Why is RUNE up by nearly 20% today?

ThorChain (Rune) logo on a cell phone screen

RUNE is one of the best performers amongst the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap.

The broader cryptocurrency market continues its recovery, adding more than 2% to its value in the last 24 hours.

Thanks to the positive performance, the total cryptocurrency market cap has surpassed the $1.9 trillion mark again and could soon reach $2 trillion.

Bitcoin is up by more than 3% in the last 24 hours and now trades above $41k per coin. If the positive momentum persists, Bitcoin could surpass the $43k resistance level soon.

However, RUNE, the native token of the THORChain ecosystem, is the best performer amongst the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap. RUNE is up by 19% in the last 24 hours, outperforming the other major cryptocurrencies. 

The primary catalyst behind RUNE’s ongoing rally is the recent report by Delphi Digital highlighting the growth of the THORChain network over the past few months.

According to the report, the trading volume and total value locked (TVL) on decentralised finance (DeFi) projects on THORChain reached $162M and $549M, respectively in March.

The figures were both all-time highs, indicating the growth of the blockchain in recent weeks.

Key levels to watch

The RUNE/USDT 4-hour chart is one of the most bullish amongst the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap. The technical indicators show that RUNE could experience further gains in the coming hours.

The 14-day relative strength index of 59 shows that RUNE is moving towards the overbought territory. The MACD line is above the neutral zone, indicating bullish momentum.

At press time, RUNE is trading at $9.1 per coin. If the bulls remain in charge, RUNE could surpass the first major resistance level at $10.795 before the end of the day. 

However, it would need the support of the broader cryptocurrency market to trade above $12 for the first time since March.

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Ripple vs Stellar: Better Buy Between XRP and XLM?

Ripple and Stellar are some of the biggest cryptocurrencies in the world. The two have a market capitalization of over $35 billion and $4.9 billion, respectively. They also have a common history considering that Stellar was created by a co-founder of Ripple. So, in this Ripple vs Stellar analysis, we will identify the one that is a better buy.

Ripple vs Stellar

Ripple is a blockchain project in the money transfer industry. It is governed by Ripple Labs, a company that partners with other firms in the financial sector. It solves the money transfer challenge by providing on-demand liquidity (ODL) feature and the XRP token. In the past few years, Ripple has established partnerships with numerous companies like Santander and Azimo.

Stellar is also in the money transfer industry. It solves the challenge by letting people create open representatives for different currencies like the US dollar, euro, and the Japanese yen. It also has an SDK that companies in the industry can use to speed up transactions. As shown below, Ripple and Stellar have had a similar performance in the past few years.

The case for Ripple

There are several reasons why many people believe that Ripple is a better investment. First, it has a longer track record than Stellar since it was established in 2013. As a result, it is a better-known brand than Stellar. Second, Ripple has a long runway for growth considering that developers will soon start building using its platform.

Third, while Ripple has gone through challenges, it has maintained most of its past relationships. It works with some of the leading companies in the financial industry. Further, analysts believe that the SEC vs Ripple case has pushed it to become undervalued. 

However, a common concern is that XRP is not really a cryptocurrency because of the massive control that Ripple has. Here’s how to buy Ripple.

The case for Stellar

The next part of the Ripple vs Stellar is to look at the case for Stellar. First, Stellar is an open platform that has been used to build some well-known tools. For example, it was used to build USD Coin, one of the most popular stablecoins globally. USDC was built by Circle, a company that is valued at over $10 billion. 

Third, Stellar is already used by developers from around the world. Some of the popular companies using Stellar are ClickPesa, SatoshiPay, and CoinQuest among others.

XRP vs XLM: better buy?

In my experience, I believe that Ripple is a better buy than Stellar because of its strong brand. I also view the current SEC vs Ripple case as a net positive for the coin. I expect that the ruling by the judge will be a bit positive for the coin and push more investors to it.

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Bitcoin vs Ethereum: Which crypto is a better buy?

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two biggest cryptocurrencies in the market with a combined market cap of over $1.2 trillion. The two coins have also generated substantial returns to their shareholders in the past decade. In this Bitcoin vs Ethereum piece, we will identify the one that is a better investment for long-term investors.

Bitcoin vs Ethereum

Bitcoin and Ethereum are blockchain projects with different goals. BTC was designed as an alternative currency while Ethereum was built with smart contract capabilities. As a result, many developers have used Ethereum’s platform to build their decentralized products like Aave and Uniswap. 

In terms of performance, the two have had spectacular returns in the past decade. And a closer look shows that a close correlation exists between the two. Bitcoin has risen by about 18,700% since 2015 while Ethereum has gained by over 22,000% in the same period. This means that Ethereum has been a better investment than Bitcoin.

The case for Bitcoin

There are several reasons why many investors believe that Bitcoin is a better investment than Ethereum. First, as the first cryptocurrency on record, Bitcoin has a better brand name than Ethereum. This explains why many institutional investors prefer holding it to Ethereum. Second, it has a limited supply, which means that it will keep getting rare over time.

