LUNA vs AAVE – Which one is a better investment?

 Decentralized finance (DeFi) uses smart contracts to decentralize and disrupt the financial system. It aims to eliminate intermediaries, remove paperwork, and create equal opportunities. Blockchain technology has led to the creation of numerous DeFi platforms, including Terra and Aave, which would be a better buy between the native tokens of these two platforms.

 Aave was initially ETHLend when it was launched in 2017 by Stani Kulechov. It was one of the pioneer DeFi platforms that provided liquidity for borrowers and lenders in the crypto space. It also allowed users to stake their AAVE for rewards and discounts. Asides from this, it supports Aave pay, Aave clearing, and Aave gaming.

 LUNA is the native token of the Terra blockchain, a blockchain in 2018 by Daniel Shin and Do Kwon. It was built on the Cosmos SDK and operated on the Tendermint Delegated-Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm. It is a DeFi platform that allows the deployment of stablecoins. Transactions are settled instantly at low fees across borders. Mirror Finance, Anchor Protocol, and CHAI payment app are some projects on the ecosystem.

 While LUNA was created on the Terra blockchain, AAVE is an Ethereum token. This implies that AAVE will be affected by the high transactions fees of the Ethereum network. To get one AAVE, you need $152.65, whereas a LUNA costs $52.72.

 The increase in the adoption of the Terra blockchain is evident in the market cap of LUNA ($21.08 billion), unlike AAVE which has a low market cap ($2.04 billion). Similarly, their 24-hour market cap shows that LUNA is being traded largely compared to AAVE ($3 billion to $125 million). It is predicted that LUNA can do times four its current price before the end of the year.

 LUNA’s price would be driven by its significant role in the Terra blockchain as it helps to stabilize the economy amidst other functions. The price aside, LUNA is the best buy anytime any day. It is advisable to bag as much as you can before the bull run returns.

 However, this isn’t enough; do your research, average the dollar cost, and deal wisely.

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Polkadot traded at $18.88- support turns resistance level. Is it time to cash out?

  • Polkadot prices rose early in the trading day, breaking over the $18.51 barrier level.

  • Price movement was optimistic, hitting as high as $18.88, despite a 20% drop in trading volume.

  • Current trends indicate that selling pressure will increase as volatility rises.

After almost seven weeks of oscillation, the 21 January sell-off caused DOT to relinquish its oscillating pattern of $29.9-$23.11. Ever since, the bears have gained control, converting the $23.11 five-month support level into resistance.

The cryptocurrency plummeted to a 25-week low on January 24, posting a 38.34 percent drop. DOT created an ascending triangle on its 4-hour chart during the last several days as the bulls strengthened their pressure.

Source – TradingView

Polkadot price research indicates that the coin is on the rise. On the day’s session, the price jumped 4 percent to $18.88. In doing so, DOT broke over the $18.51 resistance level, which is currently at $20.44. Furthermore, trading volume for DOT declined by more than 20%, presenting a perfectly positive picture throughout the day’s trade.

Recent price movement suggests that most traders are ready to cash out, which will increase market volatility. 

From January 17, the DOT value has been associated with a sinking cryptocurrency market, but it has just seen its first daily uptick since then. Traders are anticipated to be wary of the present volatility, which will aid in pushing prices down in the next session.

DOT has formed an ascending triangle

The cryptocurrency plummeted to a 25-week low on January 24, posting a 38.34 percent drop. DOT created an ascending triangle on its 4-hour chart during the last several days as the bulls strengthened their pressure.

While in line with the price, the initial support was mainly near the 50-point level. Furthermore, the CMF (Chainlink Money Flow) recovered above the midpoint and demonstrated a positive bias. Nevertheless, the OBV was unable to overcome its first resistance.

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Terra (LUNA) might drop 45% if the bearish head-and-shoulder holds

  • Terra (LUNA) might drop to over $25 per token in the next few weeks.

  • Harsh monetary policies began to harm bullish assets when they were slack.

The price of LUNA is in danger of falling lower, but experts predict a comeback when the cryptocurrency challenges a stable multi-month trend line for security. According to an analytical assessment given by experts, Terra (LUNA) might fall to around $25 per token in the following weeks as a head-and-shoulders (H&S) arrangement develops, signaling a 50% price decline.

When the price produces three peaks in succession, the middle peak (referred to as the „head“) is higher than the other two (left and right shoulders). The „neckline“ is a standard price floor that connects all three peaks.

When the market falls below the H&S neckline, traders usually try to begin a short position. Before launching a short position, some traders use a „two-day“ rule, in which they wait for the second breakout verification when the price retests the neckline from the downward as resistance.

Source – TradingView

Conversely, traders should aim for a short objective with the same length as the highest range between the head and the neckline. As illustrated in the chart, the price of LUNA is now moving toward the same H&S short target, which is now approaching $25.

