So-called ‘Fair Launch’ tokens are outperforming most projects released via centralized token distribution events, according to crypto market data aggregator Messari,
Messari defines Fair Launch tokens as having a publicly announced launch without any form of pre-mine. These include older top 10 crypto assets Bitcoin and Litecoin, newer DeFi projects such as Yearn.Finance and SushiSwap, and veteran 2013 altcoin Peercoin.
Fair Launch tokens appear to be outperforming the broader crypto markets by more than double over the past three months.
The top 1,026 crypto markets gained an average of 9.56% this past week, compared to the 31.44% average gain seen by Fair Launch projects over the same period.
Over the past 30 days, Fair Launch tokens are up 145.33% compared to the collective crypto average of 49.50%, while the last 90 days have seen Fair Launch projects gain 296.46% compared to 112.41%.
Fair Launch tokens are also outperforming the averages of Ethereum-based assets, which gained 1.90%, 43.82%, and 248.45% over the past seven, 30, and 90 days respectively.
The data shows that all but one of the top 20 Fair Launch tokens have posted gains this week, with only DOGE sliding by 20%.
However, DOGE is the top-performing Fair Launch asset of both the past 30 and 90 days, gaining 515% and 1,815% respectively after being pumped by the notorious subreddit r/Wallstreetbets at the end of January.
The performance of Fair Launch tokens has also been bolstered by Bitcoin’s meteoric run into all-time highs since breaking above $20,000 for the first time in December. The consolidation of the Yearn Finance ecosystem has also contributed to the strong performances from Yearn and SushiSwap recently.
Privacy-focused blockchain network Verge (XVG) has experienced a significant block reorganization, replacing transactions dating as far back as July 2020.
Despite being described as potentially “the deepest reorg that has ever taken place in a top 100 cryptocurrency,” analysts are yet to confirm that the incident comprised a coordinated attack.
Coinmetrics COO Antoine Le Calvez was one of the first to notice the reorg, sharing a screenshot on Twitter showing that at least 560,000 blocks had disappeared on February 15.
Looks like $XVG (Verge) experienced a massive 560k+ blocks reorg.@coinmetrics‘ node is on a new chain whose last common ancestor with the previous chain dates to July 2020.
Le Calvez suggested the reorg could have been caused by a double-spend, in which a number of XVG tokens are used simultaneously for two separate transactions. However, due to the magnitude of the incident, Calvez admitted it will take some time for developers to comb through the data to establish the exactsource of the reorg.
As a result of this roll-back, any user who received or purchased XVG tokens since July 2020 may have lost their entire balance, with Deribit Insights’ researcher “Hasu” tweeting that “thousands of balances have simply evaporated.” One Verge investor tweeted that their wallet balance is now empty after the attack.
Despite the scale of the potential attack, Hasu believes it will be “pretty easy to counter,” advancing that “nodes will reject the attacker’s chain and restore the previous one.” Hasu stated the incident highlights the vulnerability of blockchains supported by GPU mining.
This isn’t the first time a reorg has been suggested to fend off would-be attackers, with Hasu referencing back to 2019 when Vertcoin succumbed to a 51% attack. The same year, after major exchange Binance was hacked for more than $40 million, founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao floated the idea of conducting a Bitcoin reorg to recover the funds, however, the idea was quickly decided against.
An unconfirmed screenshot shared by Twitter user @etn_electroneum showed XVG advisor AlexanDre stating the source is linked to some nodes who wanted to create a fork. He also added that there was not a 51% attack.
XVG advisor AlexanDre telegram announcement on Verge reorg. Source: Twitter
In the last six hours, XVG has dropped by almost 15% to $0.0224. This has resulted in it moving out of the top 100, according to Coingecko. Verge’s explorer is still down.
Privacy-focused blockchain network Verge (XVG) has experienced a significant block reorganization, replacing transactions dating as far back as July 2020.
When BitMEX launched its Bitcoin (BTC) perpetual futures market in 2016, it created a new paradigm for cryptocurrency traders. Although this was not the first platform to offer BTC-settled inverse swaps, BitMEX brought usability and liquidity to a broader audience of investors.
BitMEX contracts did not involve fiat or stablecoins and even though the reference price was calculated in USD all profits and losses were paid in BTC.
Fast forward to 2021, and the Tether (USDT) settled contracts have gained relevance. Using USDT-based contracts certainly makes it easier for retail investors to calculate their profit, loss and the required margin required but they also have disadvantages.
Why BTC-settled contracts are for more experienced traders
Binance offers coin-margined (BTC-settled) contracts and in this case, instead of relying on USDT margin, the buyer (long) and the seller (short) are required to deposit BTC as margin.
When trading coin-margined contracts there is no need to use stablecoins. Therefore, it has less collateral (margin) risk. Algorithmic-backed stablecoins have stabilization issues, while the fiat-backed ones run risks of seizures and government controls. Therefore, by exclusively depositing and redeeming BTC, a trader can bypass these risks.
