investment, which makes MCADE staking a lucrative method of earning passive income.

Users will be able to earn tokens by leveling up in their favorite games through the Play2Earn mechanic, sharing tips and tricks through unique Create2Earn functionality, and even for beta testing new games offered on the platform through Metacade’s Work2Earn feature. In addition to beta testing as a Work2Earn offering, a crypto jobs board will be created in 2024, offering the Metacade community the opportunity to apply for a range of careers in Web3. 

With extremely high investment returns possible for the MCADE token coupled with a variety of other ways Metacade users can earn, Metacade is undoubtedly one of the best crypto staking platforms for long-term passive income.

>>> You can participate in the Metacade presale here <<<

2. Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon could be the best crypto staking platforms for passive income because of its generous rewards and popularity with software developers. It is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum that secures its network by allowing validator nodes to stake MATIC tokens. This allows for rapid transaction processing and a higher transaction throughput when compared to Ethereum layer-1.

MATIC offers between 10% and 14% to validator nodes as a reward for staking MATIC. This is earned as passive income in return for supporting the blockchain infrastructure. It can be a great way to generate more MATIC tokens for long-term investors in the Polygon network.

The network offers a useful developer toolkit and can support high-performance decentralized applications (dApps), making it one of the best crypto staking platforms to earn a passive income.

3. Aave (AAVE)

Aave could be the best crypto staking platform that supports digital loans. It is a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that supports the borrowing and lending of digital assets. Users can stake a wide variety of cryptocurrencies on Aave in a simple-to-use interface, as well as borrow digital assets against the collateral they have provided.

Polygon supports Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, Arbitrum, and other blockchains. Users can stake assets from any of these chains to earn a passive yield. As well as this, Aave allows a custom lending system where users can borrow up to 97% of the value of their collateral.

Since Aave is an over-collateralized lending protocol, it is extremely robust throughout different market conditions. Aave provides a comprehensive service for users looking to take full advantage of the DeFi experience. For this reason, it is one of the best crypto staking platforms.

4. Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot could be the best crypto staking platform for investors who are interested in supporting interoperability solutions for Web3 projects. It is a layer-0 blockchain solution that helps make  layer-1 blockchains fully interoperable. To do this, Polkadot introduces parachains and a secure bridging solution, which can help to usher in a true Web3.

Web3 has been held back by the difficulty of bridging assets across independent blockchain networks, as  layer-1 chains, such as Avalanche, Ethereum, and Bitcoin, are not typically designed to interoperate. Polkadot solves this problem and can help developers deploy dApps across any Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchain.

Staking DOT tokens can produce an APY of up to 14%, making it one of the most lucrative crypto staking platforms available. It is a strong bet on the future of interoperability, and the passive income provided by Polkadot’s crypto staking platform makes it one of the best options in Web3.

5. Avalanche (AVAX)

Avalanche is a leading layer-1 blockchain and one of the best crypto staking platforms for investors with patience to hold their tokens for the long term. The network uses a unique consensus mechanism that helps it to deliver a large transaction throughput at a low cost to its users.

Avalanche can also support the development of dApps, as it is EVM-compatible. It uses the Solidity programming language and the same kind of smart contracts as other major layer-1 blockchains, meaning it is well suited to an interoperable blockchain future.

Staking AVAX can produce over 10% yield. For long-term investors in AVAX, this can be a great way to maximize the potential for returns. For this reason, AVAX is one of the best crypto staking platforms for a passive income.

6. Tezos (XTZ)

Tezos could be the best crypto staking platform, allowing investors who want to earn passive income and support the development of dApps. It is a layer-1 blockchain that uses a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, meaning that stakers on the Tezos blockchain are helping to support the infrastructure directly.

By staking XTZ, users become validator nodes to verify blockchain transactions. This process is automatic, simple, and comes at no cost to the validator besides the tokens that are staked. In return for the service provided to the blockchain, stakers can earn passive income between 5-6% of their total stake.

XTZ is a major layer-1 blockchain that processes transactions securely, quickly, and cheaply. It can also support the development of dApps, making it one of the best crypto staking platforms available to make a passive income.

