Summary:

• The Luna Foundation Guard has bought an additional 37,863 Bitcoin worth $1.5 billion
• The purchase is in line with Do Kwon’s goal of backing UST with digital asset reserves worth $10 billion
• The Luna Foundation Guard now holds 80,394 BTC

The Luna Foundation Guard has acquired an additional 37,863 Bitcoin worth $1.5 billion to further back its popular stablecoin of UST.

The recent purchase of Bitcoin was carried out in two transactions: $1 billion with Genesis Trading and $500 million worth of Bitcoin through 3 Arrows Capital (3AC). With this purchase, the Luna Foundation Guard now holds 80,394 Bitcoin worth an estimated $3.2 billion at the time of writing.

2/ The OTC swaps included 1 billion $UST for $1 billion worth of $BTC with Genesis, and the LFG purchased an additional $500 million worth of BTC via 3AC.

The acquired BTC brings the LFG’s total holdings to ~80,394 Bitcoins.

— LFG | Luna Foundation Guard (@LFG_org) May 5, 2022

UST is Attempting to Observe the Bitcoin Standard – Do Kwon

The recent purchase of $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin is in line with the vision of Terra’s founder, Do Kwon, of backing TerraUSD (UST) with $10 billion worth of BTC and other digital assets.

Mr. Kwon further elaborated his vision to CNBC by stating ‘For the first time, you’re starting to see a pegged currency that is attempting to observe the bitcoin standard. It’s making a strong directional bet that keeping a lot of those foreign reserves in the form of a digital native currency is going to be a winning recipe.’

He also added that time is the only element left to test out the TerraUSD (UST) project. Additionally, the stablecoin project is particularly important given ‘that we live in a time where there’s excess money printing across the board and when monetary policies highly politicized that there are citizens that are self-organizing to try to bring systems back to a sounder paradigm of money.’

TerraUSD (UST) Makes an Entry into Coinmarketcap’s Top 10

At the time of writing, TerraUSD (UST) is ranked tenth on Coinmarketcap with a market capitalization of $18.683 billion. UST is also now also ranked third in the stablecoin category after Tether ($83.154 billion) and USDC ($48.7 billion). It has also eclipsed Binance USD (BUSD) which has a market capitalization of $17.8 billion.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Luna Foundation Acquires An Additional 37.8k Bitcoin Worth .5B, Bringing its Total Holdings to 80,394 BTC

Quick take:

• Bitmex’s founder and former CEO, Arthur Hayes, has requested leniency from the judge handling his court case
• Mr. Hayes is requesting no jail time and permission to live abroad and travel freely
• His lawyers have also asked for probation with no home detention or community confinement
• Arthur Hayes had struck a plea deal that would result in a prison sentence of 6 to 12 months

The founder of Bitmex and former CEO, Arthur Hayes, is requesting leniency from the Manhattan Federal Judge handling his court case.

According to Bloomberg, Mr. Hayes, who pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in February of this year, is asking for no jail time and permission to live abroad and travel freely. His lawyers also requested probation in preference over house arrest or community confinement. Mr. Hayes’ request to the Federal Judge also included a letter from his mother alongside photographs and letters from his supporters.

The letter to the Federal Judge went on to state:

This is a landmark case that has already had an extraordinary and well-publicized impact on Mr. Hayes’s personal life and on the BitMEX business that he co-founded.

Arthur Hayes Was Charged Alongside Other Bitmex Execs.

Hayes’ request for leniency comes after he struck a plea deal with the prosecution, which would result in a six to a twelve-month prison sentence.

His legal troubles originated in October 2020 when the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) charged him – alongside two other owners of Bitmex, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed – for operating an unregistered trading platform, violating multiple CFTC regulations and the Bank Secrecy Act, and conspiring to violate the Bank Secrecy Act.

Regarding the latter two charges, all three had been indicted by the US Department of Justice under the US Attorney’s office of the Southern District of New York alongside a fourth defendant, Gregory Dwyer.

At the time of the initial charges, FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr explained that the four defendants violated the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement US anti-money laundering requirements. He said:

…the four defendants, through their company’s BitMEX crypto-currency trading platform, willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act by evading U.S. anti-money laundering requirements.

One defendant went as far as to brag the company incorporated in a jurisdiction outside the U.S. because bribing regulators in that jurisdiction cost just ‘a coconut.’

Thanks to the diligent work of our agents, analysts, and partners with the CFTC, they will soon learn the price of their alleged crimes will not be paid with tropical fruit, but rather could result in fines, restitution, and federal prison time.

[Feature image courtesy of Fortune.com]

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Bitmex’s Arthur Hayes Requests Leniency, No Jail Time for Violating the US Bank Secrecy Act

Summary:

• Lido Finance has surpassed Curve finance to become the largest DeFi protocol in terms of total value locked
• Approximately $19.1 billion is locked on Lido Finance compared to Curve’s $19 billion
• Lido Finance is available on the blockchain networks of Ethereum, Solana, Terra, Kusama, and Polygon.

Earlier today, Lido Finance became the largest DeFi protocol in terms of total value locked, edging out Curve Finance from the top spot in the process. At the time of writing, the total value locked on Lido Finance stands at $19.1 billion compared to Curve’s $19 billion. Anchor comes in third with $17.08 billion, MakerDao fourth with $13.18 billion, and AAVE fifth with $11.69 billion in total value locked.

Lido Finance’s Rise in DeFi

Launched in December 2020, Lido Finance has grown to facilitate staking on the five networks of Ethereum, Terra, Solana, Kusama and Polygon. Furthermore, $11 billion worth of assets is staked on Ethereum 2.0; $7.142 billion on Terra; $288.722 million on Solana; $2.525 million on Kusama; and $16.175 million on Polygon.

Lido’s vision is ‘to build a staking solution that is fully permissionless and risk-free for the blockchain itself.’ The current roadmap of the project includes adopting Distributed Validator technology and creating additional checks and balances on Lido’s governance. The latter includes directly empowering stETH holders to veto any decisions that will be made on the protocol.

stETH is a liquidity token that users get when they stake their Ethereum into the ETH 2.0 contract through Lido in a 1-to-1 ratio. stETH also allows its users to participate in the entire Ethereum DeFi ecosystem (Yearn, Curve, Maker, Aave) while still accruing ETH2.0 rewards earned from staking during Phase 0.

