Kategorie: Crypto News

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Ripple price prediction ahead of the Fed meeting

  • Ripple gained over 16% YTD
  • While the momentum is positive, it has yet to overcome resistance
  • $0.3 – $0.5 are pivotal levels for XRP/USD

This is the first important trading week of the year as three central banks (Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, and Bank of England) prepare to release their monetary policy decisions. Out of the three, the Fed’s decision is critical, as it affects the US economy and has indirect effects worldwide.

The consensus is that the Fed will increase the funds rate by 25bp this time. The risk is that it will be more aggressive – either by hiking 50bp or by delivering a hawkish message. Because markets are forward-looking, the impact of what the Fed does/says will be on the spot.

For the cryptocurrency market, the US dollar’s direction has mattered a lot lately. As the greenback weakened at the start of the trading year against its peers, it also lost ground against leading cryptocurrencies.

Take Ripple, for example. It gained +16.21% YTD, much of it on behalf of the dollar’s weakness.

What does technical analysis say about where the price might go next?

XRPUSD chart by TradingView

Ripple remains bearish while below resistance

Ripple followed Bitcoin in January and bounced from the lows. However, the bias remains bearish unless it can climb above resistance.

Three things support the bearish case.

First, the price action for the past several months is bearish, in the sense that it remained below resistance, despite the recent recovery in cryptocurrency assets.

Second, the horizontal support around $0.3 looms large. A break there puts a descending triangle in focus, and technical traders will hunt the measured move pointing to much lower levels.

Finally, since its inception, Ripple has only made a series of lower highs. No matter what the fundamentals showed, Ripple wasn’t able to climb above the previous lower high. This is bearish from a technical standpoint and deserves more attention from crypto bulls as it may signal more downside down the road.

Both for Ripple and the other leading cryptocurrencies.

The post Ripple price prediction ahead of the Fed meeting appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Fantom to release version 2 of fUSD stablecoin

  • fUSD v2 will allow for an on-chain fee system and help unlock Fantom to further institutional adoption.
  • The migration to fUSD v2 will allow for a predictable, budget-friendly on-chain fee system.
  • Liquidations of FTM positions will occur, although users will have ample time to sort such scenarios.

Layer-1 blockchain platform Fantom plans to migrate from fUSD version 1 to fUSD version.

The Fantom Foundation said in a blog announcement on 29 January that the stablecoin migration is a key goal as the developer team seeks to make the scalable next-gen blockchain more predictable and cost-effective for builders, partners and users.

 fUSD V2 will see Fantom users allocate fees in the native FTM or fUSD, with this making it easier to predict future costs based on the network usage. 

According to Fantom Foundation’s Andre Cronje, moving toV2 and allowing for an on-chain fee system will not only introduce consistency when it comes to planning, but also help unlock more institutional products.

FTM liquidations ahead of v2 launch

Fantom supports the use of FTM and fUSD in decentralised finance (DeFi), with users able to access services such as lending and borrowing. It’s for this reason that the Fantom Foundation has highlighted potential liquidations as migration from fUSD v1 begins.

The liquidations, Cronje pointed out, will occur in scenarios where the fUSD debt is either equal to or greater than the FTM or staked FTM (sFTM) backing it. In case of sFTM, Fantom says the stake will be unstaked immediately, with all rewards thereof claimed. 

The same cause of action will be taken against validators with less than the minimum stake, with this group unable to produce blocks or claim block rewards.

The timeline for v2 going live hasn’t been provided, but Fantom will help users as they look to close out positions ahead of the launch. This includes the ability to swap DAI for the Fantom stablecoin using a newly created swap tool. 

Users will get enough time to sort out themselves and benefit from advance notifications before any liquidation.

The post Fantom to release version 2 of fUSD stablecoin appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Holepunch launches decentralized P2P chat app Keet Mobile

  • Keet Mobile is a fully encrypted, P2P chat dApp for mobile devices lsunched in alpha mode with instant messaging.
  • Tether, Bitfinex and Holepunch announced Keet for desktop in July last year.
  • Keet Mobile is device agnostic and powered by Lightning Network.

Holepunch has officially launched Keet Mobile, a free, fully encrypted peer-to-peer (P2P) instant messaging application. 

The device-agnostic application is a collaboration of Hypercore-backed Holepunch, stablecoin firm Tether and crypto exchange and trading platform Bitfinex.

Keet Mobile will also support call and video chat

The P2P app’s alpha release comes a few months after the three companies announced Keet, a peer-to-peer app designed to integrate Tether (USDT), and support Lightning Network for micropayments.

Keet Mobile, which brings the app’s capabilities to mobile users, fully removes the need for a centralized entity.

According to a press release shared with CoinJournal on Monday, Keet Mobile is Holepunch’s first peer-to-peer application in a series of apps designed to “put control back into the hands of people.” Basically, users of Keet can send text, call or video chat without having to go through a third party server or operating system.