Third, BTC is viewed as digital gold, which explains why many people invest in it. And finally, Bitcoin is an autonomous organization that is managed by the community. Ethereum is different because of the role that the Ethereum Foundation plays.

The case for Ethereum

Meanwhile, when comparing Bitcoin vs Ethereum, many inventors believe strongly in Ethereum for several reasons. First, they believe that Ethereum has more use-cases than Bitcoin. 

For example, the platform has been used extensively to build decentralized applications in the DeFi, metaverse, and NFT industries. Examples of leading apps in Ethereum are Uniswap, OpenSea, and Aave. Therefore, as these industries grow, the Ethereum price will keep rising.

Second, Ethereum is addressing its carbon footprint issue by transitioning from a proof-of-work network to a proof-of-stake platform. This process is going on and analysts expect that the merge will happen in the third quarter of 2022. Therefore, Ethereum will be more attractive to ESG-focused investors.

Third, Ethereum has additional features that Bitcoin lacks. The most important one is staking, which happens in Ethereum 2. As a result, it is possible to earn money by simply buying and holding the coin.

Therefore, because of these features, in my opinion, I believe that Ethereum is a better investment than Bitcoin. 

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Raoul Pal says its likely ‘the market has found its bottom’

Raoul Pal, the founder and CEO of Real Vision and Global Macro Investor, believes the crypto market has “found its bottom” and that new upside momentum is likely.

The Real Vision CEO made his comments during an interview with Layah Heilpurn, with his outlook coming at a time Bitcoin and the rest of crypto is looking to bounce after a bout of fresh declines over the past few days.

Bitcoin, which traded to lows near $39,000 this week, has recovered some of the losses to currently hover near $41,200. The BTC-USD pair is 4% up in the past 24 hours, while the crypto market capitalisation has bounced 3%.

Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), BNB (BNB) XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) have all added more than 3% in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and Avalanche (AVAX) are some of the biggest crypto gainers on the day so far.

Crypto didn’t make a new low

According to Pal, the crypto market has in the past several months been hit by various macro developments. However, no new low has been made since the last bottom in 2021 despite several likely negative triggers.

It’s a scenario that suggests crypto resilience and that that could point to a low already being in, although no one can with certainty predict the market.

The balance of probabilities is that we made the low last year, we retested the low this year and I think the low is in,” he noted.

He believes crypto’s seen “everything” that could have helped push prices to a new low. That hasn’t happened so far. He told Heilpurn:

I think we’ve thrown a war, 8.5% inflation, the Fed raising interest rates all at crypto, we’ve thrown the Chinese ban, we’ve thrown so much at it and [yet it]didn’t make a new low. Usually, that’s usually a signal the market has found its bottom.”

A slowing economy could trigger fresh upward action

On fresh catalysts for crypto prices, Pal thinks a slowdown in economic growth would be top of the list. This is a scenario that will trigger buying pressure in assets that “tend to outperform in low growth environments.”

He says that a change in the economic landscape could see “people fear inflation less and start fearing growth more.”According to Pal, this is when long-duration assets (and crypto is one such asset that loves a slowing economy) begin to outperform. 

In the stock market, Cathie Wood’s ARKK is a good example.

Pal also talked about Bitcoin’s four-year cycle narrative, noting that these are likely over given the market’s size today compared to during the early years. The cycle could yet have an impact, but that could be on a smaller scale as further adoption reduces the wild volatility, he added.

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Ethereum Merge could delay beyond Q2, says ETH developer

Ethereum Foundation developer Tim Beiko has hinted at a potential further delay to the Ethereum’s final switch to the much anticipated proof-of-stake mechanism.

The ‘Ethereum Merge’, it appears, will now take place “a few months” after June, yet another delay that pushes the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade beyond Q2 2022.

Beiko, who believes Ethereum miners should not be investing in new mining equipment at the moment, hinted at the delay early Wednesday morning.

It won’t be June, but likely in the few months after. No firm date yet, but we’re definitely in the final chapter of PoW on Ethereum” he noted.

What’s the Ethereum Merge?

On 1 December 2020, Ethereum’s Beacon chain went live, introducing the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to the Ethereum network.  It marked a new milestone in the ETH ecosystem’s push to transition from energy-intensive PoW mining.

But the Beacon chain runs parallel to the Ethereum Mainnet, which continues to use mining to secure the network.

The Merge is set to see the Mainnet and the Beacon chain become one, with mining being dropped wholly for staking as a way of securing the network. The “merge” is also eyed as the predecessor of shard chains, a key milestone in the quest for scalability, security and sustainability.

This is critical to Ethereum as it looks to secure even more value for society. The blockchain network currently anchors the most decentralised finance (DeFi) projects and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) among other applications.

 The merge was projected for the second quarter, according to an upgrades page on the same.

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