The team at Lido further explains stETH as follows:

stETH accrues staking rewards regardless of where it is acquired. This means that regardless of whether you acquire stETH directly from staking via stake.lido.fi, purchase stETH from 1inch or receive it from a friend, it will rebase daily to reflect Ethereum staking rewards.

This nullifies the downsides from staking into the Eth2 contract directly: illiquidity, immovability, inaccessibility. Instead of locking up your staked ETH, Lido allows you to put it to use so you don’t need to choose between Ethereum staking and DeFi participation.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Lido Finance with .1B in TVL, Edges out Curve as the Largest DeFi Protocol

• Terra (LUNA) has hit a new all-time high of $115.23
• The LUNA Foundation is determined to keep buying Bitcoin
• Terra’s founder wants to increase LUNA’s Bitcoin reserves to $10 Billion and to be the single largest holder of Bitcoin after Satoshi
• LUNA and the purchases of the Foundation could ignite a Bitcoin and crypto-wide bull run

The digital asset of Terra (LUNA) has hit a new all-time high of $115.23. The milestone was hit a few moments ago with the digital asset looking ready to keep on pushing higher as seen in the daily LUNA/USDT chart.

From the daily LUNA/USDT chart above, it can be seen that the daily MFI, RSI, and MACD hint at a continuation of bullishness for LUNA rolling into the new week. Consequently, Terra (LUNA) could attempt to push closer to $120 or above.

LUNA Foundation Wants to Be the Single Largest Bitcoin Holder after Satoshi Nakamoto

The bullishness surrounding Terra (LUNA) can be attributed to the Luna Foundation’s objective of increasingly collateralizing its UST stablecoin with Bitcoin.

Terra’s founder, Do Kwon, has on numerous occasions stated that he wants to increase the foundation’s Bitcoin holdings to $10 Billion. Furthermore, he wants the Luna Foundation to be the single largest holder of Bitcoin after Satoshi Nakamoto.

At the time of writing, the Luna Foundation how holds 30,727.98 Bitcoin.

The @LFG_org now #hodl 30,727.98 #Bitcoin at a total balance of $1,424,075,616.03 USD in the Gringotts Reserve.

— LFG_Reserve (@LFG_Reserve) April 2, 2022

LUNA and the Foundation’s BTC Purchases Could Ignite a Bull Run

It is with this brief background of LUNA hitting a new all-time high and the foundation’s constant purchases of Bitcoin, that could ignite a BTC and crypto-wide bull run.

The consistent purchases of Bitcoin will most likely create a FOMO (fear of missing out) effect that will kick start a new round of interest in buying BTC by retail investors. Once the King of Crypto starts its journey toward higher levels, other cryptocurrencies will follow suit.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is attempting to turn the $46k price area as support. Bitcoin is right below the 200-day moving average at approximately $48k. Chances are that in the coming week, Bitcoin makes a second attempt at breaking this level. If successful, a crypto-wide sense of bullishness will most likely be felt in the markets.

[Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein by the author should not be considered as financial advice nor do they represent those of EWN and its other writers.]

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Could LUNA Hitting a New ATH Ignite a BTC and Crypto Bull Run?

• Arthur Hayes has predicted that Ethereum could go to $10,000 and Solana to $200
• According to Hayes, Ethereum’s rewards in a PoS network makes ETH a bond
• Stakers on ETH2.0 could see 8 – 11.5% APR
• Solana has the 2nd highest addresses after Ethereum and the price of SOL will benefit from this
• Arthur Hayes offers a disclaimer that his opinion should not be viewed as financial advice

The founder and former CEO of Bitmex, Arthur Hayes, has penned a new blog post in which he gives a $10,000 price prediction for Ethereum and a $200 price prediction for Solana.

However, Hayes did not provide a precise timeline for the aforementioned values of ETH and SOL to materialize.

Ethereum’s Merge into Proof-of-Stake Makes ETH a Bond

In the informative blog post, Mr. Hayes goes on to highlight that the Ethereum network will soon switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake during the merge that is scheduled for later this year.

As 2022 progresses, Hayes expects ‘ETH to significantly outperform any L1 chain that constructed a narrative that it is “faster and cheaper” than Ethereum’.

He goes on to explain that after the merge, stakers of ETH could earn an APR of around 8 to 11.5%. In addition, the rewards issued to validators ‘renders ETH a bond’. He explains:

Ether is not money — it is a commodity that powers the world’s largest decentralised computer. As I explained in “Yes I Read the Whitepaper”, the Ethereum community clearly decided that ETH is a commodity used to power this computer, not a pure monetary instrument.

Bitcoin does not have an implicit yield in BTC terms at the protocol level. Post-merge, ETH will. Therefore, Bitcoin is money, and ETH is a commodity-linked bond.

Solana Has the 2nd Highest Number of Addresses

With respect to Solana, Arthur Hayes uses the number of addresses to conclude that the network is the second most popular blockchain and will positively benefit the value of SOL. He said.

The number of addresses on a given chain is another crude but useful metric that can be used to evaluate the health of a public blockchain. Ethereum sports 16x more addresses than second-place Solana, but is still cheaper on a Price / Address basis.

Not Financial Advice

Also worth mentioning is that at the beginning of the blog post, Mr. Hayes has issued a disclaimer in which he states that all views expressed in the article are his. Furthermore, they should not form the basis of any financial decisions nor be construed ‘as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions’.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Bitmex’s Hayes: Ethereum Could Rise to k and Solana to 0

• Fantom and Gitcoin Grants have announced an incentive program partnership
• 335M Fantom (FTM) has been dedicated to the incentive program
• This translates to roughly $490 million
• Fantom users will determine the reward allocations and FTM will be allocated to the most loved and supported projects

The team at Fantom (FTM) has announced a partnership with Gitcoin Grants that will revolve around an incentive program to fund projects in the Fantom ecosystem.

According to the team at Fantom, 335 million FTM, worth roughly $490 million, has been dedicated to the incentive program.

