Circle to increase staff by 25% months after aborting plans to go public

  • Circle’s move comes at a time when many firms in the industry are laying off workers.
  • 41% of company layoffs in 2023 have so far come from the crypto industry.
  • It also comes months after Circle aborted plans to go public.

USDC issuer Circle is planning to increase its staff by 15% to 25% just months after it aborted plans to go public in December 2022.

Circle had planned to become a public company through a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Concord Acquisition before the two firms mutually called off the plan. Circle’s chief financial officer Jeremy Fox-Geen, however, said that the firm still plans to go public once the market conditions are better.

Circle is increasing its workforce at a time when a good number of crypto firms have announced staff layoffs.

2023 crypto layoffs

Polygon Labs is the latest cryptocurrency firm to announce layoffs.

In a period of almost two months, about nine crypto firms including crypto exchanges have announced layoffs. Some of the companies that have announced layoffs include Coinbase, Huobi, Chainalysis, Gemini, Wyre, Crypto.com, Bittrex, and Genesis.

While the crypto industry is not the only one suffering from staff layoff, it accounts for about 41% of all layoffs in 2023 so far.

Other non-crypto firms that have announced layoffs this year include Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Amazon. The four companies have laid off about 48,000 people in 2023.

Circle, therefore, seems to be going against the tide.

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Cronos Price Rallies While Metacade Shoots for the Moon

2023 looks set to be a year when crypto markets begin to rebound after the long and varied struggles of 2022. Some altcoins, such as Cronos (CRO), are already showing signs of improvement, with price rallies in the early months of 2023, leading analysts to forecast better times across the board for cryptocurrencies.

One coin that looks set to exceed others as markets improve during 2023 is Metacade’s MCADE token. Here’s why Metacade is shooting for the moon and offering investors an exciting opportunity in 2023 and beyond.

What is Metacade?

Metacade is building the most prominent virtual gaming arcade in the metaverse with a vast array of classic and modern play-to-earn (P2E) games. Aimed at gaming enthusiasts and crypto fans, Metacade intends to attract a growing online community with the goal of driving the Web3 gaming world forward. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Metacade offers casual gamers and the seasoned online tournament competitor a unique opportunity to play, earn and interact in real-time.

With Metacade’s powerful P2E infrastructure, users can receive crypto rewards for actively participating in and building up their community. The Create2Earn scheme encourages social engagements with the hub by offering incentives every time someone posts content on its various outlets. From engaging in live chats, contributing to Reddit-style subforums, writing game reviews, or providing gaming tips, there is no shortage of ways people can earn passive income from interacting with Metacade. 

Perhaps the most exciting of Metacade’s many varied features is their pioneering Metagrants scheme, which promises to push GameFi to new heights while incentivizing members to take full ownership of the hub’s direction.

From Q3 2023, developers can raise applications for funding in the form of a Metagrant to support the development of new games exclusive to Metacade. Each submission goes into a pool before undergoing a vote from MCADE token holders to determine the most popular ideas. Winning ideas will go into development with the backing of a Metagrant. The first title will hit Metacade’s virtual arcade in Q1 2024.

How does MCADE work?

The MCADE token is the governance and utility token behind Metacade’s exciting road map, underpinning all development and transactions on the platform. While revenue flows from several internal and external sources into the multi-signatory treasury wallet, a limited number of MCADE tokens will be in circulation in order to maintain the value of the coins.

Community members contribute to the platform’s upkeep and running through several routes. The Compete2Earn scheme is a token-staking program in which users stake MCADE coins to enter online tournaments and prize draws. Those who enter have the opportunity to share in significant prize pools. Meanwhile, MCADE tokens are also used by players wishing to experience the platform’s range of pay-to-play titles.

External funding comes from companies wishing to buy advertising space on the platform, use Metacade’s launchpad tool to release their own titles, and post career opportunities on the jobs board from Q1 2024.

MCADE price prediction

After launching its presale beta phase at $0.008, the token price has now increased to $0.014 in stage 4 of presale. In just ten weeks, Metacade raised over $5 million – an investment that has rocketed to $7.2m in its current presale round. When the presale concludes and MCADE hits centralized and decentralized exchanges, the token value will be $0.02.

