Is it safe to buy Bitcoin now that it has made a new high for the year?

  • Bitcoin rallied close to $25k
  • The current rally diverges from the US dollar’s strength 
  • More upside is possible, should the EUR/USD regains 1.10

Bitcoin investors must be thrilled as the leading cryptocurrency trades close to $25k. It is a new high for the year and a significant development for Bitcoin for at least three reasons. 

First, with the recent movement, Bitcoin returns for the year are close to 50%. Considering that we are only in the middle of February, that is no small achievement. 

Second, Bitcoin broke the previous high while maintaining a series of higher lows. That is indicative of further strength.

Third, the recent upside came in a total divergence with the US dollar. The dollar gained after the inflation report released last Tuesday, as seen by the USD/JPY trading above 134 or the EUR/USD trading below 1.07. But Bitcoin did not follow the same path, diverged, and the price exploded higher. 

All these put the recent  Bitcoin rally in a positive light. Moreover, if we add that climbing close to $25k Bitcoin invalidated a head and shoulders pattern, the picture is even more bullish. 

BTCUSD chart by TradingView

What needs to happen for Bitcoin’s rally to continue? 

The chart above shows Bitcoin’s performance compared to the EUR/USD. While Bitcoin gained 49% YTD, the EUR/USD is almost flat. 

Bitcoin’s rally might continue if the EUR/USD reverses its recent losses. When the EUR/USD dropped from 1.10 to 1.07, Bitcoin dropped from $24k to $21.5k. Now that Bitcoin rallied while EUR/USD did not, it might be indicative of Bitcoin leading the US dollar weakness. 

Therefore, Bitcoin investors may see some more gains should the EUR/USD reverse the recent losses and move back to 1.10, which is the high for the year. If that happens, one should not be surprised to see Bitcoin trading close to or above $30k. 

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How to play BTC miners after the recent SEC crackdown?

  • Bitcoin miners are having a rather challenging February.
  • SEC has recently taken an aggressive stance against crypto.
  • H.C. Wainwright analyst still rates four BTC miners at “buy”.

Bitcoin miners had a fantastic January, but February is proving to be a bit more challenging for them.

BTC miners lost big last week

The 11 miners that H.C. Wainwright covers together produced 5,279 bitcoin in total last month and sold 4,278. For the month, the collective gain in their operating hash rate sat at 7.7%.

In February, though, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission turned more aggressive against the crypto companies. Last week, it ordered Kraken to terminate its crypto staking services in the United States.

Consequently, bitcoin prices slipped 5.2% in the week that ended on February 12th. But miners lost a significantly bigger 17.1% (median) even though the network hash rate climbed to 292 EH/s – a 9.5% week-over-week increase.

Miners that’re still worth buying

About a day after Kraken, the U.S. regulator also demanded that Paxos quits minting new BUSD (Binance USD).

Nonetheless, Mike Colonnese – an H.C. Wainwright analyst is convinced that such news don’t have a meaningful effect on miners other than the short-term price pressure. But he also said in a recent research note:

The concern is that recent enforcement by U.S. regulators and uncertainty around crypto legislation in the U.S. could push innovation and retail investors for the sector outside the U.S.

Ones that Colonnese still rates a “buy” include Riot Blockchain, Cleanspark, Cipher Mining, and Hive Blockchain Technologies.

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Nomura’s Laser Digital invests in DeFi protocol Infinity

  • Laser Digital’s investment follows Infinity’s seed funding raised in September, backed by top VCs in the space.
  • Infinity is an Ethereum-based protocol designed to advance institutional DeFi or what’s called “Hybrid Finance”
  • Price discovery and risk innovation are critical to institutional adoption of DeFi.

Laser Digital, the crypto subsidiary of Japanese banking giant Nomura, has announced a strategic investment in decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol Infinity.

Infinity is an institutional-focused lending and borrowing platform founded by Kevin Lepsoe, a former head of structuring at Morgan Stanley. 

While the companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, Laser Digital’s investment follows Infinity’s $4.2 million seed round in September 2022. Major crypto market makers and venture capital investors that backed the round included Susquehanna International Group, Block0, GSR, OWC, Flow Traders,  and CSquared. 

Infinity looks to accelerate “Institutional DeFi”

Per details in a press release, Infinity will use the investment to accelerate the development of critical infrastructure targeted for “Institutional DeFi.” This is also known as hybrid finance.

