Find the best CRYPTOtrends

Good morning. Welcome to Wednesday Watch, part of our new series: BitPinas Daily. We will look at the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum and the major cryptocurrencies. Crypto is global, but sometimes news that matters happens while we sleep. So we bring to you what’s happening in our space here and abroad. 

Market Price as of February 24, 2021:

Bitcoin closed February 23, 2021, at $48,899 per BTC. We’re down 13% in the last 7 days and up 67% since the year began. This is also 16% new all-time high is $58,640, which was hit on Feb. 21, 2021.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization stands today at $897,640,092,877 which is 60% of the entire cryptocurrency market. The entire crypto market, by the way, now has a market cap of $1,482,021,520,297  (-12%).

On the table above, there’s the cryptocurrency SLP. If you wonder what that is, check out this article: Playing Axie Infinity vs Minimum Basic Salary in the Philippines.

Bitfinex and Tether (the company) settle their New York Case

In 2019, the New York Attorney General’s (NYAG) office charged that Bitfinex had used Tether’s funds to cover $850 million it had lost to Crypto Capital, a payment professor. At that time, the story is that Crypto Capital’s funds were seized by the government in Poland, Portugal, and the U.S. 

The other point of contention is that the NYAG alleged that for a certain period of time, USDTs (the stablecoin by Tether (the company))is not backed 1:1 by Tether’s dollar reserves in a bank account.

Of course, the case is now settled with Bitfinex and Tether not admitting or denying anything. Both companies agreed to pay $18.5 million as part of the settlement.

ETH briefly drops to $700 on Kraken

It actually also happened to Cardano:

The Kraken CEO, Jesse Powell, said the drop is not due to a glitch. “There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of a trading-engine malfunction,” he told Bloomberg. Jesse’s advice:

Square Buys Another $170M in Bitcoin

The payments company said it purchased 3,318 BTC for $170 million. That makes Square’s purchase price at $51,235 per BTC.

Considering Bitcoin’s price today (check the table above), the narrative is that they bought at the wrong time. But we forget that these corporates are playing a longer game so…

PDAX Press Conference

By now, you might have known of the outage that happened in PDAX. Here’s an update: PDAX Press Conference: Exchange Discusses Outage in Detail

CEO Nichel Gaba also appeared on Bloomcast to discuss the issue. 

This article is published on BitPinas:  Ethereum Briefly Drops to $700 on Kraken (Feb. 24, 2021)

Another company that bought Bitcoin during the current market correction is Square. The company said it had acquired roughly “3,318 Bitcoin at an aggregate purchase price of $170 million.”

These purchases by institutional investors show they are bullish on the long-term prospects of Bitcoin and believe that it is a good buy near $50,000.

While the institutional purchases are a bullish sign, traders must also remember that for every buyer, there is a seller. Glassnode data suggests that Bitcoin whales, holding between 1,000 Bitcoin to 10,000 Bitcoin and “humpback whales” holding more than 10,000 Bitcoin have sold more than 140,000 Bitcoin in February.

In the past, the whales swayed the crypto markets at their will. But the entry of institutional investors has reduced their dominance. Therefore, along with the whales, traders must also keep an eye on the institutional activity.

While large investors can buy and hold for the long-term, the smaller investor would do well to buy at the right time to make the most of the limited available capital. Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to determine the trend.

Bitcoin’s pullback from the 20-day exponential moving average ($48,323) on Feb. 22 was greeted with aggressive selling on February 23. The bears dragged the price below the channel, but the long tail on the day’s candlestick shows buying at lower levels.

The buyers are currently attempting to keep the BTC/USD pair inside the channel. However, the inside day candlestick pattern today suggests indecision among the bulls and the bears. The flat 20-day EMA and the relative strength index (RSI) just above the midpoint also suggest a balance between supply and demand.

If the bulls can sustain the price above $50,000, the pair will try to rise to the resistance line of the ascending channel. The next leg of the uptrend may begin after the price breaks above the all-time high at $58,341.03.

Contrary to this assumption, if the bears again sink the price below the channel, the pair may drop to $45,000 and then to the 50-day simple moving average ($40,541). A break below this support could signal a deeper correction to $28,850.

Ether (ETH) fell below the support line of the ascending channel and the 50-day SMA ($1,487) on Feb. 23, but the bulls purchased the dip and managed to keep the price inside the channel.

The bulls are currently attempting to push the price above the 20-day EMA ($1,728). If they succeed, the ETH/USD pair may again try to rise to the resistance line of the channel.

However, the 20-day EMA has started to turn down and the RSI is near the midpoint, which suggests that the bears are trying to make a comeback.

If the price turns down from the 20-day EMA, the bears will once again try to sink and sustain the pair below the 50-day SMA. If they can manage to do that, the pair may enter a deeper correction and slump to $1,000.

