Is Ethereum (ETH) a buy after the gas fees are down?

  • Ethereum gas fees are 62% lower than the previous month

  • Web3 and NFTs drive Ethereum Outperformance

  • Ethereum “Protocol 2.0” is in focus

Ethereum (ETH/USD) is the native token of the Ethereum blockchain that has reached an all-time high at the $4868.00 level in November 2021. Since then, the price showed a corrective momentum where the current price stands at $4060.38.

Ethereum bullish factors: what investors should know

Ethereum transfer was more expensive a month ago, where users had to pay $22.80 or 0.0056 ETH per transaction. However, things have changed now, and the current transaction fee is $23.34, which is more than 62% lower than a month ago.

Ethereum investors passed a profitable year in 2021 that came from the massive surge in Web3 and NFTs. According to some crypto enthusiasts, Ethereum is a technology that has a more stable database than Bitcoin. The current key price driver for Ethereum is the upcoming “Protocol 2.0,” where the current energy-intensive “proof of word” will be shifted to the Proof of stake method. As a result, the Ethereum mining energy consumption might fall by 99% that would massively adopt users with a future price appreciation.

Should you buy Ethereum (ETH)?

Ethereum showed a decent return in 2021, where the price displayed a 400% gain compared to its rival Bitcoin, which barely provided an 80% YTD return. Moreover, the most recent price swing has a bullish break of structure at the 4060.00 level, a significant buying factor of the ETH/USDT price.

Source – TradingView

Although the current price is facing a dynamic resistance from the 20 EMA, we expect intense buying pressure in the coming days. In that case, any bullish rejection in the daily chart from 3662.52 support of 2927.68- 2646.52 demand zone has a higher possibility of extending the current bullish vibe above the 5000.00 psychological level.

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Polygon co-founder on DeFi applications, NFTs on the Ethereum layer 2 solution

  • All the popular dApps on Ethereum are now using Polygon, says co-founder Sandeep Nailwal

  • The latest Ethereum-based dApp to look to the layer-2 solution is the leading decentralised exchange platform Uniswap

  • He says sharding when it finally happens, might not help Ethereum scale “enough” to navigate the current challenges of a slow network and high gas prices.

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has said that all the major decentralised finance (DeFi) applications built on the Ethereum network now use the layer two protocol, with Uniswap the latest to signal that move.

Nailwal made the comments during a recent interview, noting that the Polygon network offers the scalability and low gas fees that developers and users are after as Ethereum continues to see network limitations related to congestion and high gas fees.

Asked to comment about some of the DeFi projects currently using the Polygon network, Nailwal noted that “all” the Ethereum-based DeFi protocols were using Polygon. He said that even Uniswap, the leading decentralised exchange built on Ethereum has its community looking to launch on Polygon blockchain.

He pointed out that as for the popular dApps; the major ones currently using the layer-two solution are Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE), and Decentraland (MANA).  According to him, about $5 billion to $6 billion is currently the total value locked (TVL) across all the bridges using the blockchain.

Polygon fees is “a fraction of a penny”

Nailwal also compared gas fees and network transaction speeds between Polygon and Ethereum. Users pay 0.001 MATIC in gas fees on Polygon, a “fraction of a penny” compared to the huge gas prices that users often have to bear while using the Ethereum network, he explained.

Of the issue of network speed, he noted that Polygon’s block time is around 2.3 seconds, compared to Ethereum’s 15 seconds. In his view, even ETH 2.0 might not immediately help solve the problem of scalability.

He believes that Ethereum’s switch to a proof-of-stake (PoS) network will not change much in the way of transactions per second (TPS). He sees the leading smart contract’s speed probably go from 13 to 20 TPS.

Will sharding scale Ethereum “enough”

According to the Polygon co-founder, that’s unlikely. He notes that ETH 2.0 might succeed in increasing throughput to 20 transactions per second, still too low and that wouldn’t change that much even when sharding finally happens in three to five years.

A quick calculation of a projected 64 shards and 20 TPS for each would only bring the speed to 1,280 transactions per second, he opined.

That’s still not enough for the entire world,” he added during the interview.

Dolce and Gabbana, Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey minted NFTs on Polygon

Nailwal also talked about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), saying that six to seven out of 10 gaming companies are building NFTs on the network. So far, the most notable drop being that of Dolce and Gabbana, which minted and sold one for $7 million.