Gitcoin grants has a proven track record of funding projects in the web3 space. The incentive program will provide a fair playing field for projects to apply and get matched for rewards using Gitcoin’s Quadratic funding mechanism.

Furthermore, Fantom users will decide on the allocation of the funds thus allowing greater FTM matching rewards for projects most loved and supported by their users.

The Fantom Foundation will kick off the incentive program by participating in the next round of Gitcoin Grants that begins in June. The foundation will go on to match user donations with 3 million FTM in the first round and 1.5 million FTM in subsequent rounds.

To note is that the Fantom Foundation has retired previous incentive programs both for DeFi and Gaming. Current and pending applicants are therefore encouraged to apply through Gitcoin grants.

Objectives of the Fantom/Gitcoin Incentive Program

In addition, the Fantom/Gitcoin incentive program is geared towards achieving the following objectives.

• To better support a wider variety of project types – projects focusing on different areas of blockchain should be treated equally on Fantom. They include and are not limited to, projects working on DeFi, NFT, gaming, education or even infrastructure
• The Fantom community is part of the allocation process – the collective wisdom of the Fantom users is highly respected by the Fantom foundation. Decentralized decision making will better serve users as the most deserving projects will get direct support from valuable stakeholders
• Support of smaller teams beginning to build on Fantom – the incentive program aims to support all builders even those starting their creative journeys. Achieving success takes time and the Fantom foundation is well aware of the challenges

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Fantom Partners with Gitcoin Grants in 0M Incentive Program

• Zilliqa’s price has risen by almost 400% in the month of March
• The price increment is hinged on the anticipated launch of its Metapolis Metaverse
• Metapolis will be launched on the 2nd of April during a VIP event in Miami, Florida
• ZIL could undergo a pull-back after the launch of Metapolis

The popular Ethereum competitor of Zilliqa has had an eventful month of March in terms of project developments, and price movement of its native digital asset of ZIL.

Zilliqa Gains by 400% in the month of March

To begin with, the digital asset of Zilliqa has had a meteoritic rise this month gaining value by almost 400%.

At the beginning of the month, Zilliqa was valued at roughly $0.043. Earlier today, Zilliqa hit a local peak value of $0.2095. This translates to a 387% price increment in the stated time period.

Rise of ZIL Fueled by the Metapolis Metaverse

Secondly, Zilliqa is diving deep into the Metaverse with the launch of Metapolis.

The latter is a Metaverse-as-a-service (MaaS) platform that will be launched on April 2nd during a VIP event in Miami, Florida.

According to the team at Zilliqa, Metapolis will be ‘ built on unreal engine, unity and Nvidia Omniverse’. In this endeavor of Metapolis, Zilliqa has partnered with Agora, a global talent awards app that allows its users to ‘upload their creations and participate in contests to win support, visibility and recognition in the international community’.

#Metapolis – The Next Internet.

The #Metaverse for all (MaaS)

Powered by a leading L1 #blockchain layer #Zilliqa & it’s security focused safe by design smart contract language #scilla

Innovative #NFTs standards ZRC-6 & ZRC-7.

— Sandra (@sandra_tlibe) February 6, 2022

Furthermore, Metapolis has already gathered interest from major creator-focused and eSports brands. The project has also gathered over $2 million in pre-launch revenues.

What the ZIL/USDT Chart Says

To note is that the Metapolis launch event is roughly 48 hours away. Therefore, consulting the daily ZIL/USDT chart is recommended to gauge if ZIL’s bullish momentum will be maintained before, during, and after the event on April 2nd.

From the daily ZIL/USDT chart, it can be observed that the price of Zilliqa has taken a parabolic trajectory. Furthermore, its price has very much deviated above the 50-day (white), 100-day (yellow) and 200-day (green) moving averages, pointing towards a possible pullback in the next few days.

Additionally, ZIL’s daily MFI, MACD and RSI are in overbought territory further providing hints of a possible retracement.

Consequently, caution is advised when going long on Zilliqa (ZIL) on the various leverage trading platforms. A wait-and-see approach, till after the Metapolis launch, could also be an option for anyone who did not catch the ride up.

[Feature image courtesy of Zilliqa on Twitter]

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Zilliqa (ZIL) Gains by 4x in March on Metapolis Metaverse FOMO

Quick take:

• Officials in the EU and US have expressed concerns that Russia might use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions
• The EU is taking all measures to guarantee that digital assets will not be an alternative for Russia amidst sanctions
• US Senators have asked Treasury officials, how they are overseeing digital assets in the wake of sanctions against Russia

Lawmakers and officials in the European Union and the United States, have expressed growing concern that Russia may use cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions meant to pressure President Putin into retreating from Ukraine.

The Finance Minister of France said, ‘We are taking measures, in particular on crypto currencies or crypto assets which should not be used to circumvent the financial sanctions decided upon by the 27 EU countries’.

In the United States, four U.S. Senators – Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Mark Warner of Virginia, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Jack Reed of Rhode Island – sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury, asking about the progress the department was making in ‘monitoring and enforcing sanctions compliance by the cryptocurrency industry’.

The four U.S Senators went on to request information on what steps the U.S. Treasury was taking to ensure Russia and sanctioned individuals, were not using cryptocurrencies to bypass global sanctions. They emphasized that the sanction program against Russia needed to be strong enough and inclusive of digital assets.

With respect to compliance with sanctions against Russia, the CEOs of Coinbase and Binance have clarified that both platforms will follow the law and will not lock out ordinary Russian users.

The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, went on to explain that the crypto exchange was screening trading accounts against a global watchlist in an attempt to block transactions from individuals and IP addresses, that have been flagged as belonging to sanctioned individuals.

Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, issued a similar statement earlier today in which he explained that the crypto exchange was complying with global sanctions against Russia.

According to CZ, Binance has ‘assembled a dedicated global compliance task force, including world-renowned sanctions and law enforcement experts’ working tirelessly to enforce sanctions.