Binance Coin (BNB) remains volatile within a large intraday trading range. The bears pulled the price down to the 20-day EMA ($182) on Feb. 23 but the altcoin made a smart recovery as seen from the long tail on the day’s candlestick.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for BNB on Feb. 23 prior to the recent price rise.

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.

Even as Binance Coin’s price started to correct from $273 on Feb. 23, the VORTECS™ score started to turn up from 71.

The score reached 82 just after the announcement of UFT token listing on Binance and this was followed by several other revelations related to BNB’s integration to the DeFi space. Following these announcements and the bullish outlook seen in the VORTECS™score, BNB price started to rally from $201.

That was soon followed by a sharp recovery in the price. After a brief dip, the VORTECS™ score started to strengthen from 71 and reached 80 as the price recovered to $271 on Feb. 24.

The bulls are currently attempting to push the price above the downtrend line, but the long wick on the candlestick shows selling at higher levels.

If the price again turns down from the downtrend line, the BNB/USD pair could drop to the 20-day EMA. A break below this support could intensify the selling and drag the price down to $118.

Conversely, if the bulls can push and sustain the price above the downtrend line, the BNB/USD pair may rally to $300 and then to $348.6969.

The long tail on the Feb. 22 and 23 candlesticks shows that traders are aggressively buying the dip in Polkadot (DOT).

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for Polkadot on Feb. 23, prior to the relief rally from the intraday lows.

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

The VORTECS™ score for DOT moved above 70 on Feb. 23 when the price was at $36.78. Even as the price continued to fall, the VORTECS™ score reached 82 when DOT’s price was below $30. This strength in the VORTECS™ score was followed by a sharp recovery in price to $36 on Feb. 24.

DOT’s recovery coincided with the rebound in most major cryptocurrencies, which followed Bitcoin’s relief rally from the $45,000 intraday low made on Feb. 23 to about $50,000 on Feb. 24.

The bulls are currently attempting to push and sustain the price back above the resistance line of the ascending channel. If they succeed, the DOT/USD pair may rally to $42.2848.

A breakout and close above the all-time high could open the gates for a rally to the psychological level at $50. The upsloping moving averages and the RSI near the overbought territory suggest advantage to the bulls.

This bullish view will invalidate if the pair turns down sharply from the current levels and plummets below the support line of the ascending channel.

The bears once again tried to sink Cardano (ADA) below the 20-day EMA ($0.867) on Feb. 23 but failed. This shows the sentiment remains positive and traders are viewing the dips as a buying opportunity.

The bulls have again pushed the price above $0.9817712. If they can sustain the price above the psychological level at $1, a retest of $1.1980811 is possible. A breakout and close above this resistance may signal the resumption of the uptrend.

Both moving averages are sloping up and the RSI is near the overbought territory. This suggests the path of least resistance is to the upside.

This bullish view will be negated if the price turns down and breaks below the 20-day EMA. Such a move could pull the ADA/USD pair down to $0.6879684.

XRP has been all over the place in the past few days. After the bulls failed to sustain the price above $0.65 on Feb. 22, the altcoin witnessed intense selling pressure and plunged to $0.365 on Feb. 23. However, the long tail on the day’s candlestick shows aggressive buying at lower levels.

Buying on dips and selling on rallies is a sign of consolidation. The XRP/USD pair could trade between $0.359 and $0.65 for a few days. The flattish 20-day EMA ($0.499) and the RSI near 50 also point to a possible range-bound action for a few days.

The next trending move could start after the bulls push and sustain the price above $0.65 or the bears sink the pair below $0.359. Until then, volatile range-bound action is likely to continue.

The failure of the bulls to build upon Litecoin’s (LTC) recovery on Feb. 22 shows a possible change in sentiment. Traders seem to be using the rallies to book profits. The altcoin turned down on Feb. 23 and this may have caught the aggressive bulls on the wrong foot, resulting in liquidation of long positions.

The LTC/USD pair broke below the 50-day SMA ($166) on Feb. 23, but the bulls defended the uptrend line. However, any relief rally is likely to face stiff resistance at the 20-day EMA ($195) that has started to turn down.

If the bulls fail to drive the price above the 20-day EMA, the pair may witness one more bout of selling that could pull the price down to the $120 support.

This negative view will invalidate if the bulls can push and sustain the price above the 20-day EMA. Above this level, a retest of $246.9679 may be on the cards.

Chainlink (LINK) plunged below the support line of the ascending channel on Feb. 23 and this could have trapped the aggressive bulls who had purchased the dip on Feb. 22. Stop losses may have triggered below $25.2312, which pulled the price down to the critical support at $20.1111.

The dip buyers purchased the fall on Feb. 23 and are currently attempting to push the price back into the ascending channel. However, the buyers are likely to face stiff resistance at the 20-day EMA ($29.58).