Other recognisable NFTs minted on the blockchain include those by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Block’s Jack Dorsey (the former Twitter CEO minted an NFT of his very first tweet) and billionaire investor Mark Cuban.

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Matrixport co-founder says crypto has potential to grow to a $10+ trillion market

  • Jihan Wu says the future of crypto could include exponential growth to a market worth over $10 trillion.

  • Bitcoin’s rally to an all-time high above $69,000 led the crypto market to a landmark breakout to $3 trillion in market cap in November.

  • Wu says even if 95% of projects fail, the 5% that thrive will have the potential to hit a valuation in the tens of trillions of dollars.

A decade of growth since the launch of Bitcoin has seen many market observers say that broader acceptance and wider institutional adoption means cryptocurrencies are here to stay.

This is also the view of Jihan Wu, a former CEO of Bitcoin mining company Bitmain, and currently the co-founder and chairman of Singapore-based financial services firm Matrixport. He is also the co-founder of Bitdeer Technologies, a crypto mining firm also based in Singapore.

Wu lays bare his long-term assessment of the market in a recent interview with Forbes, stating that even if most of the digital assets were to crash and disappear, those that survive will likely experience massive growth.

Crypto’s volatile yes, but…

The global cryptocurrency market capitalisation recently topped the $3 trillion mark as Bitcoin and other digital assets rallied to new all-time highs. However, the total market cap has since dipped, with Bitcoin losing over 30% of its value in a month as it dropped from highs of $69,000 to test support below $45,000.

Despite the price collapse, Wu is optimistic long term and sees the trajectory continues to be that of growth. He notes in the interview that volatility is part of the crypto market today, but as the market matures, long-term gains will dwarf any of the wild price fluctuations seen over the years.

Even if 95% of today’s coins lose all their value and disappear, the remaining 5% will grow massively,” the crypto billionaire told Forbes during the interview.

He says the belief that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have an enormous potential for growth saw him and Matrixport’s other co-founder John Ge Yuesheng launch the company in early 2019.

He and Ge Yuesheng were at the time convinced that despite the bearish outlook for Bitcoin and other digital assets, the industry would see “rapid growth in the future.” 

The two think it’s possible for the industry to grow to “tens of trillions of dollars.”

Wu calls DeFi a “breathtaking” innovation

Among sectors Wu is bullish about is the decentralised finance (DeFi) space, which he says is a “breathtaking” innovation.

In 2021, you could also add non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to that list of crypto innovations to spike interest across the market. And Wu believes that such growth points to the direction crypto is taking. He sees most crypto users being ‘here to stay’.

In his opinion, what crypto investors need most now are “advanced products” tailored towards meeting investment and wealth management goals. 

On regulatory uncertainty

Over the years, regulatory uncertainty has been, and remains, one of the biggest issues in the crypto market. Various crypto market executives and experts have called on authorities to seek regulations that support, not kill innovation.

Wu holds a similar view, but the former Bitmain chief says cryptocurrencies are unlike traditional finance systems and that the limitations that weigh down the legacy systems are unlikely to hamper crypto’s development.

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Top 5 Best Altcoins to Invest in for 2022

2021 was a great investment for some of us. Some rode the dogecoin bubble, some turned billionaires from Ethereum’s all-time highs while unfortunately, some missed out on the biggest bull moves of the decade.

But what if there was a way to know about these moves before they happened? What if you could discover the top 5 best altcoins you can invest in for 2022. If you ever wondered about that, today’s your lucky day because, in this article, we will explore 5 of the best altcoins you can put your money in the coming year.

1. Terra (LUNA)

LUNA is a cryptocurrency developed by Terraform- a lab owned by Do Kwon and Daniel Shin. It is being hosted on the Terra blockchain. Terra blockchain, like Ethereum blockchain, is a specialized blockchain.

It is a blockchain network that works around the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies. It utilizes algorithms that produce stable coins or crypto assets with stable values. This is achieved by linking them with external assets like gold or US dollars.

The Terra protocol helps in creating fiat-like crypto assets that have a public ledger and is settled instantly with low transaction fees. It is the first of a kind. LUNA is the native staking token of the Terra blockchain which is used in mining and for governance.

By governance, this implies that users and validators have the power to effect changes to the blockchain. They submit, vote, and implement proposals. If you invest in LUNA, you can earn more by staking it with validators. These are the people who record and verify transactions on the blockchain to earn rewards from gas, stability fees, and swap fees.