On the negative side, whenever the price of BTC goes down, so does one’s collateral in USD terms. This impact happens because the contracts are priced in USD. Whenever a futures position is opened the quantity is always in contract quantity, either 1 contract = 1 USD at Bitmex and Deribit, or 1 contract = 100 USDat Binance, Huobi and OKEx.
This effect is known as non-linear inverse future returns and the buyer incurs more losses when BTC price collapses. The difference grows wider the further the reference price moves down from the initial position.
USDT-settled contracts are riskier but easier to manage
USDT-settled futures contracts are easier to manage because the returns are linear and unaffected by strong BTC price moves. For those willing to short the futures contracts, there is no need to buy BTC at any time, but there are costs involved to keep open positions.
This contract doesn’t need an active hedge to protect collateral (margin) exposure, thus it’s a better choice for retail traders.
It is worth noting that carrying long-term positions on any stablecoins has an embedded risk, which increases when third party custody services are used. This is one reason why stakers can obtain over 11% APY on stablecoin deposits.
Whether an investor measures returns in BTC or fiat also plays a massive part in this decision. Arbitrage desks and market makers tend to prefer USDT-settled contracts as their alternative investment is either staking or low-risk cash and carry trades.
On the other hand, cryptocurrency retail investors usually hold BTC or switch into altcoins aiming for higher returns than a fixed APY. Thus, by being the preferred instrument of professional traders, USDT-settled futures are gaining more traction.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.
The sustained bullish performance from Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) has increased the confidence of crypto investors and many are now looking deeper into projects that have strong fundamentals and offer real-world use cases.
This week investors turned their attention to Theta (THETA), a decentralized network that allows users to share bandwidth and computing resources in order to stream video. In the last two months THETA price has increased by more than 350%, rallying from $0.66 on Dec.10 to a new all-time high of $3.44 on Feb.13.
Three reasons for Theta’s recent price growth include the project’s plan to engage with DeFi through its Theta DEX, the addition of smart contract capabilities and NFTs to its blockchain and a growing list of high-level partnerships that will help bring quality content to its video streaming network.
Community engagement via non-fungible tokens
Following the success of CryptoKitties during the 2017-2018 bull market, non-fungible tokens (NFT) have become a recurring hot topic in the cryptocurrency sector. Theta’s addition of smart contract functionality is an attempt to capitalize on this trend.
The Theta Token Minter allows users to create new TNT-20 tokens without needing any smart contract experience. This simplifies the process of minting new assets on Theta blockchain, including custom streamer assets and new DApps with their own tokens.
The token minter platform also makes it easy for users to trade and transact in their newly minted tokens.
ThetaSwap DEX bring DeFi-sized yields
Decentralized finance has rapidly become a cornerstone of the cryptocurrency ecosystem prompting projects that are serious about their long-term viability to create their own DeFi applications.
Theta joined the party by launching it’s ThetaSwap v1 decentralized exchange onFeb.4. ThetaSwap allows users to swap Theta-based TNT-20 tokens and Theta Fuel (TFUEL) in a manner similar to the user experience on Uniswap and SushiSwap.
The DEX allows NFT holders the opportunity to trade their collectibles in a simple and secure manner through the integration of the Theta Chrome wallet extension available on both the Chrome and Brave browsers.
Future upgrades to ThetaSwap will add support for wrapped tokens, including a wrapped form of Theta similar to wETH or wBTC, along with the possible addition of several stablecoins whose issuers have already expressed interest in minting TNT20 forms of their assets.
Big-name partnerships push THETA price higher
The third reason for THETA’s improving fundamentals comes from the increase in big-name partnerships.
On Feb.9 the team announced that entertainment powerhouse Lionsgate, home to popular movie titles like John Wick and The Hunger Games, would be joining the Theta ecosystem. The partnership will kick off with movie night screenings beginning in March.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro shows that Theta’s price was decreasing on Feb.6 following a bullish breakout which appears to be the result of ThetaSwap’s release on Feb.5.
The VORTECS score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.
On Feb.9 news of the Lionsgate partnership broke and by Feb.10 the VORTECS score increased to 80, a move which was followed by THETA’s current rally to its all-time high at $3.49.
Other noteworthy Theta partners include NASA, which hosts a channel that live streams rocket launches and most recently a live feed from a Mars rover. World Series of Poker has also joined with Theta and its channel offers non-stop coverage of the world poker tour.
A rising tide lifts all boats
Theta’s entrance into DeFi, the steady addition of big-name streaming partners and the strength of the current crypto bull market all point to a growing ecosystem that is only beginning to display its true potential.
With Delaware’s Department of State showing a recent filing for a Grayscale Theta Trust LLC, the altcoins price appreciation may just be getting started as Bitcoin and altcoins are increasingly catching the eye of the mainstream investor.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
On Feb. 12 Bitcoin (BTC) price hit a new all-time high at $48,985 before pulling back to the $46,000 level.