7. Cosmos (ATOM)

Cosmos is another one of the best crypto staking platforms on the market today. It is a top 50 cryptocurrency by market capitalization and can support the development of dApps. Transactions using ATOM are fast, as the Cosmos ecosystem is a highly scalable blockchain solution.

ATOM staking secures transactions on the network, as validators can receive a 10% yield on their tokens. This can help to maximize the returns for long-term investors in ATOM. Cosmos has a high potential for future returns, meaning that staking can produce a significant passive income due to the combination of annual token yield and investment return in fiat value.

Cosmos is a multi-chain blockchain, meaning that developers can create custom sidechains on the network. Together with its ability to support dApps, this can boost the overall demand for ATOM over the coming years. On balance, ATOM is a lucrative passive income opportunity and one of the best crypto staking platforms available.

8. Algorand (ALGO)

Algorand is popular with environmentally friendly investors, making it one of the best crypto staking platforms available today. It is a new-age blockchain that can support a vast amount of users, as the network can process cryptocurrency transactions at high speed and at low cost.

Algorand is also one of the greenest blockchains in Web3, boasting net carbon neutrality. Its high transaction throughput means that dApps on Algorand can serve a significant number of users without losing performance, making it an attractive option for blockchain developers.

ALGO staking can produce a 5-6% yield. Since the blockchain has a high potential for future price action, this can help investors to make a significant passive income. For this reason, Algorand is one of the best crypto staking platforms right now.

9. Cardano (ADA)

Cardano is considered to be one of the best crypto staking platforms to earn a passive income because of its high market capitalization and potential speed of transactions. It is a proof-of-stake blockchain that rewards block validators with cryptocurrency rewards, making it a lucrative option as a crypto staking platform.

The Cardano ecosystem is home to an increasing number of dApps. ADA is now a top 10 cryptocurrency by market capitalization, owing to the high-performance capabilities of the blockchain itself. The network is soon receiving an upgrade through the Hydra layer-2 scaling solution, which will increase the number of transactions per second that can be processed by Cardano to 1 million.

ADA stakers can earn between 4% and 8% yield, and there is also no lockup period. It is a great option for anyone looking to earn a passive income, as yield can be combined with investment returns to maximize the long-term return of investment.

10. Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum, one of the giants of the crypto industry, is also one of the best crypto staking platforms. After The Merge, Ethereum has become a proof-of-stake blockchain, meaning that transactions are now verified by stakers. To join the Ethereum ecosystem, anyone can stake 32 ETH and begin to earn rewards on a daily basis.

Ethereum’s crypto staking platform produces between 4% and 10% yield for block validators. While ETH is the second-most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization, this represents a great option for anyone looking to earn a passive income.

Ethereum remains the biggest Web3 ecosystem, supporting over 2000 independent blockchain projects. It was the first Turing complete blockchain and the first blockchain to support the development of dApps, giving it immense value within the world of Web3.

Is Metacade the best crypto staking platform?

The Metacade platform will soon go live and begin to offer the biggest selection of play-to-earn arcade games to the Web3 community. For now, MCADE is in its presale, which gives investors a major opportunity to buy the tokens at a low price. 

MCADE was launched at just $0.008 per token but is already rising to $0.02 during the presale. Be quick to buy MCADE before it’s too late, as this GameFi project has immense potential for future returns and is the one of the best crypto staking platforms in Web3 right now.

You can participate in the Metacade presale here.

The post The Best Crypto Staking Platforms To Earn Passive Income in 2023 appeared first on CoinJournal.

Bitcoin isn’t getting less volatile, and that’s a massive problem – a Report

Bitcoin was 26X more volatile on a weekly basis than the euro in 2022, up from 19X in 2021 and 16X in 2020

Key Takeaways    

  • There is a perception that Bitcoin’s volatility is coming down, however the data fails to back this up
  • Bitcoin’s volatility fell until 2015, but it has not improved since then
  • In comparing the asset’s returns to the Nasdaq and individual stocks, it blows them out of the water
  • Bitcoin’s average volatility vs USD on a weekly basis was 26X greater than the euro last year, up from 19X in 2021 and 16X in 2020

Bitcoin and volatility are like the two leads in a rom-com. They may have some time apart intermittently, but you know that they will get back together before long. 