As noted above, the alpha release will initially be limited to texting only. However, the developer team aims to add audio or video calls functionality within the next few months.

Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino noted that the launch of Keet Mobile is a landmark achievement that was “unthinkable” before the Holepunch team made it a reality. Bringing the team’s p2p communication tech to mobile devices completely disrupts the idea of traditional mobile communication.

“The idea that you must give up your private data to big tech companies to do something as simple as talk to another person on a mobile device is dead,” Ardoino, also the CSO of Holepunch, added in a statement.

Tether and co announced Keet in July 2022, with the team behind the P2P project noting that the app doesn’t rely on any blockchain. Rather, as noted above, the built-in payments API will be powered by Lightning Network.

Keet Mobile Alpha is available on both the Apple App Store and the GooglePlay Store.

The post Holepunch launches decentralized P2P chat app Keet Mobile appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Premier League inks major NFT partnership with Sorare

  • Premier League and Sorare announced the four-year deal on Monday.
  • The licensing deal is worth £120 million (about $150 million).
  • Premier League fans will be able to buy, trade and sell digital collectibles of their favourite teams and players while playing Sorare Manager.

The English Premier League has sealed a four-year licensing deal with Sorare, a French-based fantasy game and digital trading marketplace.

According to a report by CityAM, the deal is worth £120 million ($150 million).

Premier League expanding fans’ NFT experience

The partnership will allow football fans, especially of the English Premier League, from across the world to build teams and compete for huge rewards. Fans looking to become Sorare Managers can take part in the Ethereum-based non-fungible token (NFT) platform’s Premier League fantasy competition.

Fans can now tap into the NFT experience, enjoying their favourite sport via digital cards, Sorare noted in a blog post. Notably, fans will be able to collect, buy and trade licensed digital collectibles featuring players from the 20 Premier League clubs.

“The team and I at Sorare are beyond excited to announce an exclusive, deep partnership with the Premier League. What a crazy ride to get there, from our club deal with West Ham in 2019 to onboarding the 20 clubs of the football heavy-weight, watched by 800m+ in the world,” Nicholas Julia, co-founder and CEO of Sorare tweeted.

Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, said that fans’ support of teams and players has and continues to evolve. The goal is thus to look for more ways to engage the supporters, which this deal with Sorare offers.

“Sorare’s digital cards and innovative online game represent a new way for them to feel closer to the Premier League whether they are watching in the stadium or from around the world. We believe that Sorare are the ideal partner for the Premier League and we look forward to working closely together,” Masters added.

With this partnership, the PL becomes the latest to join a portfolio that includes top European leagues LaLiga, Bundesliga and Serie A. Sorare also has similar partnerships with the NBA and MLB. Sorare also has sports deals with over 300 clubs. 

Sorare credits these partnerships to the input of world-class athletes,including Serena Willians, Kylian Mbappe and Rudy Gobert among others. 

The post Premier League inks major NFT partnership with Sorare appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Should you buy Ethereum amid lagging behind Bitcoin in 2023?

  • Leading cryptocurrencies started 2023 with positive momentum
  • Bitcoin, Doge, Ripple, and Ethereum move in a direct correlation
  • Ethereum has more room to rally

The cryptocurrency market started  2023 with positive momentum. As a result, all leading cryptocurrencies gained against the US dollar, and the so-called “crypto winter” from 2022 vanished.

Bitcoin is clearly the leader. It bounced strongly from the 2022 lows after losing about -65% of its value. The direct correlation between Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market is well known, but something interesting has happened since the start of 2022.

More precisely, the correlation weakened. Sure enough, other cryptocurrencies follow when Bitcoin enters a bullish or bearish market. Only this time, the extent is different.

ETHUSD chart by TradingView

Ethereum lags behind

The chart above shows the four leading cryptocurrencies and how they performed against the US dollar – Bitcoin, Doge, Ripple, and Ethereum. The correlation is obvious, but Ethereum lags.

In 2022, Ethereum fell by the most. It lost over -70% of its value before the recent rally.

While it did rally in 2023, following Bitcoin’s lead, it lags behind. More precisely, while Bitcoin, Doge, and Ripple moved more or less in a synchronized fashion, Ethereum bulls fell behind.

The recent rally reduced the cryptocurrencies’ losses against the US dollar, but not to the same extent. For instance, BTC/USD is now -49.86% lower than it was in January 2022. However, ETH/USD did not recover as much, and it is down -57.85% over the same period.

In other words, if one believes that the US dollar’s weakness continues, then it might be appropriate to bet on Ethereum’s rallying more than Bitcoin, Doge, or Ripple.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve of the United States is about to announce its interest rate decision for the first time in 2023. A press conference will follow the announcement, and the US dollar’s volatility will reach extreme levels.

The post Should you buy Ethereum amid lagging behind Bitcoin in 2023? appeared first on CoinJournal.