If the price turns down from the 20-day EMA, it will indicate that traders are selling on rallies. The bears will then try to sink the price back below the 50-day SMA and retest the $20.1111 support.

This negative view will invalidate if the bulls can push and sustain the price inside the ascending channel. Such a move could result in a rally to $34 and then to $36.9307.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) sold off on Feb. 23 and broke below the 50-day SMA ($514). However, the bulls purchased the dip to the uptrend line and are currently attempting to push the price back above the $539 resistance.

The 20-day EMA ($596) has turned down and the RSI is just below the midpoint, suggesting a marginal advantage to the bears.

The sellers are likely to defend the 20-day EMA. If the price turns down from this resistance, it will suggest that traders are selling on rallies. A break and close below the uptrend line could clear the path for a decline to $370.

Contrary to this assumption, if the bulls can push and sustain the price above the 20-day EMA, the BCH/USD pair may rise to $631.71 and then to $745.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) plunged below the $0.35 support on Feb. 23, but the long tail on the day’s candlestick suggests the bulls bought the dip. The altcoin is currently trading inside a descending channel.

If the bulls can push the price above the 20-day EMA ($0.439), the XLM/USD pair could rise to the resistance line of the channel. A breakout of the channel will indicate that the bulls are back in the game. The buyers will then try to propel the price to $0.600681.

On the contrary, if the price turns down from the 20-day EMA and plummets below $0.35, it could open the doors for a deeper correction to $0.23.

The flat 20-day EMA and the RSI near the midpoint do not indicate a clear advantage either to the bulls or the bears.

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.

Market data is provided by HitBTC exchange.

The crypto industry was seen trying to recover from its latest setback. Cardano [ADA] as well as Polkadot [DOT] seemed to be least affected by the latest crash. Almost all the assets in the crypto industry were seen bleeding. Bitcoin, during the time of writing, was seen swinging through the $49K to $50K zone. Polkadot, unlike all the other assets, hadn’t recorded major losses. XRP had, however, slumped down to the seventh position and retained its price above $0.45 despite the recent crash. Additionally, the overall crypto market cap was noted at $1.51 trillion, during press time.

Cardano, at the time of writing, was seen trading for $0.987, with a 3.25% drop in the last 24-hours. The altcoin had surged to a high of $1.02, just yesterday while all the other assets were seen slumping. These numbers affirmed that ADA was trying to make its way to its previous all-time high of $1.33, which it achieved about three years ago.

The one-hour price chart of ADA announced that the bulls were hibernating in its market. The Parabolic SAR indicator had formed a line of support below the candlesticks which diminished the chances of a downward breakout. The MACD indicator retained the bullish crossover that it had formed yesterday. The Relative Strength Index indicator was exhibiting a neutral notion in the market with no major buying or selling activity.

The altcoin’s one-day price chart partially mirrored the short-term price chart of ADA. The Awesome Oscillator indicator, however, was delivering a bearish momentum with the formation of red closing bars. The Chaikin Money Flow index was sky high as it was over zero and has been around the same region for a while now. The Money Flow Index indciator announced that a buyers’ sentiment was still intact in the ADA market.

Cardano, the sixth most valuable crypto is enjoying impressive gains amid record-buying pressure from crypto investors.

At the time of writing this report, Cardano was trading at $1.047324, up 20.35% on the day. It was the digital currency’s biggest one-day percentage gain since February 20, 2021.

Such appreciation sighted in the fast-rising crypto asset, pushed Cardano’s market value to $32.38 billion, or 2.10% of the total cryptocurrency market value. At its highest, Cardano’s market cap was pegged at $35 million.

READ: Cardano flying on a record high amid top American singer’s buy

Cardano had traded in a range of $0.899630 to $1.047324 for the day.

Over the past seven days, Cardano has seen a rise in value, as it gained 21.56%. The volume of Cardano traded for the day at the time of writing, was $10.583078 billion or 4.48% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies.

It has traded in a range of $0.8115 to $1.1971 in the past 7 days.

Highly revered crypto analyst/trader, Michaël van de Poppe also recommended the fast-rising crypto asset.

READ: Bitcoin more valuable than any global bank

In a video (titled “Cardano Breaks $1 But $10 Is Possible In This Bull Cycle! Here’s Why!”) released recently the crypto pundit told his followers on Youtube channel that:

“Cardano going towards $10 is not that weird to calculate from here, especially given the fact, and I’ve been saying this in the past week multiple times, especially given the fact that Cardano and mostly all the Bitcoin pairs are just barely waking up. So there’s still much more to gain for the Bitcoin pairs.”

Olumide Adesina is a France-born Nigerian. He is a Certified Investment Trader, with more than 15 years of working expertise in Investment trading. Follow Olumide on Twitter @tokunboadesina. He is a Member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Society.