But are things improving? I have written plenty about what I believe is the single biggest challenge to Bitcoin ever “achieving” anything of note – volatility. We at CoinJournal.net dove in to assess whether the situation is getting better. 

Realised volatility

The first step is charting the realised volatility. We annualised the annualised mark over a rolling 30-Day window, which in layperson’s terms means we assessed the magnitude of the movement by looking at a rolling 30-Day window. 

The chart shows two things right off the bat. The first is that Bitcoin was all over the place until 2015, which is not surprising. At that point, it was still a niche Internet currency few had heard of, and its liquidity was minimal. While this article is striving to assess whether Bitcoin’s volatility is coming down, it is hard to put any weight into pre-2015. 

The short answer is that it certainly has come down since before this time, but you don’t need much analysis to deduce that. The interesting part is whether it has continued to come down. Let’s zoom in on the time period since 2015. 

Certainly a less perceptible trend, but it does look like the tail end – that being the latter half of 2021, 2022 and the start of 2023 – may suggest Bitcoin is calming down a little. 

Upon further inspection, it doesn’t really hold, however. The period is devoid of any big isolated spikes which we have seen in the past – see March 2020 above, for example – which makes it seem like it has been serene. But aside from not offering an explosion of brief movement, the last couple of years have still offered near-constant volatility, and not dissimilar to what we have seen for much of the previous years. 

“I was expecting a little more improvement with regard to Bitcoin’s volatility,” said Max Coupland, Director of CoinJournal. “There is a common perception in the space that Bitcoin’s volatility is coming down. But the CoinJournal research team had a hard time backing this up with numbers.

In truth, while the period since 2015 has undoubtedly seen Bitcoin become mainstream and its price move sharply upwards as a result, its trademark volatility remains as fierce as ever. Bitcoin, in the short-term at least, remains more of a gamble”. 

Bitcoin is still too volatile to be a store of value

Bitcoin is still yo-yoyoing like there is no tomorrow. 

Perhaps the below chart is a more intuitive display of this. The simple reality is that, if the asset is ever to act as a store of value, it is vital that these days where it moves 5%, 6%, 7% (or more) become a thing of the past. 

It hasn’t happened to date. 

The point is a simple one, but it bears repeating. An asset can’t lay claim to being a store-of-value (and certainly not a currency) while it is oscillating so wildly. People point towards developing world currencies as unsafe to store one’s wealth (and they are correct – looking at you Lebanon, Argentina and Venezuela), but Bitcoin is still a currency that can crater 20% overnight. Is that much better?

Volatility less severe over long time periods

Like anything, the volatility of Bitcoin does settle down a little when assessing it on a larger time frame. 

The next chart plots the average daily returns over the prior 30 days. Again there is a noticeable downtrend to 2015, but not much improvement afterwards. 

Zooming in on the prior graph, looking at the period since January 2020 (i.e. the pandemic bull market and the post-pandemic collapse) shows that while these moves are not overly large – they don’t spike over 3% – these are still daily averages, meaning the gain and loss is averaged out. And even then, 3% on a daily basis is far beyond what it needs to be. 

Bitcoin’s volatility can’t compare to mainstream assets

When comparing Bitcoin to anything but other cryptocurrencies, the contrast is stark. If Bitcoin is a mainstream asset, it carries volatility unlike anything else. That, above all, is the killer point. 

An apt comparison is the Nasdaq, which is the more tech-heavy index and hence prone to more volatility. Over the last couple of years, this has rung especially true, as the world has transitioned to rising interest rates and the stock market plays a game of cat-and-mouse with the Federal Reserve. 

Tech is particularly sensitive to interest rates because profit is not a favoured word in Silicon Valley. Instead of profits, companies are commonly valued off the promise of future cash flows, with unicorns seeing fat valuations off the back of these future cashflows being discounted at 0% rates. That is no longer the case, and hence we have seen share prices collapse and layoffs flood across the sector. 

Nonetheless, comparing the Nasdaq’s volatility to Bitcoin is like comparing a great white shark to a goldfish. It’s just not a fair fight. 

Of course, the Nasdaq is an index comprised of 100 stocks, and so when I say it’s not a fair fight to compare its volatility to Bitcoin’s, that is literally the case. 