Predictions are that the value of MCADE will surge at this stage as the scramble for tokens intensifies. Analysts forecast that MCADE could reach $0.30 by the end of 2023 and $2 by the end of 2025, as Metacade is crucial in driving Web3 gaming forward. The long-term value for investors is apparent, with predictions of the coin reaching $5 by the end of 2023.

What is Cronos (CRO)?

Cronos is a decentralized open-source, public blockchain designed to produce energy-efficient blockchain transactions while guaranteeing low-cost and high-speed functionality. The platform aims to support creators of dApps, DeFi solutions, and GameFi titles on their way to producing an open metaverse.

The CRO coin began as the Crypto.com Coin, one of the biggest centralized crypto exchanges. The ecosystem is designed to protect users from fraudulent chargebacks while allowing investors to trade on Crypto.com at a discount by paying transaction fees with CRO tokens. 

Thanks to Crypto.com’s excellent trading, payment, and DeFi solutions, CRO token holders gain utility with their holding. At the same time, holders also have the opportunity to serve as a validator on Crypto’s blockchain, earning passive income for each transaction undertaken on the platform.

CRO price prediction

Cronos is currently trading at $0.0796, more than 90% lower than its all-time high of $0.96, which was recorded during the height of the bull market in November 2021. The excellent news for CRO token holders is that analysts predict significant growth between now and the end of the year.

Projections for CRO in 2023 suggest that the coin could reach $1.07 by the end of the year, growing to $1.44 by the end of 2025 and potentially threatening the $5 barrier by the end of 2030. This would represent enormous gains based on Cronos’ current value.

MCADE vs. CRO: Which is the best investment?

Metacade and Cronos both make compelling investment cases for investors in the short and longer-term, offering potentially rich rewards. The best investment choice looks to be MCADE due to its rich project roadmap that promises to keep the platform evolving while driving wider development and innovation in the wider blockchain gaming sector.

The presale is expected to sell out quickly, so investors should purchase MCADE tokens now to maximize their potential returns and avoid missing out on this outstanding opportunity.

You can participate in the Metacade presale here.

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Tencent eyes support for Web3 growth with Ankr, Avalanche partnerships

  • Tencent Cloud has signed an MoU with Web3 blockchain infrastructure platform Ankr.
  • The company also revealed partnerships with Avalanche, Ethereum scaling solution Scroll and Mysten Labs’ Sui blockchain.
  • Tencent Cloud is looking to help promote Web3 adoption.

Tencent Cloud, the cloud business division of tech giant Tencent, has signaled its commitment to Web3 development with a major announcement.

On 22 February, the company revealed it was looking to be a significant contributor to the evolution of Web3. Tencent made the developments public at the Tencent Cloud Web3 Build Day, an industry-focused event held in Singapore on Wednesday.

Tencent Cloud “preparing for the Web3 future”

As part of this goal, Tencent Cloud has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and sealed strategic partnerships with multiple blockchain platforms. Tencent’s roadmap towards the objective includes development of blockchain API services and foundational infrastructure for growing the Web3 global community.

Poshu Yeung, Senior VP at Tencent Cloud International, commented on these collaborations, noting that the company is bullish on the future of Web3.

“With more businesses now keen to explore and adapt to an efficient, transparent digital future, we are ready to leverage our many years of technical experience in the fields of games, audio, and video to provide strong technical support for Web3, and work with industry partners to create a more immersive experience and nurture a better Web3 ecosystem,” Yeung added.

Tencent partners Ankr, Avalanche and other blockchain platforms

As highlighted in our price prediction for Ankr (ANKR), Tencent Cloud has signed an MoU with the Web3 infrastructure provider in a collaboration that looks to help develop a suite of blockchain application programming interface (API) services.

Tencent also announced strategic partnerships with Ava Labs’ smart contracts blockchain platform Avalanche, zkEVM zk-Rollup platform Scroll and Mysten Labs’ Layer-1 blockchain Sui. The collaborations will help accelerate Web3 adoption, the firm said.