Will like to know more about crypto investment opportunities. Will appreciate your input. Thanks

Cardano, like most alts in the market, depreciated significantly between the 21st and 23rd of February. In fact, ADA dropped by as much as ~30%, with the crypto-asset falling to $0.81 at one point. It should be noted, however, that the crypto-asset managed to consolidate its position above $1 over the last 24 hours, with the surge back up being more than just a reflexive pullback.

For Cardano, organic activity and distribution might be playing key roles right now, with both allowing the crypto-asset to recover on its own over the past few hours.

Active addresses for ADA have risen by 26.48% over the past few weeks, a finding indicative of consistent activity for the token. In fact, total addresses also climbed to a high of 1.02 million on 23 February, incidentally, on the last day of bearish corrections.

Further, the Active Address Ratio was also a healthy 12.60%, despite pullbacks. However, more than anything else, it seemed to be wealth distribution that was painting a better picture for Cardano.

At press time, the highest ownership of Cardano tokens was associated with retail addresses i.e addresses that hold less than 0.1% of the circulating supply. Whale addresses that hold more than 1% of the supply were limited to only 2.36%.

The aforementioned distribution stats, represented by the attached pie chart, are significantly positive for Cardano from the perspective of adoption. Additionally, in February 2021, the number of traders holding ADA (Holding period less than 30 days) has been the highest, underlining the hike in the number of new holders of the token.

While hodlers are at a yearly low in terms of numbers, the likelihood of these addresses selling at a high of 10x is extremely plausible.

With respect to the 2017-18 bull run, the volatility index for Cardano is relatively manageable. The volatility in ADA’s market is currently level with the figures seen in January 2020, with a recent spike in the same following a wave of abrupt corrections on the price charts.

However, there is a probability that Cardano’s high Bitcoin correlation might skew its individual performance going forward.

A higher correlation with Bitcoin usually disrupts organic growth over the long-term. If the chart is properly analyzed, the correlation has been turbulent since mid-2020 so, there is a possibility ADA may diverge away from BTC’s performance in the months ahead. However, if the press time outlook is taken into consideration, it seemed more likely that the movement of Bitcoin will be intertwined with ADA for the next few days and weeks.

Global crypto population surpasses 100 million; Boomers and Gen X now ‘keen on Bitcoin’

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Biraajmaan covers market trends of major cryptocurrencies. As a graduate in engineering, his interests lie in Blockchain technology. With over a year as a journalist, his articles focus on US and UK markets.

Ethereum, Polkadot and Cardano can all co-exist says Hoskinson

Cardano Price Analysis: 22 February

Cardano surges past $1 for the 1st time since January 2018

Cardano’s price falls by 6 percent after registering ATH at $1.21

Ethereum’s first-mover advantage in capturing monopoly ‘means nothing:’ Cardano’s Hoskinson

Cardano has over 100 commercial projects in the pipeline, says Hoskinson

<strong style="color:#444444;">PanARMENIAN.Net - The price of one bitcoin (XBT) topped more than $40,000 Thursday, January 7 -- double the value from a little more than three years ago. Prices later slid back to around $38,000.

Bitcoin first topped $19,000 in December 2017 before crashing spectacularly to around $3,200 a year later.

The value of all bitcoins in circulation is now more than $740 billion and the total value for all cryptocurrencies is more than $1 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Investors have flocked to bitcoin in recent months as the cryptocurrency has gone mainstream.

Square (SQ) and PayPal (PYPL)now let their users buy and sell bitcoin. Top money managers including Paul Tudor Jones, Stanley Druckenmiller -- and more recently, Anthony Scaramucci -- have embraced it.

Software firm MicroStrategy (MSTR) is now holding bitcoin on its balance sheet. And a top exec at BlackRock (BLK), the world's largest asset manager, recently said bitcoin is basically a new, digital gold -- an asset that can hold up well during times of dollar weakness and rising inflation.

"It's not surprising to see bitcoin's recent run up. It's encouraging to see more serious consideration of bitcoin and the digital currency asset class broadly, because it has real potential to reshape global finance as we know it," said Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, the world's biggest crypto asset manager, in an email to CNN Business.

A cryptocurrency, or crypto for short, is basically digital money with some additional potentially disruptive innovations, such as the fact that it is secured by cryptography. Perhaps the most defining feature of cryptos is that they are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology, which is an online ledger with complex cryptography behind it to secure online transactions.

There’s a lot of talk about what crypto is and what it could possibly become, which is made all the more confusing because all sorts of people value it for different reasons. There are crypto purists who are true believers in the technology and have been on board with it since day one, there are the blockchain nerds who are less interested in cryptocurrencies but more in the digital ledger, and then of course there are the speculators who are merely interested in cryptos to make a buck.

