Terra blockchain restarts after a brief halt

Validators had halted the blockchain to prevent governance attacks as LUNA price moved towards zero.

Terra validators on Thursday moved to halt the blockchain as they looked to prevent any possible governance attacks, the Terra Twitter account noted.

Per the platform, the network was “officially halted at a block height of 7603700” with validatoes electing to take the step “following severe $LUNA inflation and a significantly reduced cost of attack.”

“The Terra blockchain has resumed block production. Delegations are disabled now that the chain is live with the new code merge. Validators, please check the Discord announcements for the latest patch notes,” Terraform Labs tweeted not long after the halt.

As it was, Terra’s depreciation had made it possibly very easy for malicious actors to attack the network.

The LUNA token price has tanked to $0.01, losing virtually 100% of its value in the past few days, with the ‘death’ of the coin coming amid a combination of a broader crypto crash and the collapse of the UST stablecoin after it lost its dollar peg.

TerraUSD (UST) is currently around $0.34 and is finding it hard to repeg even as Terraform Labs and the Luna Foundation Guard work to rescue the coin.

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SEC official says tougher US stablecoin regulations ‘closer’

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioner Hester Peirce has said that the stablecoin market has attracted a lot of attention this past week and that the sector could be looking at “stricter” regulations.

The top SEC official said this in comments made during an online discussion organised by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF). This is an independent think tank on central banking and economic policy headquartered in London, UK.

A news report by Reuters quotes the SEC official as saying that one place likely to “see some movement is around stablecoins.” She added that this follows events this week that have helped shine a spotlight on the sector.

Hester’s comments came at OMFIF’s annual Digital Monetary Institute symposium, whose panel also included Algorand CEO Steve Kokinos and former CFTC chair Timothy Massad.

UST depeg and LUNA’s collapse

Indeed, this week has seen the cryptocurrency market rocked by the crushing loss of dollar parity by the stablecoin TerraUSD (USD). The UST token fell as low as $0.25, losing its peg to the dollar by 75% amid rumours of a coordinated attack.

Apart from that, the algorithmic stablecoin’s depegging has sent the Terra (LUNA) coin to near zero (currently at $0.01), and a cascade of sell-off pressure has also pushed Bitcoin price to lows last seen in January 2021.

And with the stablecoin turmoil also seeing Tether (USDT) lose its peg earlier on Thursday, a tougher regulatory framework could be ‘closer’ indeed.

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Top 3 cryptocurrencies to buy amid the crypto crash

It is a sea of red in the cryptocurrency industry as most digital coins keep falling. According to CoinGecko, the total market value of all digital coins has dropped to more than $1.2 billion. While this crash has been painful, it has made many cryptocurrencies significantly cheaper. So, here are some cryptocurrencies to buy the dip in.

Ethereum

The Terra UST crash is one of the most important reasons why cryptocurrencies have fallen. In my view, the fall of LUNA will likely bring more people and developers back to Ethereum. For one, Ethereum is significantly bigger than Terra and has been around for years. 

Also, the success of Ethereum’s platform is not based on a single stablecoin like that of Terra. This explains why Ethereum has done well over the years even after some serious hacks in the network.

Further, Ethereum is in a transition as the developers seek to make it significantly faster and more environmentally friendly. Therefore, I expect that the Ethereum price will bounce back ahead of the Merge that will happen in the third quarter.

Here’s how to buy Ethereum.

Near Protocol

Near Protocol is another cryptocurrency to buy the dip in. It is a blockchain project that seeks to become a better platform for developers. It aims to be a platform that is better and more reliable than Ethereum and other proof-of-work platforms. It does this using its technology known as sharding. 

Near Protocol is a good investment because of the ongoing growth of its ecosystem. The developers are also seeking to launch their stablecoin, which will be used for governance of the network. Now, with the implosion of Terra UST, there is a likelihood that the developers will use these lessons when they launch it. 

Near Protocol is also a good investment because of the large sums that the developers have raised recently. Most of these funds will go towards building their ecosystem.

Chainlink

A fact in the blockchain industry is that industries like DeFi and the metaverse are here to stay. This is what makes Chainlink one of the best coins to buy the dip in. This is simply because the platform is widely used by developers to connect off-chain data to on-chain. 

It is the biggest oracle in the world and has little competition. Therefore, with Chainlink price down by 86% from its all-time high, there is a likelihood that the price will bounce back.

Learn more about how to buy Chainlink.

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Cardano (ADA) hits new lows – Why the worse is still to come

As the crypto market experiences one of its worst crashes in recent years, Cardano (ADA) has hit a new low. The coin has fallen below $0.5 for the first time in months. Although this is already bad news, the worse is yet to come for ADA. Here is what you need to keep in mind:

  • In the last 24 hours alone, ADA has crashed by over 30%

  • It’s the first time in months that Cardano has breached the $0.5 mark

  • More losses are expected to come as the broader market faces a steep correction

Data Source: Tradingview 

Cardano price analysis – Difficult times ahead

After falling nearly 65% from its highs in May, you would think that the worse is over for ADA. But the current bearish trend around the coin is only getting started. In fact, after falling below $0.5 for the first time in months, we expect the coin to continue the steep decline. 

It is possible that ADA will bottom towards its next $0.35 support before it tries to find any demand. This will represent a fall of around 25% from the current price. ADA would also lose over 100% in value from its highest price this month. 

The only positive sign in this setup is the RSI reading. This momentum indicator for ADA has moved towards the oversold territory. The risk of a big sell-off is therefore relatively limited. But as investor sentiment in crypto wanes, it will be harder to find ADA buyers in the coming days.

Should you hold or Sell ADA?

As Cardano accelerates losses, it can be easy just to sell off and limit your exposure. But we still think that ADA is one of the few coins in the market worth holding. Even though the coin will not return to $1 soon, we expect it to retest $0.75 after it bottoms at $0.35.

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Binance Coin (BNB) exposed to further risks as the coin falls sharply in broader crypto sell-off

Binance Coin (BNB) has seen some steep losses over the last few days. However, although the coin is following the trend in the broader market, these losses have exposed BNB to significant downside risk that could lead to further serious declines. Here are some facts:

  • For most of 2022, BNB has found massive demand between $253 and $308

  • A 20% crash in the last 24 hours means that bulls have now lost that demand zone

  • If recovery doesn’t come soon, BNB will fall sharply again in the coming days

Data Source: Tradingview 

Where will BNB go next?

It was only recently that BNB was hovering well above $300. For most bulls, it was a time of consolidation, and there were hopes that the coin could stroll towards $400 in no time. But the crypto crash over the last few days has put so much pressure on BNB. The coin has lost 20% over the last 24 hours alone. 

But more importantly, BNB has also lost a crucial demand zone. You see, even with high volatility in the market, the coin was getting significant buyers between $308 and $253. The recent crash has pushed the price action outside this buy zone. 

Unless there is a recovery in the next 24 hours, BNB will come under selling pressure as bears take complete control. The coin will likely bottom at $222 or thereabout before any other bull run.

Are we seeing a serious BNB correction?

Losing nearly 40% in less than three days would be seen as a serious correction for any coin. But for BNB, the sharp fall has simply exposed it to further downside risk. For this reason, we don’t think the steep decline is over. 

In fact, based on sentiment in the market, it would be plausible to expect further BNB losses before the end of the week. We are therefore seeing a very serious correction with the coin.

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