Apart from the three partnerships, the company has unveiled its Metaverse-in-a-Box product, a one-stop solution that offers high-performance, out-of-box software development kits (SDKs). The low-code solution offering provides for wide application across gaming, media and entertainment.

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Ankr price prediction: ANKR outlook after Microsoft and Tencent partnerships

  • Ankr (ANKR) price is up 70% this past week, while positive news has helped its value more than double on the 30-day timeframe.
  • Ankr has struck partnerships with Microsoft and Tencent.
  • The price outlook for ANKR is a potential retest of the resistance line at $0.058 and move higher, or a flip to recent demand zones.

The Ankr (ANKR) price soared to its highest price since August 2022, with bulls pushing past $0.05 to test a major resistance area.

While the token has pared some of the gains on Wednesday, the massive daily candle seen on Tuesday has helped to maintain weekly gains at 70% and 30-day gains at over 100%.

Ankr price forecast amid mega Microsoft and Tencent partnerships

ANKR’s breakout to highs of $0.058 happened as tech giant Microsoft announced a partnership with the blockchain platform. 

As covered by CoinJournal, the deal between Ankr and Microsoft is set to offer node services, and will focus on making it easy for enterprises and organizations to access blockchain data.  Microsoft will support the service via its Microsoft’s Azure marketplace.

The partnership with Microsoft comes on the back of another major collaboration with Tencent Cloud. In an announcement, the company said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Web3 infrastructure provider. The partners will jointly work on a “suite of blockchain API services” as they help power Web3 growth.

The news has greatly aided ANKR price action over the past two days, with the cryptocurrency now trading roughly 40% higher since the huge candle on Tuesday.

What’s next for the Ankr (ANKR) price?

The ANKR price is up about 6% on Coinbase as of 13:30 ET on 22 February and is changing hands around $0.049.

While it has decreased from yesterday’s highs, the price is still near a key resistance line and a breakout could see it not only retest the $0.058 supply wall, but offer bulls a likely target to early May and early April resistance lines at $0.066 and $0.100 respectively. The daily and weekly RSI indicators are trending bullish to support this outlook.

Ankr price chart showing major gains in the past two days. Source: TradingView.

But if the price turns bearish short term, a revisiting of old recent demand zones at $0.031 and $0.015 could be in play. Matthew Dixon, CEO of crypto ratings platforms Evai predicts ANKR price could even dip to its all-time low.

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Are BTC mining stocks still a good bet after inflation ticked up in January?

  • U.S. consumer prices were up a more than expected 6.4% in January.
  • Bitcoin mining stocks still gained near 20% in the week ended Feb 19th.
  • Mike Colonnese reiterated his bullish view on BTC miners today.

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics said consumer prices were up a more than expected 6.4% in January. Still, H.C. Wainwright & Co analyst Mike Colonnese remains bullish on bitcoin miners.

Mining stocks gained near 20% last week

Colonnese quoted the price action for the week that ended on February 19th to defend his view in a recent note.

Despite inflation keeping well above the Fed’s 2.0% target, BTC gained about 12% in the said week prompting an even bigger near 20% increase in mining stocks.

That’s particularly encouraging when compared to the benchmark S&P 500 index that actually lost 0.3% in the week ended February 19th. Colonnese also said in his research note:

BTC prices also responded positively to news on 2/15 of the SEC’s proposal to expand existing qualified custodian rules for client assets held with investment advisers to crypto assets.

Hashprices touched a four-month high

A 9.1% week-over-week increase in the network hash rate to 319 EH/s also fed into his constructive view on BTC miners. Continued upside in bitcoin prices pushed hashprices up to $0.08/TH in the said week – a more than 12% increase.

The aforementioned SEC proposal aims to protect investors against a qualified custodian bankruptcy. To that end, Colonnese wrote:

We view the proposal as a net positive, so long as new requirements for qualified crypto custodians are not onerous, as proposed changes could increase investor protections, and instill greater confidence in crypto ecosystem.

Of the six bitcoin mining stocks he covers, Colonnese currently has a “buy” rating on five.

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