Hybrid finance brings the benefit of blockchain technology to the space with an interoperable protocol for benchmark rates, credit and counterparty management. 

Olivier Dang, the Head of Ventures at Laser Digital, said the protocol is paving the way for institutional flows to come on-chain.

“Infinity is building critical infrastructure for DeFi, and its protocol enabling price discovery and management of risk within DeFi is transformative for institutions,” Dang noted. According to him, Infinity’s groundwork is key to the institutional-grade lending new levels of benchmark rates and risk management or innovation.

With a $300 trillion market of credit securities across loans, derivatives, and equity available, Ethereum-powered Infinity’s upcoming launch is bound to enable broader participation of institutional players in DeFi.  

Infinity founder Kevin Lepsoe commented:

“Laser Digital Ventures is an active investor in hybrid finance and a superb partner as we look to advance a rates protocol that meets the needs of the global investor community.”

Lepsoe pointed to investment being critical given the expectation of increased institutional flows to DeFi by 2025, particularly boosted by the new BIS guidelines. Hybrid finance is also set to be huge as crypto centralised finance (CeFi) dwindles, he added.

According to the protocol, part of the “wave of tokenization” and adoption will be down to blockchain efficiency, on-chain security and TradFi – DeFi fungibility.

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Metacade (MCADE)’s Price Explodes As Ripple (XRP) Price Predictions Falter

It’s no secret that Ripple has been under pressure over recent years. While some have made bold predictions for XRP to soar in the coming months, more realistic assessments suggest that its performance may not meet those expectations. In this article, you’ll find out why Ripple XRP price predictions have taken a hit recently and why demand has exploded for the Metacade token in its ongoing presale.

Ripple (XRP) – High Centralization and SEC Case Could Be XRP’s Downfall

Ripple is a cryptocurrency created in 2012 with the goal of providing a faster and cheaper alternative to traditional cross-border payment systems like SWIFT. Despite being the fourth most valuable project on the market (excluding stablecoins), Ripple has failed to meet investors’ expectations in recent years.

Besides the huge SEC-shaped elephant in the room, Ripple is one of the most centralized cryptocurrencies. Significant portions of XRP are owned and controlled by its parent company, Ripple Labs. Even Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin seems to think so, stating in late 2022 that XRP is “still completely centralized.” This runs contrary to the principles of decentralization that underpin the entire idea of cryptocurrency. 

Additionally, the ongoing lawsuit with the SEC has suppressed XRP’s price for some time, and the outcome of the case is still anyone’s guess. The SEC alleges that XRP is an unregistered security, creating uncertainty and legal risks for XRP holders. With regulators seeking more control of crypto following FTX’s collapse, XRP could be the first domino to fall. As a result, many investors have been hesitant to buy XRP, which has caused many analysts to downgrade their Ripple XRP price predictions. 

Ripple (XRP) Price Prediction

While Ripple has arguably been one of the more stable coins in the recent bear market, Ripple XRP price predictions for 2023 aren’t looking too fresh. Many have set maximum targets for $1.18 by the end of the year, just shy of tripling its current price of $0.41. However, more realistic Ripple XRP price predictions are between $0.59 and $0.81. As a consequence, many investors have started turning their attention to projects with much more profit potential in 2023, such as Metacade.  

Metacade (MCADE) Storms Ahead in Presale 

In stark contrast to Ripple, Metacade has been gaining traction at a record pace in 2023. Its presale, now in stage 4, has reached over $6.2m, with $5 million alone raised in the first 10 weeks. Subsequently, the price of its native MCADE token has rocketed from $0.008 to $0.014 since the launch. 

So what exactly is Metacade? It’s a community-based platform for playing, learning about, and earning more from the latest play-to-earn (P2E) games. Gamers and crypto fanatics can come together in Metacade to connect and collaborate, take advantage of multiple earning opportunities, and even have the chance to directly influence the trajectory of the GameFi industry. 

The platform itself is an all-in-one solution for P2E gaming. With reviews, forums, leaderboards, live chats, and the hottest GameFi alpha shared by P2E veterans, players have everything they need to get ahead of the competition. These invaluable features offer a wealth of information on games and strategies, as well as a community of play-to-earn enthusiasts to connect with.