For the latter, trading cryptos is just like trading oil or silver. However, there’s clearly more to cryptos and those who have the most faith in this technology believe cryptocurrencies have the potential to completely revamp the financial sector.

The first blockchain-based cryptocurrency was Bitcoin, which to this day is the most popular and most valuable crypto out of more than 8,000. On January 12th, 2009, the person or persons who invented Bitcoin, known under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, sent 10 Bitcoin to Hal Finney, a cryptographer who has since passed away, marking the first ever cryptocurrency exchange.

Since then, Bitcoin has ballooned. In 2010, someone bought two pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoin. At this article’s publishing date, one Bitcoin is worth $53,000, so the 2010 exchange would have been worth $530,000,000. Now I hope those pizzas tasted good.

Bitcoin was essentially born from crisis, as a response to the 2008 banking sector crash. The original Satoshi Nakamoto white paper from 2008 mentioned that “A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”

As the U.S. government and Federal Reserve were looking to tweak the system and strengthen financial regulations in the wake of the Lehman bankruptcy, others like the Satoshi gang were cooking up an entirely new financial system that would avoid dangerous banking dependencies by being completely decentralized. Bearing this in mind, it’s no wonder that the authoritarian communist regime of China banned the use of cryptocurrencies.

The reason why cryptocurrency markets are inherently decentralized is that they run on a network of computers. Unlike traditional currency, crypto tokens only exist as a shared digital record of ownership, stored on the blockchain.

Transactions with cryptocurrencies are performed using exchanges and digital wallets. When two parties exchange cryptocurrencies, the transaction isn’t considered final until it has been verified and added to the blockchain by solving complex mathematical equations — this is known as mining. This is also how new tokens are brought into circulation.

A blockchain is a growing list of records, known as ‘blocks’, that are linked using cryptography. It’s essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems participating in the blockchain. Each block in the chain can contain a certain number of transactions and each time a transaction is performed, a record of that transaction is added to the ledger. But since the ledger is duplicated across the entire network, so is the transaction’s record. A blockchain file is always stored on multiple computers across the network rather than in a single location. This way of recording information makes it virtually impossible to change, hack, or cheat this system.

This decentralization means that currencies based on the blockchain cannot be controlled by one person. What I mean by that is no one can, for instance, award themselves one million Bitcoin. Because nobody is in charge, Bitcoin is actually run by the network of computers participating in the blockchain.

New blocks are verified or added to the blockchain through mining. During verification, computers make sure that the sender involved in a transaction has sufficient funds to complete the payment. New blocks are created when a computer finds a solution to a complex algorithm. When a new block is linked to the previous blocks, the new version of the blockchain file is broadcasted across the entire network.

Cryptocurrencies and conventional currencies, also known as fiat currencies, share two essential features: they both enable easy payments between two parties and act as a store of value.

However, cryptos also offer features which traditional money systems like the dollar or euro cannot emulate easily or are downright impossible for them to accomplish. The first and foremost differentiator is that cryptos can be sent, received, and traded by anyone, anywhere, at any time across the world without the need for a bank, government, or third party.

Another important difference between crypto tokens and fiat money is that cryptos are not insured by the government in the way a bank deposit is. If your crypto wallet is hacked and your tokens are transferred, the government may not be able to intervene in the same way they would with money stored in a bank.

Fiat money (meaning money backed by a government that isn’t pegged to gold) has value due to trust in the authority that serves as an intermediary that vouches for the currency’s worth, which in the case of the dollar is the Federal Reserve. Basically, fiat money has value because a government declares it legal tender. If it wasn’t for this trust, then a dollar bill wouldn’t be worth more than the paper it’s printed on.

A crypto asset’s value is also due to trust vested by the users of the crypto network, but rather than trusting a governmental authority, the trust is vested in the blockchain technology.

Due to this trust, cryptos and fiat currencies are seen as a store of value. But aside from this feature, a safe currency must also meet qualifications related to scarcity, divisibility, utility, transportability, durability, and counterfeiting.

Scarcity is key to preserving a currency’s value. If the Federal Reserve were to crank the money printer every day, the dollar wouldn’t be worth anything. This is why bankers often walk a tightrope with their monetary policies, carefully balancing the money supply and debt in order to keep inflation under control.

Unlike fiat currency, Bitcoin has a fixed supply since it launched in 2009. The supply of Bitcoin tokens was capped at 21 million, and currently, there are around 18 million Bitcoin in supply. In order for more Bitcoin to enter circulation, tokens have to be ‘mined’ by completing “blocks” of verified transactions that are added to the blockchain. The rate at which Bitcoin is released decreases by half roughly every four years and the last bitcoin is not scheduled to be mined until around the year 2140.