The more users interact with the Terra protocol, the more the value of LUNA will increase. Like Ethereum that opened the doors to smart contracts, thereby increasing in value with time, LUNA is the next in line with the need for more stable coins. As we are drawing nearer to 2022, you can add some LUNA to your portfolio to avoid missing out in the long run.

LUNA is currently trading at $92.90 with a market cap of $31.1b. You can buy it on Binance, KuCoin, MEXC Global, and Hotbit, among others. It is currently ranked ninth on both CoinMarketCap and Coingecko.

2. Aave (AAVE)

AAVE is the native token of Aave. Aave is a decentralized lending platform that oversees the lending and borrowing of crypto assets. Users borrow, lend, and earn interests without the involvement of a third party.

Aave was founded by Stani Kulechov in 2017 under the name ETHLend. However, in September 2018, the name was changed to Aave, during which it changed from a system that pairs lenders and borrowers (that is, a P2P lending system) to a funds pooling system.

This change made earning of interests easier and faster. The Aave protocol operates on the Ethereum blockchain, and it allows users to lend and borrow about 30 cryptocurrencies, including ETH, MANA, BAT, and so on. It is aimed towards creating an open-source ecosystem where decentralized lending services can be easily accessed.

Holders of AAVE don’t get charged a fee if they take out AAVE loans. Likewise, they get a discount on fees if they use AAVE as collateral. Similarly, they can borrow slightly more if they use AAVE as their collateral.

Asides from the lending services, the Aave protocol offers other products like Aave Pay, Aave Clearing, and Aave gaming among others. Investors earn from Aave by lending or holding AAVE. As a lender, you will enjoy over 3% annual percentage yield.

You can also generate profits by taking out flash loans. Flash loans are issued and settled within the same transaction before another block is formed (13 seconds) and require no collateral.

AAVE derives its value from playing a central role in managing the Aave protocol. It allows users to decide the changes they want to see in its rules and protocols. Also, it derives value from its limited supply. This is due to burning 80% of fees generated from services. Limiting its supply will help increase its value if demand remains constant.

With the growth in the adoption of cryptocurrencies, there would be a need for decentralized lending services also. AAVE is currently trading at $225.95 with a market cap of $3.04b. You can buy AAVE on Binance, OKEx, and MEXC Global.

3. Solana (SOL)

Solana (SOL) is the native token of the Solana blockchain platform. It shares similarities with the Ethereum blockchain.

The Solana blockchain was launched in April 2019 to host decentralized scalable and user-friendly applications by the Solana Foundation.

Asides from serving as a cryptocurrency, it can be used as smart contracts that execute the terms of a contract automatically when the necessary conditions are met. It can be used to run non-fungible tokens. Also, it can be used to create and use permissionless decentralized financial systems.

Similarly, it can be used to create decentralized applications such as games, healthcare, social media, etc. It operates a censorship-resistant network in verifying transactions with its proof-of-history model, alongside the proof-of-stake model. This allows swift and secure processing of transactions.

Since its launch, SOL has experienced over an 11,000% increase to reach an all-time high of $259 from about $1. It currently trades at $179 with a market cap of $55.4b. It is ranked the fifth cryptocurrency of all time behind BTC, ETH, and BNB.

Due to its shared similarity with the Ethereum blockchain, investors compare it with ETH. However, unlike ETH, Solana is already operating on a proof-of-stake model. Also, Solana can process more transactions per second with an average cost of $0.00025 per transaction compared to Ethereum.

It is bound to increase due to the high return on its risk profiles while still being volatile. It is certainly one of the altcoins to invest in for 2022. You can buy SOL on Binance, Huobi Global, Gate.io, Poloniex, etc.

4. Cardano (ADA)

ADA is the native token of the Cardano blockchain used in facilitating P2P transactions. The Cardano blockchain is an open-source decentralized platform that runs on a proof-of-stake model called Ouroboros.

It was initially launched in September 2017. It was created to solve the problems, such as interoperability, scalability, and regulatory compliance faced by other cryptocurrencies. It was founded by Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood. It is one of the first blockchains built using the Haskell programming language.

The Cardano blockchain can be used to run smart contracts and develop secure and scalable decentralized applications (dApps). It has two layers- the settlement and the computation layers.