To note is that neither Coinbase nor Binance has banned regular individual traders from Russia on their platforms.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: EU, US Concerned Russia May Use Crypto to Avoid Sanctions

Quick take:

• Bitcoin (BTC) has once again reclaimed $9,000 with 5 days until halving. 
• Pantera Capital’s CEO, Dan Morehead, sees a scenario where BTC hits $115,212 by August 2021. 
• His analysis is based on the change in the stock-to-flow ratio across each halving. 

The hype and excitement surrounding the Bitcoin halving event is once again evident in the current price of BTC. At the time of writing this, Bitcoin has just broken both the $9,000 and $9,100 resistance levels and is trading at $9,261 with 5 days until halving. A brief analysis of the BTC/USDT 6-hour chart reveals that there is renewed buying interest as we draw closer to the estimated halving date of May 12th.

Pantera Capital CEO Predicts Bitcoin (BTC) Could Hit $115k After Halving

With the Bitcoin halving only days away, Pantera Capital CEO, Dan Morehead, has predicted that BTC could hit $115,212 by August of 2021. His analysis is based on the change in the stock-to-flow ratio across each halving. Mr. Morehead made this predication via twitter and further elaborated on his analysis via an informative Medium blog post. His tweet can be found below.

#bitcoin could hit $115,212 in Aug 2021 based on the change in the stock-to-flow ratio across each halving.

More details here: https://t.co/fMYDXAT5qy pic.twitter.com/02uCpVoGKN

— Dan Morehead (@dan_pantera) May 5, 2020

Further highlighting key points from his Medium post, Mr. Morehead explained how a reduction in supply of BTC after each halving, will impact the price of Bitcoin.

One potential framework for analyzing the impact of halvings is to study the change in the stock-to-flow ratio across each halving. The first halving reduced the supply by 15% of the total outstanding bitcoins. That’s a huge impact on supply and it had a huge impact on price.

Each subsequent halving’s impact on price will likely taper off in importance as the ratio of reduction in supply from previous halvings to the next decreases.

Furthermore, his analysis went on to elaborate on the impact each halving has had on the price of Bitcoin.

The second having decreased supply only one-third as much as the first. Very interestingly, it had exactly one-third the price impact.

Extrapolating this relationship to 2020:

The reduction in supply is only 40% as great as in 2016. If this relationship holds, that would imply about 40% as much price impulse — bitcoin would peak at $115,212 /BTC.

What is Stock-to-Flow Ratio?

The Stock-to-flow ratio is a measure traditionally used to gauge the abundance of commodities. It is calculated by dividing the amount of a commodity held in inventories, by the amount being produced annually.

In the case of Bitcoin, it is calculated by dividing the currently known supply of Bitcoin by the BTC mined annually. At the time of writing this, there is approximately 18.365 Bitcoin already mined with an annual production of 657,000 BTC per year. This results in a Stock-to-flow ratio of 27.9.

(Feature image courtesy of Unsplash.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Pantera Capital CEO: Bitcoin (BTC) Could Hit 5k after Halving

In brief:

• In a recent tweet, the team at BitTorrent (BTT) has highlighted why the BTFS file system is better than Filecoin (FIL). 
• The teams behind both projects have been throwing jabs at each other ranging from accusations of plagiarism and going as far as claiming the other is ‘vaporware’.
• Filecoin’s (FIL) Mainnet is set to be launched between mid-July and mid-August. 

In a recent tweet, the team at BitTorrent (BTT) highlighted why its BTFS file system is better than Filecoin (FIL). The tweet showcased how the BTFS system has more to show than Filecoin that is yet to launch its mainnet after several postponements. The lack of Filecoin having a functional product is the focal point of the debate as to which is better. The full tweet by BitTorrent made 8 comparisons that can be found below.

Why #BTFS is better than #Filecoin?
1⃣ Integrated with $BTT economy
2⃣ #TRON network
3⃣ 100M user base
4⃣ Simple and intuitive Host UI
5⃣ Mainnet launched
6⃣ #BitTorrentSpeed、#DLive
7⃣ Active community
8⃣ Dedicated global professional teams#BTT @justinsuntron @OfficialDLive pic.twitter.com/eY3KSQVE5H

— BitTorrent Inc. (@BitTorrent) May 4, 2020

Previous Tweef Between Filecoin (FIL) and BitTorrent (BTT)

The recent tweet by BitTorrent is a follow up of a Tweef that transpired in mid-April between Justin Sun and Juan Benet of Filecoin (FIL). Benet was the first to point out that BTFS’ new logo looked like it had been plagiarized. His remarks alluded to the fact that Justin Sun and the Tron Foundation have been accused of borrowing ideas from other open-source projects.

Aaaaaahahaha it’s not enough to fork all our code, rebrand it and lie its theirs; copy paste random chunks of our papers, and defraud their investors with a nonsensical mishmash. Tron also can’t even think of an original logo.

Justin Sun was quick to respond to the accusations by asking if the hexagon shape on the new BTFS logo was owned by Benet. Sun went on to accuse Filecoin of copying BitTorrent’s technology. Additionally, he slammed the project as being ‘vaporware’ with no functional product.

Filecoin’s (FIL) Mainnet Launch in 2020

Both the Filecoin and Tron ICOs were carried out in September of 2017. However, Tron has a wide range of achievements under its belt more than Filecoin. As earlier mentioned, the key to the whole discussion is that Tron launched its mainnet in mid-2018 and Filecoin has yet to launch its final version of the platform. At the time of writing this, Filecoin has set its mainnet launch for mid-July to mid-August this year.

(Feature image courtesy of Hermes Rivera on Unsplash.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: BitTorrent (BTT) Throws Another Jab at Filecoin (FIL)

In brief:

• Robinhood has secured $280 Million Series F funding after an $8.3 Billion valuation. 
• The funding will drive a push to expand the platform globally. 
• Robinhood also plans on scaling the platform and offering more products to users. 

The team at the popular trading platform of Robinhood has announced that the firm has secured $280 Million series F funding after an $8.3 Billion valuation. The round of funding was lead by Sequoia Capital which is an existing investor of Robinhood. Other existing and new investors that participated in the Series F funding include NEA, Ribbit Capital, 9Yards Capital and Unusual Ventures.