Bitcoin is divisible up to 8 decimal points. While the U.S. dollar can be divided into cents, or 0.01 USD. The smallest unit for Bitcoin, equal to 0.00000001 Bitcoin, is called a “Satoshi”.

Thanks to crypto exchanges and wallets, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are easily transferable between parties, regardless of the size of the transaction with very low costs.

In terms of durability, cryptocurrencies may be more durable than fiat currencies, whose physical form is vulnerable to deterioration that can render them unusable. Bitcoin cannot be destroyed in the same way a dollar bill can be torn or burned. As long as the network is alive, so too will every Bitcoin be valid.

Counterfeiting Bitcoin is virtually impossible since doing so would entail confusing all participants in the blockchain network. The only way a counterfeit Bitcoin could be introduced in circulation is through double spend, which refers to the situation where a user transfers the same Bitcoin in two or more separate settings, effectively duplicating the record. This has yet to happen in the Bitcoin network for doing so would require a concentrated attack by a group that controls more than half of all the network’s mining power. Because such an effort involves a ridiculous amount of resources (money and computing power), counterfeiting Bitcoin is extremely unlikely.

Utility is where cryptocurrencies are the most lacking. You can easily exchange fiat money like USD for goods and services. Because fiat money can also be digital, such transactions can occur effortlessly and almost instantly. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is barely accepted as payment, nevermind other less established currencies.

Tesla made headlines in February after it announced it bought $1.5-billion-worth of Bitcoin from its corporate reserves and that it would also accept Bitcoin as payment for its products. However, this kind of adoption is still in its early stages. Very few businesses accept Bitcoin and even fewer people own a cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin is also extremely volatile, which makes it challenging to adopt it for practical day-to-day use. The price of Bitcoin since the May 2020 halving has seen an increase of nearly 500%. Instead, what this volatility invites is a lot of speculation.

Of course, Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency out there. In fact, there are over 8,000, but most of them operate under similar principles. And, by far, Bitcoin is the most important crypto token in the world.

Cryptocurrencies are exchanged securely and provide a high degree of anonymity. Transactions cannot be faked or reversed, which is both a good thing and bad thing — depending on who you ask. For some consumers, not being able to reverse a payment, like you can with a credit or debit card, might make them more vulnerable to scams.

Although Bitcoin is more than 10 years old, adoption is still lagging and there are only a few stores that accept cryptocurrencies as payment.

While Nakamoto referred to Bitcoin as electronic cash, the slow rate of adoption suggests we’re still a long way from that goal. Instead, many see Bitcoin as a form of “digital gold”, which is a long-term store of value.

Today, perhaps the most common use of cryptocurrency is as a speculative investment. Buyers purchase and hold Bitcoins because they believe their value will increase in time, so they will be able to sell them later at a higher price. However, these speculative interests can drive prices up and cause the market to exhibit characteristics of a bubble. As such, investing in Bitcoin or any other crypto is extremely risky as the bubble may burst at any time. This has happened before in late 2017 when Bitcoin came crashing down and didn’t recover from its all-time low until late 2020.

The huge trading volumes and hyper increases in price for Bitcoin in the past year have attracted a spate of both amateur and professional investors. Some say we’re in a new bubble that’s about to burst, others claim that Bitcoin could reach $100,000 or perhaps even $200,000 by the end of the year.

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Before you jump the bandwagon, be aware that Bitcoin’s greatest strength can also be its biggest weaknesses. Since they’re completely decentralized, cryptocurrencies are also entirely unregulated, which makes them liable to fraud. Speculators who buy digital tokens should also be aware that they are at risk of losing all their money. The market is so volatile that even a tweet from Elon Musk is enough to move Bitcoin by double digits. Other smaller coins are even more volatile.

And while their anonymous nature makes cryptocurrencies great for privacy, it’s also one of the reasons why they’re the preferred mode of payment for illegal digital transactions such as the purchasing of drugs or firearms on the dark web.

Cryptocurrencies are definitely promising and blockchain technology may be a fantastic tool beyond cryptocoins, such as securing medical records and preventing election fraud. However, the crypto space is very much a Wild West, so tread lightly. 

According to data from Coingecko, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by over 60% in a recent 24-hour period before plummeting by 17% as of now. BNB is trading at around $242.63, pushing its market capitalization to $37.5 billion.

In addition to displacing Tether and becoming the third-largest digital asset by market capitalization, Binance Coin also reported a significant increase in its everyday trading volumes. The digital asset noted that its average daily trading volume has recently surged, significantly growing to $14 billion from $9 billion in one 24-hour period.

Reacting to the impressive growth of the digital asset, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the recent rise of the token has always been the exchange’s goal. According to him, Binance has been nurturing the asset to grow a bit faster than BTC.