Moreover, Metacade is launching multiple initiatives to help players maximize their income in the P2E revolution through its initiatives: Create2Earn, Compete2Earn, and Work2Earn. Create2Earn rewards players for their contributions to the platform. It pays them MCADE for sharing reviews, offering game-beating alpha, and interacting with other members. Meanwhile, users can enter competitive gaming tournaments and win big prizes under the Compete2Earn program.

The Work2Earn initiative will see players using Metacade’s job and gig board to find roles in the Web3 and gaming industries. Launching in 2024, this board will host jobs ranging from casual testing positions to full-time salaried positions working with some of the biggest names in Web3.

Finally, the Metagrants program has been a massive hit with investors. Metagrants allow the community to leverage the platform’s funds to finance game developers. Developers simply submit their game proposals to the Metagrants competitions for MCADE holders to vote on. 

The winning proposals receive funding to bring their ideas to life, with the finished game being added to Metacade’s virtual arcade. This poses an incredible opportunity for the Metacade community to play a role in producing some of the very best P2E games and solidify the platform’s position as a leader in the GameFi industry. 

Metacade (MCADE) Price Prediction

Given the potential for Metacade to quickly become the de-facto home for P2E gamers, the MCADE token has seen some unbelievable price predictions. It launches to the public at $0.02, but many expect it to reach as high as $0.50 by the end of 2023 – 25x returns in under a year. Some of the more conservative estimates place it at a minimum of $0.22, which is still an outstanding 1,000% return on investment. 

Metacade (MCADE) Is the Better Investment

Overall, it seems like XRP holders are playing a risky game. The Ripple XRP price predictions given don’t bode well for Ripple investors, despite it being one of the more stable coins in the current bear market. Ultimately, XRP’s fate is in the hands of the US courts, which should be enough to deter anyone from investing in it. 

Instead, Metacade seems like a much wiser investment. After its remarkable presale success, it’s clear that Metacade is on the right track. With GameFi set to dominate the crypto space in 2023, the investors that have already gotten involved could see tremendous profits. If you think they’re on to something, check out the MCADE presale to grab tokens at $0.014 before its price increases further!

You can buy Ripple (XRP) at eToro here.

You can participate in the Metacade presale here.

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Litecoin price is ripe for a 40% jump – technical analysis

  • Litecoin price has been in a strong bullish trend this week.

  • The daily chart analysis points to a 40% jump.

Litecoin price has made a strong comeback after the strong American consumer inflation data. LTC/USD jumped to a high of 97.56, the highest point since February 9. It has jumped by almost 10% from its lowest point this week and is closing in on the psychological point at $100.

Litecoin price prediction 

Turning to the daily chart, we see that the LTC price has been in a strong bullish trend after crashing to a low of $44 in June last year. It has outperformed most cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash. 

A close look at the chart shows that the coin has formed a rounded bottom pattern. This pattern has a close resemblance to a cup and handle and is a sign of a bullish continuation. It has also moved slightly above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. 

Notably, it has moved slightly above the important resistance level at $92, which is the highest side of the cup and handle pattern. It has also made a break and retest pattern. Oscillators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the MACD have continued rising.

Therefore, Litecoin will likely continue rising as buyers target the key resistance point at $134. This is a notable level since it was the highest point on March 30th last year. It is also about 40% above the current level.

LTC price forecast (4H chart)

On the 4H chart, we see that the LTC crypto price has bounced back after it collapsed to a low of $88.40. It is approaching the lower side of the ascending channel that is shown in black. The coin has moved above the 50-period moving average while the histogram of the MACD has moved above the neutral point. 

Therefore, Litecoin price will likely continue rising as buyers target the key level at $100. A move above that level will signal that there are still more buyers left in the market. If this happens, the next key level to watch will be at $105, the upper side of the channel.

However, this rebound could be a break-and-retest pattern. If this is the case, the coin will likely resume the bearish trend in the coming days. Therefore, buyers need to initially move above the lower side of the channel.

How to buy Litecoin

eToro

eToro is a global social investment brokerage company which offers over 75 cryptocurrencies to invest in. It offers crypto trading commission-free and users on the platform have the option to manually invest or socially invest. eToro even has a unique CopyTrader system which allows users to automatically copy the trades of popular investors.

Buy LTC with eToro today

Bitstamp

Bitstamp is a leading cryptocurrency exchange which offers trading in fiat currencies or popular cryptocurrencies. Bitstamp is a fully regulated company which offers users an intuitive interface, a high degree of security for your digital assets, excellent customer support and multiple withdrawal methods.

Buy LTC with Bitstamp today

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