New Funding to Push for Global Expansion

The team went on to elaborate that the funding will be used to scale the platform, build and develop new products and accelerate their expansion. In a recent interview with Fortune, the co-CEO of Robinhood, Vlad Tenev, further elaborated on this goal as follows:

The purpose of the capital raise is to enable us to have flexibility and be strategic, and continue to invest in the platform.

We envision that over the next few years, Robinhood will expand globally and continue rolling out more products.

Stability Concerns Still Linger

Amidst the current stock and crypto market volatility, Robinhood has managed to add more than 3 Million funded accounts so far this year. According to Robinhood, half of their new customers are first-time investors.

However, the stability of the platform has been questioned by not only Millenials who prefer using the platform, but by investors who are waiting for Robinhood to go public through an IPO. During the Coronavirus crash of 2020, the platform suffered an outage on 2nd March. The day proved to be one of the most volatile due to the economic effects of COVID19. Trading functions were fully restored on the 9th of March which is a full week after the event.

Trading has been restored and Robinhood is back up and running again. Thank you for your patience as we resolved this issue.

— Robinhood Help (@AskRobinhood) March 9, 2020

List of Cryptocurrencies Available for Trading on Robinhood

At the time of writing this, Robinhood currently supports trading of the following cryptocurrencies.

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• Dogecoin (DOGE)
• Ethereum Classic (ETC)
• Bitcoin SV (BSV)

(Feature image courtesy of Unsplash.com.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Robinhood Secures 0M in Series F Funding, Plans to Expand Globally

The fully-decentralized network of stablecoins, PegNet, announces the launch of the first mobile wallet for Android users to easily convert pegged asset tokens.

• PegNet wallet hosts 42 stable pegged asset tokens of the top fiats, cryptocurrencies, and commodities gold and silver
• PegNet is the first proof-of-work oracle-based stablecoin network for DeFi
• Fixed $0.001 cost for all transactions and conversions within the PegNet system

PegNet community launches the first mobile wallet for users on the android app store. Cryptocurrency users now have the ability to convert pegged stable asset tokens and the native PEG token easier than ever and for next to no cost.

The decentralized stablecoin network is entirely community-built, first launching fair-start proof-of-work CPU mining in August of last year with transactions and conversions going live in October. In less than one year, the PegNet community has developed a robust mining and trading community, earned listings onto multiple exchanges including IDEX and US-based qTrade exchange, and more regularly sees new integrations and collaborations with other DeFi communities and projects. Last week, PegNet announced its mutually-beneficial integration with Chainlink, making it the first POW oracle source for Chainlink.

With the increased demand for stablecoins in the past year combined with the recent draft suggestions from the FSB for classifying and regulating stablecoins worldwide, the PegNet community believes timing is ripe for a fully-decentralized option such as PegNet for cryptocurrency traders and users. PegNet combines the best principles from the decentralized cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, with the best characteristics of centralized stablecoins to create a first-of-its-kind DeFi solution built by the people, for the people.
Community member and miner, David Johnston is enthusiastic about the newest PegNet developments saying, “It’s never been easier to move between different assets. With this one mobile wallet you can now convert between crypto, stablecoins, & Gold and Silver with the push of a button.”

About PegNet

PegNet is an open-source, community-built and oracle based stablecoin network for DeFi. A novel innovation that synthetically tokenizes fiat currencies, crypto assets, and commodities. Powered by the Ethereum and Factom protocols, PegNet offers frictionless movement between any of the 46 assets comprised of the top fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies, commodities gold and silver, and the native PEG token in a network that is fully-decentralized, open-source, fully-auditable, trustless and CPU-mineable. PegNet relies on POW miners to report oracle price record data and does not expose users to any of the collateral or reserve-based risks.

PegNet is a fair-start POW project since the genesis block never having had an ICO, IEO, Airdrop, Founder, Founder’s reward, Fund, Foundation, or pre-mine event. To join the community conversation, visit pegnet.org/chat.

Media Contact

Kaitie Zhee

kaitie@spacemademedia.com

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: PegNet Launches Mobile Wallet for Android

In brief:

• Everyone was shocked when US Oil prices hit zero and global futures contracts fell hard into negative territory. 
• Such an event had not been anticipated by the team at the EMX exchange. 
• The team halted trading of its USOIL-Perp contract. 
• Trading of the perpetual contract is yet to be reopened as the team decides on a way forward.

Yesterday’s price movement of US Crude Oil shocked everyone. The majority of traders were confident that the price of the precious commodity would not break the various support zones that were last seen in the 1980s. However, the WTI Crude Oil chart went right through the decades’ strong support zones at $15, $12 and $9. The price per barrel went to zero as futures contracts went into negative territory as low as $-40.

EMX Exchange Halts Trading of its USOIL-Perp

Such a scenario of negative prices of US Oil futures contracts had not been anticipated by the team at the EMX Exchange. As a result, the team decided to halt the trading of its USOIL-Perpetual contract. The screenshot below shows that trading was stopped at 18:00 (UTC) on the 20th of April. The last price of the USOIL-Perp contract was $3.48. This is after its value almost hit zero.

Unexpected Sequence of Events

As earlier mentioned, very few traders and investors had anticipated that the price of US Crude Oil futures contracts would go into negative territory. The team at EMX has also explained that such a scenario had not been planned for. They have since issued the following statement via Twitter explaining the situation at hand.

We are currently investigating ways to move forward with USOIL-PERP due to negative underlying prices, an edge case that we had not built for.

Additionally, the team has halted withdrawals as they verify all transactions. They explained this in a follow up of the first announcement.

For those of people who concerned about withdrawal, we are manually verifying all transactions and everyone should get it back within 1-3 business days. We apologize for the inconvenience.

For those of people who concerned about withdrawal, we are manually verifying all transactions and everyone should get it back within 1-3 business days. We apologize for the inconvenience

— EMX (@TradeEMX) April 21, 2020

What’s Next for USOIL-Perp Traders on EMX?

As the stoppage only affects the USOIL perpetual contract, trading of other contracts on EMX is still much active. However, traders who anticipated the Crude Oil meltdown and decided to go SHORT, might have to wait till the team at the exchange decides on a way forward.