But even if we plot the volatility of some individual stocks of the Nasdaq against Bitcoin, the divergence is clear. 

In summary, Bitcoin has a hell of a long way to go. In my eyes, this has always been its biggest challenge: to overcome this volatility. If it doesn’t, then what is really the point of this asset? You can’t have a store-of-value if it is prone to massive plunges in price. 

I will finish with one more comparison – of where Bitcoin needs to get to, to illustrate how far it still has to go. To be a store of value, Bitcoin’s volatility needs to be (at least) on par with major currencies. 

The below chart compares its volatility since 2015 to the euro, the newest of the “premier” currencies, launched around two decades ago.

The final chart below shows this another way, in weekly terms. In fact, on a weekly basis, Bitcoin was 26 times more volatile than euro in 2022. It was 19X greater in 2021 and 16X greater in 2020 – yet further evidence that the volatility is not dissipating.

It’s clear Bitcoin has a long way to go. That is accepted by most. But the thought that the volatility is coming down is a misconception, at least to date. 

As for the future, well who knows?

Research Methodology

We drew price volatility measures from Glassnode, with our Analyst, Dan Ashmore, building the charts and comparing to other assets. Price data for stocks was scraped from Yahoo Finance. 

If you use our data, then we would appreciate a link back to https://coinjournal.net. Crediting our work with a link helps us to keep providing you with data analysis research.

The post Bitcoin isn’t getting less volatile, and that’s a massive problem – a Report appeared first on CoinJournal.

Expert: SEC’s war on crypto just getting started

  • Marcus Sotiriou, a market analyst at UK-listed digital asset firm GlobalBlock, says the SEC is just starting in its crackdown on crypto.
  • The analyst said this in a note to clients on Monday following regulatory moves against crypto firm Paxos and the stablecoin BUSD.
  • Sotiriou says crypto wants clarity, yet the SEC has so far failed to provide the guidance needed. 

Paxos news undoubtedly impacted markets on Monday as cryptocurrencies largely traded lower. While other market factors could have been at play, one of the negative triggers was reaction to news about Paxos and the stablecoin BUSD.

Bitcoin retreated to test support at $21,500 and Ethereum dipped to lows of $1,470, while Binance’s BNB fell below $300 to a new one-month low. The declines that also pushed the total crypto market capitalization down by more than 2.5%, came as US regulators appeared to shift another gear in their “crackdown” on crypto firms.

GlobalBlock analyst on SEC’s war on crypto: it’s “just starting”

Marcus Sotiriou, a market analyst at digital asset broker GlobalBlock, says the orders against Paxos from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suggests regulators’ war on the crypto sector has only just begun.

The analyst’s comments in a note to clients on Monday pointed to NYDFS’s order stopping Paxos from minting new BUSD and SEC’s reported lawsuit against the same firm over allegations that BUSD is an “unregistered security” as an indicator of what’s likely to come.

As for the regulator’s latest actions, Sotiriou says the accusations are not just “off the mark” but also baffling.

“The actions of the SEC appear to be way off the mark. They have labelled BUSD a security, yet hard pegged stablecoins have no expectation of profit and have a fixed price, like stored value Gift Cards,” the analyst wrote.

The SEC’s reported suit against Paxos follows last week’s announcement that the crypto exchange Kraken had reached a $30 million settlement with the agency and that the platform had agreed to halt its staking-as-a-service product.

“People are desperately trying to figure out how to offer a product legally whilst getting zero guidance,” the analyst noted. 

In his opinion, US regulators have so far failed to provide regulatory clarity for the crypto sector. Instead, the SEC is increasingly taking the “regulation by enforcement” route as shown by the 42% jump in crypto-related lawsuits in 2022.

According to the analyst, the growing number of lawsuits against crypto firms in the US suggests the SEC’s war on the sector is just starting. However, this could be at the risk of pushing crypto innovation offshore, he added.

Indeed, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao says this could be the case for the exchange if BUSD is declared a security. 

“Given the ongoing regulatory uncertainty in certain markets, we will be reviewing other projects in those jurisdictions to ensure our users are insulated from any undue harm,” the Binance chief tweeted on Monday.

The post Expert: SEC’s war on crypto just getting started appeared first on CoinJournal.