He tweeted, “#BNB not only made ATHs in fiat terms, it just reached ATH again #BTC. From a humble 0.00001 BTC per BNB, we have grown 480x against BTC in the last 3 and half years. Many thanks to our community, team, and @BinanceAngels.”

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) February 19, 2021

Meanwhile, the crypto exchange token has not been the only exchange feature recording incredible success. Binance Smart Chain-based decentralized exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap has also recorded a massive growth record.

PancakeSwap, a decentralized finance project that rivals Ethereum-based Uniswap and SushiSwap, recently displaced Uniswap to become the largest decentralized exchange by trading volume.

There is one flippening left. pic.twitter.com/4DwLlAtkyf

— PancakeSwap 🥞 #BSC (@PancakeSwap) February 19, 2021

CoinGecko’s data also revealed that PancakeSwap’s average daily trading volume had attained $1.6 billion, closely followed by Uniswap, whose average daily trading volume stands at $1.2 billion. Notably, the Binance Smart Chain-based decentralized exchange allows customers to conduct peer-to-peer activities faster and more affordable than other Ethereum DEXs.

Additionally, BNB did not only surpass Tether (USDT) but also succeeded in surpassing Cardano and Polkadot. It currently only sits behind Bitcoin, the king of all cryptos, and Ethereum.

It is important to note that Binance Coin’s growth has been attributed to the periodical “burns” of some portion of BNB each quarter. This activity notably increases or stabilizes demand of the digital asset by reducing supply.

At the time of publication, Binance Coin (BNB) was trading at $242.63, with a market cap of $37,511,878,695 and a 24-hour trading volume of $10,899,125,182.

Meanwhile, PancakeSwap’s (CAKE) token price dropped by 14.8% in the last 24 hours. It was trading at $13.05, with a market cap of $1,479,029,676 and a 24-hour trading volume of $372,993,839.

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TL;DR Breakdown

The plunge the crypto market has seen in the last 24 hours further reaffirms the digital currency space’s highly volatile nature. Bitcoin has dropped by $11,000 to contribute to the $260 billion loss the market has experienced.

At the time of writing, the number one cryptocurrency trades at $47,108, heightening retail and short-time investors’ fears as it remains in a negative light. The king of crypto started this plunge shortly after its latest all-time high above $58,400, and it looked very prospective to hit $60,000 until its fate changed in hours.

BTC headed south vigorously and lost over $11,000 of value to an intraday low of $47,500. Shortly after this massive drop, the bulls took charge and drove the cryptocurrency back to $55,000. However, Bitcoin couldn’t sustain its recovery and dipped below $50,000 once more.

Largely, the Bitcoin market cap alone has lost over $100 billion in 24 hours and dropped below the $1 trillion level.

Just as it has always been, when Bitcoin falls serially, other altcoins follow and even go deeper than Bitcoin before they all begin to recover. Ethereum’s dip in the last 24 hours is over 17 percent, trading at $1,500. ETH, like Bitcoin, also hit an all-time high price at $2,040 during the weekend but down by over $500 two days after the weekend.

Binance Coin, which also surged to new record levels around $350 lately, has plummeted to $235. Polkadot (-8%), Cardano (-5%), Ripple (-12%), Litecoin (-15%), Chainlink (-17%) are also well in the red from the top ten cryptocurrencies.

Further losses are evident from Dodo (-25%), Elrond (-24%), Siacoin (-23%), IOST (-23%), 1inch (-23%), Ontology (-22%), Aave (-20%), Curve Dao Token (-20%), Waves (-20%), BitTorrent (-20%) and even more.

As a result of all these, collectively, the crypto market capitalization has plummeted by more than $260 billion to $1.5 trillion in the past 48 hours.

TL;DR Breakdown

Ahead of Ripple’s pretrial conference with the SEC, XRP is the only cryptocurrency that has remained bullish of all the top digital currencies. Presently, the cryptocurrency is trading at a 5 percent increase. 

In the early hours of today, XRP roused up to 23 percent, which is equivalent to $0.65, before dipping. However, unlike other top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which earned substantial losses, XRP has managed to remain bullish.  

The Ripple’s pretrial conference with the SEC Is going to be the first between the two bodies. The meeting is going to take place at precisely 10:00 am EST on the 22nd of February. According to reports, both parties will have to summarize the case’s core matters, and judges can intervene if no conclusion or settlement is made. This way, both parties may eventually settle their disputes. 

Reports from U.Today claim that both parties submitted a joint letter stating that no agreement has been reached as of last week. The letter also disclosed that the discovery stage of the case should end on the 18th of August. 

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple after claiming that the US-based technology company sold its tokens to investors without enrolling it as a security. 

With Ripple’s pretrial conference in view, a lot of focus remains on the price of XRP. As stated earlier, XRP is presently the only digital asset making gains in the digital market. However, what implications will the outcome of today’s meeting bring for the cryptocurrency? 