More About EMX Exchange

Founded in 2017, the Evermarkets Exchange (EMX) has a vision of revolutionizing the global derivatives markets. The exchange does this by allowing users to trade contracts on equities, currencies, commodities as well as popular cryptocurrencies. The latter includes perpetual contracts on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), EMX token, ChainLink (LINK) and Tezos (XTZ).

(Feature image courtesy of Erwan Hesry on Unsplash.com.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: EMX Exchange Halts Trading of USOIL-Perp After Crude Oil Crash

In brief:

• The price of US Crude oil fell hard to $0 with its futures contracts going as far down as $-40.
• The once in a lifetime event, shook the crypto markets with Bitcoin (BTC) going back below $7,000.
• At the time of writing this, the price of Ethereum (ETH) is holding the $168 support zone.

Analysts across the world have constantly been calling for a recession but no one was prepared for yesterday’s (April 20th) price action of US Crude Oil. The commodity fell hard to $0 per barrel with its futures contracts going down to negative territory. In the case of the latter, futures on US Crude Oil were at one point trading at $-40. However, and at the time of writing this, US Oil is currently trading at around $16.6 per barrel and $16.90 for its futures contracts. The aforementioned chaos did its fair share of damage to the price of Ethereum (ETH) as shall be elaborated.

Ethereum’s $168 Support Zone Holding Well

In one of our previous analysis of ETH/USDT, we had noted that the price of Ethereum was back in bullish territory. We had cited two reasons as to why this was so: Bitcoin’s dwindling dominance in the crypto markets and the prospects of ETH 2.0 launching later on this year. We had also identified $168 as a very strong support zone for the King of Smart contracts.

Revisiting our favorite ETH/USDT chart, we observe the following. In terms of lower time frame support zones, Ethereum has the following:

• $168
• $164
• $162
• $154
• $150
• $148

Ethereum’s current price at $170 is above the 50, 100 and 200 Moving averages thus providing one reason to still be optimistic that $200 is achievable.

However, the MACD has crossed in a bearish manner and the MFI also indicates that ETH/USDT is on course to retest some of the support zones identified above. Additionally, trade volume seems to be reducing in tandem with the rest of the cryptocurrencies in the markets including Bitcoin.

ETH 2.0 Progress

The Ethereum 2.0 testnet was successfully launched on the 18th of this month and has almost 20,000 validators in the few days that it has been active. The Mainnet launch is still on course to happen in July of this year.

Conclusion

On 20th April, we witnessed a history meltdown of the American crude oil prices as suppliers ran out of space of storing the commodity due to decreased demand. This is as a result of the global impact of COVID19. This meltdown affected both Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and the majority of the cryptocurrencies in the markets. In the case of ETH, the coin is still holding the $168 support zone despite the oil crash. With the ETH 2.0 launch only days away, the coin might just live up to expectations of reclaiming $200. However, as with all Technical analysis, investors and traders are advised to use adequate stop losses to protect their trading capital.

(Feature image courtesy of Victor Freitas on Unsplash.com.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Ethereum’s (ETH) Price Holds 8 Support Amidst Historic Oil Dump

In brief:

• A new report by eToro and The Tie shows that the number of Twitter users discussing XRP has fallen drastically. 
• The report also indicates that members of the XRP army have continued to decline since January 2018. 
• The new stats could indicate a continuous trend of capitulation by XRP investors. 

Times have drastically changed for XRP since the exciting days of late 2017 and early 2018. Back then, XRP was also known as Ripple and the company had yet to issue a statement explaining that the two were different entities. Additionally, XRP was trading at a premium of $3.84 due to the prospects of being listed on Coinbase in early 2018. However, this did not materialize until later. This was due to the uncertainty as to whether XRP was a security or not. In February 2019, XRP was finally listed on Coinbase at a time when it was trading at $0.32.

XRP Army Numbers Continue to Dwindle

A new quarterly report by the teams at eToro and The Tie shows that the number of Twitter users discussing XRP has fallen by 16% in the first quarter of 2020. Additionally, the number of Twitter users in the XRP army has fallen by more than 50% since October 2018 and by over 82% since January 2018. The full statement from the report can be found below.

Over the first quarter of 2020, the number of Twitter users discussing XRP fell by 16% and price declined by 9.51% (a relative 2.14% outperformance vs. Bitcoin). The number of Twitter users in the “XRP Army” (the name given to the cryptocurrency’s supporters) has fallen by more than 50% since October 2018 and declined by over 82% since January 2018 highs. For comparison, the number of Twitter users discussing Bitcoin dropped by 58% from all-time highs.

More Trouble for the Price of XRP?

Using pure logic, a drop in the number of members in the XRP Army means that holders of the coin have finally thrown in the towel and sold their holdings.

In the past few months, there has been cases of XRP community members notifying the crypto community, that they have sold all their XRP holdings. One such member is Tiffany Hayden who sold her bags as a result of constant bullying by XRP supporters. Ms. Hayden expressed her dissatisfaction with the community through the following statement.

I’m not holding $XRP anymore, XRP supporters, so find something else to talk about.

I’m not holding $XRP anymore, XRP supporters, so find something else to talk about.
From my mom just now. So fucking pathetic. pic.twitter.com/g9Jtoey5sC

— Tiffany Hayden🧢 (@haydentiff) March 9, 2020

Brief Market Analysis of XRP/USD

Further checking our favorite 6-hour XRP/USD chart, we observe the following.

• Its current price at $0.189 is below the 50 MA but above the 100 and 200 moving averages. This is an indicator of a possible move down for XRP/USD.
• MACD is about to cross above the baseline in a bearish manner.
• Support zones lie at $0.181, $0.1734 and $0.144
• Resistance zones are at $0.197 and the $0.20 area.
• MFI is still low at 40 and could provide a glimmer of hope for bulls or provide sideways movement.

Analyst Predicts Lower Levels for XRP

Popular Bitcoin and crypto analyst, @MagicPoopCannon, had in an earlier statement warned that the price of XRP could drop to as low as $0.078.

My next major downside target for XRP is at about 0.078. Regardless of whether or not a rally emerges, I think the recession will take BTC and crypto lower, and XRP should eventually reach that target.