Strong macroeconomic triggers put pressure on LUNA’s trading

LUNA’s downtrends have often come to an end when it challenges its 50-week simple moving average as support throughout its brief existence as a financial asset. At the time of publication, the price floor was about $30.

However, LUNA has probed its 200-day average range (200-day EMA) for a possible comeback on the daily timeframe chart. If that happens, LUNA’s next upside objective, as seen in the chart above, seems to be approaching $75.

A definitive move below the 200-day EMA wave, on the other hand, might kick off the H&S setup toward $25.

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GameStop, AMC stocks remain ‘dangerously overvalued’: Analyst

  • AMC Entertainment Holdings and GameStop Corp. were among the most popular meme stocks last year, with prices driven up by retail buyers

  • GameStop is miles off its 2021 peak of $483, while shares of AMC Entertainment are similarly off the highs of $72.62.

Shares of “meme stocks” GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) are down roughly 36% and 44% year to date after a brutal few weeks in the markets.

While the stocks saw a huge bounce on Friday, an analyst says the sell-off witnessed since the market frenzy of 2021 isn’t over for these stocks.

He predicts more pain amid investor pivot into profitable companies or other investment niches like metaverse and NFTs.

No profits and “untethered from reality”

Meme stocks exploded onto the scene in 2021, rallying to massive heights alongside Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. As crypto has tanked, the stocks have tumbled too- with more losses to come according to analysts.

David Trainer, the CEO of investment research firm New Constructs says GameStop and AMC are set for more selling, with the companies unlikely to be profitable over the next two years.

Trainer explains that investors might look elsewhere for profitable deals as they steer away from stocks that put portfolios at the unnecessary risk of devastating declines.

According to the analyst, while investors might want to look at the valuation of companies they invest in versus their profitability, the metric doesn’t really apply to most meme stocks.

He notes that investors are likely to see no problem in paying a premium to get an investment in a company with strong profits. Pointing out GameStop and AMC Entertainment as two of the most popular, he said the two have valuations that “remain untethered from reality.”

“Meme stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment remain dangerously overvalued and don’t generate anywhere near the profits necessary to justify their current valuations,” he added.

Potential investment trends to see more inflows as investors continue to rotate out of meme stocks are metaverse and NFT linked companies.

Wall Street targets for GME and AMC stocks

The GameStop stock closed at $97.91, up 4.8% on Friday while AMC shares traded up 3.7% to $15.06. While positive on the day, a look at the monthly logs shows the extent of the stocks’ declines.

Data from MarketWatch shows GME is down 69% in the past twelve months, while AMC is sharply down year to date at -44% to cut yearly gains to just 13%. Over the past 30 days, GME prices are down nearly 37% as AMC’s have shed nearly 48%.

Wall Street has an average price target of $8.17 for AMC Entertainment, representing a 45.75% downside from current levels. 

TipRanks also shows that 4 analysts have an average price target of $34.00 for GME, suggesting an expected 65.27% drawdown from Friday’s close of $97.91.

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Visa says its crypto-linked card payments hit $2.5 billion in Q1

  • Visa processed $2.5 billion in crypto payments in the three months ended 31 December

  • 65 platforms and exchanges have teamed up with Visa, including Coinbase and BlockFi

  • CEO Al Kelly said the payments giant “will continue to lean into the crypto space.”

Visa customers used their crypto-linked card to make payments totaling $2.5 billion during the global payments firm’s fiscal first quarter of 2022 ended 31 December.

The company processed transactions worth $46.7 billion during the quarter, an increase of 21% on the volume reported in the same quarter a year ago.

The amounts pushed the electronic funds transfer behemoth’s crypto volume to 70% of what was recorded in the fiscal year 2021, CEO Al Kelly said in an earnings call.

According to the Visa chief, the massive jump in payments made via the company’s crypto-linked cards came as the number of platforms and exchanges signing up with them soared from 54 to 65.

Some of the big-name candidates on the network include crypto exchange Coinbase and BlockFi- a US-based crypto wealth management provider.

Merchants who accept Visa-linked crypto payments have also increased significantly, hitting 100 million during the quarter, the company said in its earnings statement.

Kelly noted that the credit card payments giant “will continue to lean into the crypto space,” as they look to help the sector grow. Part of Visa’s strategy for this, he explained, is to enhance partnerships that help ensure connectivity, reliability, and security, with an eye to scaling services and value proposition to customers.

Visa chief financial officer Vasant Prabhu said the growth in crypto-linked card payments is a signal that users see the utility in the offering, CNBC reported. 

He pointed out that customers are increasingly finding value through access to liquidity and instant, seamless purchases.

The Visa CFO also noted that volumes continued to rise despite the slump in crypto markets. He also added that the payments were spread across various merchant verticals, including at retailers, restaurants, and travel.

The company has no crypto holdings but has increasingly looked to support merchants and platforms. In December, it announced a crypto advisory service that targets helping institutions and merchants.

According to the company, this is due to the growing adoption of crypto across payments. The service also aims at helping customers seeking to explore the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) space and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

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