A quick glance at the 4-hour chart shows the top-ranked cryptocurrency trading in what appears to be a brief phase of consolidation but BTC is still maintaining its bullish momentum through a pattern of higher highs and higher lows.
If BTC can maintain its current pace and structure, a move to the $50,000 level could possibly occur before the weekend ends.
A report released by analysts at Decentrader shows that as Bitcoin’s liquid supply has been decreasing, demand for the top cryptocurrency has been increasing as the number of BTC that have not moved on-chain for an extended period of time also rises.
As can be seen on the chart above, BTC currently has a liquid supply of roughly four million coins and the figure has been steadily decreasing since June 2020 as whales and institutional investors increase their exposure to this nascent asset class.
Further evidence of the growth of big-money players can be found by looking at the surge in wallets holding more than 1000 BTC.
Wallets holding at least 1000 BTC vs BTC price. Source: Decentrader
As the number of large wallets grows, the number of smaller wallets has remained flat or decreased, indicating that “larger players are scooping up bitcoin off smaller players.”
This marks the first time users outside of the U.S. will be able to purchase crypto through the platform which should be available on the PayPal and Venmo apps by the end of Q2 2021.
In an effort to keep up with the likes of PayPal and the Cash App, Apple Pay has unveiled a new partnership with BitPay that will allow Apple Wallet users to use their BitPay card to make purchases.
It has also emerged that Grayscale Investments may soon bring a new level of exposure to decentralized finance as a newly filed corporate registration in the State of Delaware shows that the asset manager is considering Yearn Finance as a potential future offering.
Choppy trading sets the tone in traditional markets
Traditional markets faced early pressure on Friday following the Feb.11 announcement that federal regulators have launched probes into Robinhood and Reddit for signs of market manipulation related to the recent wild moves seen in stocks like GameStop and AMC.
After weathering the early downturn, all three major indices managed to climb higher and finish the day in the positive with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ closing out the session at record levels, up 0.47% and 0.50% respectively. The Dow also managed to squeeze out a positive gain of 0.09%.
The wider cryptocurrency market continued its bullish upsurge as multiple projects saw double-digit gains and new all-time highs.
Ether (ETH) ventured deeper into uncharted territory on Friday by setting and set a new all-time high at $1,863, while Polkadot (DOT) was the best performing top-10 coin, experiencing an increase of 21% overnight for a new high at 29.52.
Other notable performers include the pure proof-of-stake protocol Algorand (ALGO), which increased 38% for a 2021 high at $1.84, and Tezos (XTZ), which saw its price increase 23% for a new record high of $5.41.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.48 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 60.4%.
Dogecoin founder Billy Markus has revealed that he sold off his DOGE stash in 2015 for an amount equivalent to a used Honda Civic.
Markus made the comment in an open letter to the r/dogecoin subreddit earlier this week in which he sought to introduce himself to new members of the community and outline what he believes is the “true value” of DOGE after the Dogecoin mania that saw it gain 900% since late January.
In the post, he provided context on the history of Dogecoin, in what appears to be a love-hate relationship since the coin started as a joke back in 2013.
Markus asserted that he stood down from Dogecoin in 2015 due to online harassment from the community, and because he was uncomfortable with the direction the community was taking. During the same year, Markus said he also ran into financial concerns due to losing his job and decided to cash in his DOGE:
“I gave away and/or sold all the crypto I had back in 2015 after being laid off and scared about my dwindling savings at the time, for about enough in total to buy a used Honda Civic.”
The meteoric rise in value appears to mean little to Markus, who questions what the true value of DOGE is. Markus states that he can’t “comprehend” discussions of a rally to $1 as that would give an unproductive meme coin a market cap comparable to many leading U.S. companies.
“People are talking about Dogecoin going to $1 – that would make the ‘market cap’ larger than actual companies that provide services to millions, such as Boeing, Starbucks, American Express, IBM. Does Dogecoin deserve that? That is not something I can comprehend, let alone answer.”
Markus asserts that the true value of Dogecoin is in the community and its potential to do good. He said that if the community embodies joy, kindness, fun, empathy, creativity and absurdity, that this is the “true value of DOGE.”
Markus’ letter follows renewed interest and speculation in DOGE, with the coin’s price increasing 50% after Elon Musk tweeted it was “the people’s crypto” on Feb. 4. Back in 2019 Musk was elected as the hypothetical CEO by the Dogecoin community in a Twitter poll and he has jokingly referred to himself as the “former CEO of Dogecoin.” On Feb .11. Musk bought DOGE for his son so that he could become a “toddler hoddler”. Markus appears to view the interest of the world’s richest man as quite surreal.
“I’m half detached, but it’s weird that something I made in a few hours is now part of internet culture,” said Markus. “It’s amusing to see Elon Musk talk about it. It feels silly, but there’s this huge upwelling behind it.”