— MAGIC (@MagicPoopCannon) April 1, 2020

Conclusion

The number of XRP Army members has been decreasing with time as seen through the report by eToro and The Tie. The new stats are indicative of possible capitulation by XRP investors. This follows a trend of notable XRP army members throwing in the towel. As a result, the value of the coin could be affected in the long run as more investors decide it is time to offload their bags.

(Feature image courtesy of Simon English on Unsplash.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: XRP’s Price Could Keep Falling as Holders Decrease

In brief:

• On the 19th of April, the Tron network recorded its highest daily increase in new accounts.
• This feat was noticed by a senior Tron Community member.
• Justin Sun was baffled by the sudden increase.
• However, it could be due to the Just (JST) token scale next month and the allure of staking TRX.

The Tron (TRX) network has continued to run smoothly since its mainnet was launched in mid-2018. Additionally, the number of total accounts on the network has reached a staggering 5.353 Million at the time of writing this.

Tron Records Highest Daily Increase in New Accounts

In a tweet a few hours ago, Tron community member @MishaLederman, notified the crypto community that the TRX network had experienced its largest daily increment in new accounts on the 19th of April. The tweet went on to give the following stats regarding the achievement.

The #Tron blockchain recorded its highest daily increase of new accounts yesterday, April 19: 65,226 new $TRX accounts (+1,2% daily increase in relation to all 5.3M #TRX accounts) It’s also 61% higher than the previous daily record of 40,386 from Feb 28, 2019.

Justin Sun Baffled at the Increase in New Tron Accounts

In response to the tweet by @MishaLederman, Justin Sun expressed his surprise regarding the achievement. He further stated that he had no idea as to why crypto enthusiasts suddenly decided to start using Tron. His tweet can be found below.

I have no idea why ppl suddenly start to use #TRON. #TRX $TRX😆 https://t.co/wOMvddgpYr

— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) April 20, 2020

2 Reasons: Staking and the Just (JST) Token Sale

However, there are two plausible reasons why the network has experienced a sudden spike in new accounts.

Firstly, and as pointed out in an earlier analysis, staking Tron (TRX) has continually become a profitable endeavor in the current uncertain times. Average returns are between 7 – 8% per year which is very appealing for anyone who wants to avoid trading the current crypto market environment.

Secondly, the Just (JST) token sale takes place on the Poloniex exchange on the 5th of May. The exchange will only accept TRX as the method of participation. This means any willing participant will have to open an account with Poloniex and purchase or deposit TRX if they want to reap the benefits of the IEO.

Conclusion

The Tron (TRX) network continues to grow as witnessed with the historic daily increment in new accounts pointed out by Mr. Lederman. As a result, Justin Sun expressed his surprise at the sudden increment in new users. However, two logical reasons come to mind. Users want to utilize staking on the Tron network as well as participate in the Just (JST) IEO that takes place on Poloniex. Additionally, it could also be a Tron DApp that has suddenly become popular. Only time will provide evidence of the latter theory.

(Feature image courtesy of Jungwoo Hong  on Unsplash.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Justin Sun Baffled By a Jump in New Tron (TRX) Accounts

In brief:

• The Coronavirus crash of mid-March has resulted in a lot of crypto traders being cautious. 
• The dominance of stablecoins is proof that they are waiting for favorable crypto conditions to get back to trading. 
• Staking crypto on the various exchanges has provided an alternative to trading and/or storing value in stablecoins. 

The Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto market crash of mid-March was one event that not too many traders believed would happen. The majority of Bitcoin enthusiasts believed that the hype surrounding the Bitcoin halving event would provide much-needed immunity for the crypto markets to survive a shake-out in the event of a possible stock market meltdown. However, the tense days of March proved that Bitcoin is highly correlated to the stock markets during times of turmoil.

$8 Billion Locked up in Stablecoins

As with all periods of unexpected volatility, traders and investors quickly hopped on stablecoins to safeguard the value of their holdings in the crypto markets. As a result, Tether (USDT) has continually risen on Coinmarketcap and is currently ranked 4th after BTC, Ethereum (ETH) and XRP. The stablecoin’s market cap currently stands at $6.4 Billion making up 80% of the total value stored in stablecoins. Tether’s dominance has slowly but surely risen due to the uncertainty brought about by the effects of COVID19 on the global economies.

Staking of TRX, KAVA and other Cryptos is Providing a Profitable Alternative

With the world firmly in the thick of a global recession, favorable trading conditions to go LONG in the crypto markets will probably take a while to present themselves. At the time of writing this, flattening the curve of infections is happening but a return to normalcy has been projected to take months and roll over into 2021 with some estimates pushing it to 2022.

Therefore, many savvy crypto investors have discovered that staking is an easier way of storing their crypto holdings while gradually increasing their holdings.

Exchanges such as Binance, Bitfinex, KuCoin and Poloniex, have started offering staking services for coins and tokens already listed on their platforms.

Using Binance staking services as an example, we observe the following estimated annualized returns in the staked token/coin.

• Tron (TRX): 7 – 8% pa
• ATOM: 6 – 9% pa
• Tezos (XTZ): 6 – 9% pa
• Algorand (ALGO): 8 – 10% pa
• ONE: 8- 10% pa
• Fetch (FET): 8 – 12% pa
• QTUM: 6 – 8% pa
• TROY: 15 – 16% pa

The above list is just a brief one to give the reader a better understanding of the potential investment potential of staking.

Staking Might be a Better Alternative to Trading the Uncertainty

With the Bitcoin halving narrative of gains almost destroyed by the Coronavirus crash of March 2020, trading cryptocurrencies as they range and wick haphazardly in either direction might be one-way traders are losing trading capital through stop losses and the dreaded liquidations.

Staking, on the other hand, might be a better alternative to trading. User funds idly generate profits in a manner more attractive than holding value through stablecoins.

Vitalik Buterin Believes Staking on Phones is Promising

Additionally, in a recent tweet, the Co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, rubbished the idea of mining cryptocurrencies on smart-phones while at the same time identifying staking as a promising option. His tweet can be found below.

Mining on phones is a fool's game. Goes against everything we know about hardware economies of scale and more likely to trick users with false hope than help them.