The settlement layer is similar to Bitcoin. It keeps track of the transfer of ADA between accounts and records transactions. The computation layer allows smart contracts and dApps to run on the platform, similar to Ethereum. It also has a platform called Marlowe, where non-programmers can build applications without prior coding knowledge.

Similarly, it has a programming language for writing smart contracts in the Cardano blockchain, Plutus, which allows developers to build dApps on the blockchain. It is one of the largest cryptocurrencies operating on the proof-of-stake model. Consequently, it is seen as an eco-friendly alternative to the like of BTC and ETH that uses the proof-of-work model.

These technical changes and the continuous adoption of DeFi and smart contracts can help drive the price performance of ADA to come 2022. With the possibility of staking protocols and developing dApps, investing in ADA is a must in 2022. It should be noted that ADA gets its value from being used to facilitate transactions and participate in blockchain governance.

It is currently ranked seventh with a market cap of $44.4b. It is trading at $1.38. ADA can be found on Binance, MEXC Global, Hotbit, BitMart, and so on.

5. Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot is a project developed by the Web3 Foundation aimed at facilitating distributed computing. It will serve as a foundation upon which users/developers can create and run their blockchains, just like Ethereum and Cosmos among others.

It was founded by Gavin Woods, Robert Habermeier, and Peter Czaban in 2016 to solve the problems of scalability and governance faced by other cryptocurrencies. It seeks to create a decentralized web where users are in control.

The Polkadot network is designed to run three types of blockchains, including the relay chain, parallelized chain (parachain), and bridges. The relay chain is the main network where other blockchains connect and process transactions. This makes it possible to process over 1000 transactions per second.

Also, this allows for cross-chain interoperability. The parachain constitute user-created networks that use the computing resources of the main network to conduct their transactions. The bridges would allow the Polkadot network to interact with other blockchains without a central party.

Unlike other blockchains, it gives developers a means to create value across blockchains using the Polkadot network. DOT is the native token of the network and is important in running and maintaining the Polkadot network. It is used to pay network fees when data is exchanged between two blockchains. It is useful in validating rights for interoperability.

Also, by owning and staking DOT, users can vote on network upgrades or fixes. With time, the network will grow into a multi-chain platform where users can interact with numerous blockchains and share data, communicate, bad exchange tokens. As an investor, DOT is a worthy investment as you would be earning an annual percentage yield of 10% on average.

DOT is currently ranked 10th on Coingecko with a market cap of $29.2b. It is trading at $27.4 and can be bought on Binance, Kraken, Nominex, FTX, Bitrue, and so on. 

It should be noted that investing in cryptocurrency is very risky, but if you must invest with something, you can easily part ways with peradventure there’s excess loss. Don’t be discouraged by this, as the returns in the crypto space are astonishing. Always do your own research and dollar-cost averaging.

The post Top 5 Best Altcoins to Invest in for 2022 appeared first on Coin Journal.

Monero (XMR) sees increased bull activity this week – is it a good buy for 2022?

Monero (XMR) has seen increased bull activity this week as investors look to add it into their portfolio. Known for its secure and private transactions, the coin has also seen major gains in the last 7 days, surging nearly 15%. We have also seen a surge in trading volume, suggesting more action by buyers. So, is Monero (XMR) a good bet for 2022? Here are some highlights first:

  • Monero (XMR) has surged 15% this week, buoyed by increased bullish activity.

  • At the time of writing, the coin was trading at $208.99, down 3% in intraday trading but still up for the week.

  • The coin is expected to maintain this uptrend, with conservative estimates putting it at $260 by end of 2022.

Data Source: Tradingview.com 

Monero (XMR) – price actions and prediction

As noted above, it’s been a decent week for XMR. The coin has followed the broader crypto market in reporting gains, surging 15% in seven days. But most analysts agree that there is enough gas in the tank to take XMR to even bigger heights in 2022. In fact, while conservative estimates are putting the coin at $260, most bullish analysts see Monero crossing well over $300 next year.

Besides, as the risk of regulations in crypto continues to grow in 2022, investors are more likely to flood towards private and secure currencies, including XMR. We are also expecting improved sentiment in the overall crypto market to push XMR even further into gains.

Should you buy Monero (XMR) in 2022?

Monero (XMR) has very good long-term potential. The coin has very positive outlooks for 2022, and the underlying fundamentals are quite decent as well. For long-term investing, the coin gives investors a good chance to unlock value. Also, XMR is expected to maintain its recent uptrend in the near term, also making a good bet for short-term gains.

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