The growth of the stablecoin sector within crypto has been one of the most impactful developments of 2021. In particular, stablecoins became integral to the expanding decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem as their total value eclipsed $162 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. One project that has seen its token price surge thanks to its focus on stablecoins and the Curve Finance (CRV) ecosystem is Convex Finance (CVX), a protocol that aims to help users boost CRV staking to maximize yields. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a low of $18.79 on Dec. 4, the price of CVX surged 215% to establish a new record high at $60.22 on Dec. 27. Over the same period, its 24-hour trading volume spiked from an average of $20 million to more than $163 millio...
Bitcoin (BTC) may be down over 30% from its record high of $69,000, but it has emerged as one of the best-performing financial assets in 2021. BTC has bested the United States benchmark index the S&P 500 and gold. Arcane Research noted in its new report that Bitcoin’s year-to-date performance came out to be nearly 73%. In comparison, the S&P 500 index surged 28%, and gold dropped by 7% in the same period, which marks the third consecutive year that Bitcoin has outperformed the two. Bitcoin vs. S&P 500 vs. gold in 2021. Source: Arcane Research, TradingView At the core of Bitcoin’s extremely bullish performance was higher inflation. The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) logged its largest 12-month increase in four decades this November. “Most economists didn’t see the hig...
Bitcoin (BTC) added to its losses on Dec. 29 with a fresh tumble briefly taking BTC/USD below $46,600. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView RSI flashes “oversold” Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed the pair giving up ground prior to the Wall St. open to increase its 48-hour correction to 10.4%. The latest move in a familiar pattern of behavior, the market showed that the range in which Bitcoin has acted in December remains very much in play. As market participants resigned themselves to a lackluster end to the year, popular trader and analyst Scott Melker noticed a possible buying opportunity at current levels on short timeframes. Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI), in addition to other bullish signals, had entered...
2021 has proven to be a fortuitous year for the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency Ether (ETH), which has seen a fourfold increase in value over the past 12 months. In doing so, Ether has outperformed the appreciation of the preeminent Bitcoin and has gained an increased percentage of the overall cryptocurrency market by capitalization. While the wider cryptocurrency markets have enjoyed a year of relative gains, ETH’s increase in value has been in tandem with upgrades to Ethereum’s core protocol, laying down the final pillars for its transition to a proof-of-stake consensus protocol in 2022. Certain Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP) have been the center of attention for the wider Ethereum community and have proved to be pivotal for “The Merge” with the proof-of-stake Beacon Chain se...
Cryptocurrency and stock trading app Robinhood plans to roll out the beta version of its digital wallet feature starting in January 2022. In a Wednesday blog post, Robinhood said tens of thousands of users currently on the waitlist for the trading app’s crypto wallet would have access to the beta version starting in mid-January. The trading app said more than 1.6 million people were waiting for the wallet, which will support depositing and withdrawing Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and other tokens. The trading app has been testing its digital wallet feature since it was first announced in September, completing its first alpha transfer — using DOGE — on Nov. 22. According to Robinhood chief operating officer Christine Brown, the beta rollout would be focused on the secur...
The software developer and entrepreneur forecasted that many projects in the DeFi sector wouldn’t last the next five to ten years In a recent YouTube session, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson shared his outlook on the future of decentralised finance. Hoskinson, who has seemingly vowed to redefine the sector, predicted that many active DeFi projects would fall off the grid within the next five to ten years. He cited the lack of long-term vision and rigorous engineering as the factor that will drive the majority of these projects to the ground. Hoskinson averred that the industry is flooded with many projects run by the ‘hope and prayer’ mindset, which he emphasised isn’t enough to keep them afloat. ‘ “It’s very hard to do this kind of engineering and to ...
Privacy tokens are an essential part of the world of crypto. XMR, ZEC, and DCR all have the potential for growth. These tokens are at affordable price points, making them solid purchases. Monero (XMR) is an open-source, privacy-oriented cryptocurrency originally launched in 2014. Transaction details and the amount of every transaction is anonymous through the process of disguising the addresses used by the participants. Zcash (ZEC) is a privacy-protecting digital currency that allows people to transact safely with low fees. Essentially, Shielded Zcash ensures that transactions remain confidential. Decred (DCR) is a decentralized and autonomous digital currency. Its main goal is to prioritize decentralized governance and decision-making on the blockchain. Should you buy Monero (XMR)? On Dec...
The blockchain research firm also predicts Bitcoin to continue recording better returns than the S&P 500 index in the incoming year Crypto market analytics company Arcane has laid out its 2022 predictions for various digital assets and the industry at large. The research firm compiled a report highlighting numerous predictions around various aspects, including token prices, regulations, and the performance of different crypto coins. Most notably, Arcane crowned Binance coin as the winner of 2021, explaining that it crushed both Ethereum and Bitcoin in returns. Here’s a look at the other major predictions: The fate of Ripple (XRP) and Cardano (ADA) According to the research firm, the two alts will slip and lose their spot among the top 10 coins by market cap next year. Arcane note...
Blockchain data research firm Arcane Research has taken a look at the year that was in its final report for 2021 and offered its predictions for crypto markets going into 2022. Arcane’s Dec. 28 The Weekly Update report focuses on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) but delves into other major coins, decentralized finance (DeFi), meme coins, nonfungible tokens (NFT), derivatives, and others. Arcane offered a prediction for what would happen in 2022 on every topic covered in the report. “Bitcoin will outperform the S&P 500 in 2022.” The report noted that through 2021, Bitcoin has outperformed the S&P 500 index. Bitcoin is up 73% while the S&P 500 is up 28% this year, and Arcane believes Bitcoin will continue this performance next year. The benchmark S&P 500 index consists of the...
Indian entrepreneur and the CEO of crypto exchange WazirX Nischal Shetty envisions a race between countries to launch their local versions of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in the coming year. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Shetty said that the year 2022 would be an extension of the ongoing discussions around crypto regulations, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the emergence of the metaverse: “We’re optimistic that we’ll get regulatory clarity, see institutional participation fuel retail adoption. We also expect to see more metaverse projects making an entrance.” Shetty pointed out that the crypto industry today — directly or indirectly — employs about 50,000 people in India, which according to NASSCOM research, is expected to grow 2X faster with the potential to create over 800,...
Bitcoin (BTC) balances rising on exchanges may not be a sign of investors preparing to sell, new research argues. Unveiling the latest data from across exchanges on Dec. 28, Glassnode on-chain analyst TXMC pointed the finger at fresh changes in China for rising balances elsewhere. Binance “absorbing” orphaned Huobi users The end of December is seeing nerves fray as a rangebound BTC price combines with increased inflows to exchanges. A classic indicator that traders are at least arming themselves to de-risk in the event of further price weakness, Binance has been particularly closely eyed as its BTC stocks rise. At the same time, however, Chinese investors are being frozen out of international spot trading venues in the aftermath of China’s ongoing crackdown on cryptocurre...