*Staking* on phones, OTOH, is IMO quite promising…https://t.co/VGgkoHIDsP

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) April 13, 2020

Summing it Up

Trading Bitcoin and alt-coins during periods of global economic uncertainty might be one way of losing trading capital. Alternatively, and with staking, investors can store the value of their trading capital in coins or tokens that will generate a handsome amount in annualized returns.

(Feature image courtesy of Micah Williams on Unsplash.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Why Staking Crypto such as TRX, KAVA and more is Gathering Steam

In brief:

• Bitcoin (BTC) encountered massive resistance as it tried to break $7,300. 
• At the same time, its trade volume has been dropping together with its dominance in the crypto markets. 

In our analysis of Bitcoin (BTC) a few hours ago, we were cautiously optimistic that the King of Crypto was on a slow and tense journey towards $8,000. We also identified a few support zones that include $7,050, $6,900, $6,800 and $6,600.

Why $7,050 is the Level to Watch During Bitcoin’s Weekly Close

Further analyzing the aforementioned support zones, we realize that the $7,050 zone is the last area of defense for Bitcoin before it drops back to familiar levels below $7,000. Therefore, if this level breaks in the next few hours, we will most likely retest $6,900 and possibly back to our strongest support thus far of $6,600.

Revisiting our favorite 6-hour BTC/USDT we begin to spot a few areas of weakness for the King of Crypto that might cause some excitement for the Bears.

To begin with, Bitcoin’s move to claim $7,300 was rejected at the same zone which was a resistance. Its current price of $7,126 is still above the 50 (white), 100 (yellow) and 200 (green) moving averages. These MAs are acting as short term support for Bitcoin, but they are also giving a picture of exhaustion for BTC.

Further checking the trade volume, it has reduced drastically in the last few days. This is a tell-tale sign of a possible move down.

The MFI has a value of 80 thus indicating an overbought situation. This is further confirmed by the MACD about to cross in a bearish manner above the baseline.

Bitcoin Dominance Continues to Drop Slowly

In our April 17th Ethereum price analysis, we had identified that the BTC dominance had dropped by 1% thus providing some level of confidence for ETH to rise in the crypto markets. Rechecking Coinmarketcap, we find that the BTC’s dominance now stands at 63.5% compared to our previous level around 64%. This slow decline in market dominance could provide the perfect environment for a mini-alt season.

Conclusion

As the third week of April 2020 comes to a close, $7,050 will be the level to watch for Bitcoin (BTC). This area provides the last line of support for the King of Crypto before falling back to familiar territory below $7,000. Also to note, is that the Bitcoin trade volume has continued to drop thus providing the case for a bearish weekly close for BTC. Additionally, Bitcoin’s dominance has continued to drop slowly further pointing to a possibility of Ethereum doing well in the crypto markets along with alt-coins.

As with all T.A opinion, the reader is advised to use adequate stop losses to protect their leveraged positions on the various cryptocurrency exchanges.

(Feature image courtesy of Kid Circus on Unsplash.com.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Why ,050 is the Level to Watch During Bitcoin’s (BTC) Weekly Close

In brief:

• Evidence points towards US citizens using there $1,200 stimulus checks to buy Bitcoin (BTC).
• Grayscale Capital’s recent quarterly report provides a clue as to institutional interest in Bitcoin (BTC).
• The King of Crypto is hovering around $7,200 and looks set to start a climb up to $8,000.

For the last 72 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) has been hovering above $7,000. It is attempting a move up that would guarantee bullish momentum and erase all the losses brought about by the Coronavirus crash of mid-March. The King of Crypto has since made several attempts to recapture $7,200 and is currently only a few points away from turning this area into a support zone.

Stimulus Checks and Hedge Funds Could Push Bitcoin (BTC) to $8,000

At the time of writing this, citizens of the United States have started receiving the eagerly awaited $1,200 stimulus checks aimed at cushioning them from the economic effects of the Coronavirus. Approximately 80 Million Americans are estimated to have received these funds in their bank accounts by today, April 18th.

At the same time, crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, are experiencing fiat deposits that are equal or similar to the $1,200 amount. Co-founder and CEO at the exchange, Brian Armstrong, posted a tweet that had a chart that showed a spike in buys/deposits with a value of around $1,200. Mr. Armstrong’s tweet can be found below.

🤔 pic.twitter.com/uhz7Od3skX

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) April 16, 2020

Additionally, in their latest quarterly report, the team at Grayscale Capital highlighted that in Q1 of 2020, a total of $503.7 Million was invested into Grayscale products with an average of $30 Million per week going into their Bitcoin trust. The team also revealed that Grayscale had ownership of 1.7% of the total Bitcoin in circulation.

All Arrows Point Towards Bitcoin (BTC) at $8,000

As the aforementioned checks keep rolling into the bank accounts of crypto investors, buying BTC ahead of its halving will most likely cross their minds. Also on their minds is the possibility of a global recession and many believe Bitcoin is one way of preserving the value of fiat holdings when inflation hits. This can further be proven by the increased institutional interest in Bitcoin as seen through the quarterly Grayscale report.

Further checking our favorite 6-hour BTC/USDT chart, we observe the following support zones:

• $7,050
• $6,900
• $6,800
• $6,600

In terms of resistances, Bitcoin has the following price zones to overcome before reclaiming $8,000.

• $7,200
• $7,300
• $7,450
• $7,650
• $7,950

In terms of moving averages the current price of BTC is above the 50, 100 and 200 MAs thus providing a bullish environment. MACD and trade volume are also in the green indicating continual buying interest of Bitcoin. MFI is steady at 70 indicating there will be a possible push towards claiming $7,300 or $7,450 in the hours ahead.

A Case for Cautious Optimism

However, Ethereum World News has continually cautioned its readers on the possibilities of Bitcoin (BTC) entering bear territory due to the global economic impact of COVID19. Also to add, the King of Crypto is continually fighting an ominous Death Cross on the daily chart.

Readers and traders are also reminded to place adequate stop losses to protect their leveraged positions on the various crypto exchanges.

(Feature image courtesy of Tim Graf on Unsplash.)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Stimulus Checks and Hedge Funds, Why Bitcoin (BTC) is headed to ,000