The CEO of IOG formerly IOHK, Charles Hoskinson, who founded Cardano (ADA) and co-founded Ethereum (ETH), has discussed his competition with cryptocurrency projects such as Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT), among others.

He also pointed out that it would have been difficult for Cardano (ADA) to compete with Ethereum (ETH) if it struggles with massive gas fees such as Ethereum.

Read Also: Charles Hoskinson: Bitcoin is only valuable because it’s Valuable, It Has No Technological Advantages

In a new interview with Stefania Barbaglio, Hoskinson stressed the difference between Vitalik Buterin, the co-creator of Ethereum, and the creator of Polkadot, Gavin Wood.

According to the mathematician, Vitalik Buterin is incredibly bright but still needs leadership maturity. He thinks his raw intelligence and smartness amount to nothing without discipline and redefinition. He suggested that he needs a master to help bring out the best in him.

Charles Hoskinson noted:

“Polkadot is the example of what happens, in the difference between when you have an untrained genius designing something and a real veteran engineer who’s smart, so that’s the difference you have in Wood and Vitalik.

Read Also: Cardano (ADA) To Go Live On Decentralized Algorithmic Money Market Venus

Vitalik is an incredibly bright guy, but the thing is: raw intelligence and capability are useless. You really need a master to redefine and give him discipline. After you have done that he can become a Da Vinci.”

Regarding Polkadot, Hoskinson said Gavin Wood is doing well because of the approach his team adopted. According to the IOG CEO, the crypto project is still a work in progress and the consensus algorithm, Ouroboros, implemented by Polkadot is really aiding the success of the ecosystem such as Cardano’s.

Moreover, he said Polkadot counts on a sharding mechanism that can be seamlessly implemented compared to the mechanism adopted by Ethereum from day one:

“We wouldn’t have these massive gas fees, and it would be significantly harder for me to compete against Ethereum. But instead, they have chosen to go with this incredibly complex roadmap that like a roadmap to hell, the so much stuff, there are so many moving pieces.

Read Also: UK Independent Features Cardano’s Claim of Being 4 Million Times More Energy Efficient than Bitcoin

A lot of things can go wrong. We made the same mistake with Cardano, we tried way too much too quickly, which cost us a lot of years and I paid that price.”

As a report has it, Cardano (ADA), the 6th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, will soon go live on the decentralized algorithmic money market, Venus.

Venus passed this latest development across via its official Twitter handle a few hours ago. It came in a thread of announcements that was started on 17th February 2021 by Venus on the microblogging platform Twitter.

Read Also: Cardano (ADA) Announces $1 Million Funding for Project Catalyst New Stage; Releases New Daedalus Wallet

Back then, the platform announced that Venus Improvement Proposal 9, which is slated for deployment this week will enable Cardano (ADA) to be listed on Venus for holders to participate in the liquidity mining program, earn interest, or used as collateral for loans.

Venus tweeted, “Venus Improvement Proposal 9 (VIP-9) will deployed this week and will enable Cardano ADA to be added as an asset to Venus where users can participate in the liquidity mining program (farming), earn interest, or use ADA as collateral to borrow other assets.”

Two days later, Venus announced that Venus Improvement Proposal 9 (VIP-9) has been deployed on the Venus mainnet in readiness to add Cardano (ADA) as an asset on its platform.

“VIP-9 has been deployed on the Venus mainnet…”

💴 Add $ADA to Venus 🏦 Lower VAI’s #XVS Emissions Rate (Reducing overall Venus inflation) https://t.co/u6geS2A8ch

— Venus (@VenusProtocol) February 18, 2021

Read Also: Fundamental Reasons to Be Bullish On Cardano (ADA)

In a recent update concerning the development, Venus stated that the awaiting Venus Improvement Proposal 9 (VIP-9) is now successful and it will be implemented soon.

According to the report, the development will give room for Cardano (ADA) to go live on the decentralized algorithmic money market, Venus.

Venus announced, “VIP-9 has passed and will be executed soon! Cardano will become an available digital asset on Venus!”

Get started: https://t.co/cAsPHdzOlQ https://t.co/KCgHWRPlfB

— Venus (@VenusProtocol) February 23, 2021

The cryptocurrency market has been in the red zone over the past couple of hours. Virtually all cryptocurrencies in the market are experiencing a huge dump along with Bitcoin (BTC).

Over the last 24 hours, BTC has lost relatively 20% of its value, likewise the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum (ETH).

Read Also: Charles Hoskinson: Bitcoin is only valuable because it’s Valuable, It Has No Technological Advantages

Cardano (ADA) is also dumping significantly. At the moment, no one can ascertain the bottom of this bear’s perpetration. At the time of writing, ADA is trading at $0.9241, with about a 13% price plummet in the last 24 hours.