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Okay, Ravencoin. Whats this one all about then? Its pumping, so lets peck into it. Meanwhile Bitcoins been on a bit of a surge, too, while Ethereum is currently lazing on a deck chair hoping for a decent Merge tan.

Deep into that crypto winter darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no shadowy super coder ever dared to dream before. Quoth the Ravencoin, Nevermore.

Edgar Allen Poe didnt quite write that.

That said we can 99.93% say for sure that the legendary 19th century American fountain pen and opioid user wouldve been a crypto fan. Probably. Apparently, he had a keen interest in cryptography and, in fact, had something of an influence on the modern science.

Would love to get into that a bit morebut weve got magic internet money to natter about.

Now, what the squawk is Ravencoin (RVN) then and why is it flapping and ca-cawwing its way up the daily cryptocurrency top 100 chart? Would it surprise you to learn that, in a roundabout sort of way, its Merge related? Nope? Didnt think so.

Ravencoin is not, however, a Proof-of-Stake coin, and its not new. Launched in 2018, the protocol is an Ethereum mining alternative that uses a Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm blockchain that mimics Bitcoins 21 million-coin supply.Its got its own, sophisticated tokenised ecosystem that uses RVN for various DeFi and NFT applications.

According to CoinGecko data, Ravencoin has surged about 30% over the past day and more than 95% over the week.

Why? Well, all things Ethereum (well, aside from ETH itself today) seem to be taking turns at grabbing the spotlight in the lead up to the leading smart contract blockchains Merge to Proof-of-Stake.

Despite the ESG, carbon-reducing positivity that the Merge move is partly building its momentum on, there are still a fair amount of mining, PoW fans out there, making their case and seeking mining alternatives as the main Ethereum chain swaps lanes. Thats partly it, but perhaps the main reason is this

The RVN pump in price has basically coincided with the news major global crypto exchange FTX announced the listing of Ravencoin perpetual futures on September 12.

Onto other crypto-related pumpery and dumpery

With the overall crypto market cap at US$1.1 trillion and down about 0.3% since yesterday, heres the current state of play among top 10 tokens according to CoinGecko.

As youd expect, the chart tells the story here. Basically Bitcoin, Ethereum rival Solana and XRP are the only things in the green over the past 24 hours.

Lets check in on Solana (SOL) for a sec It seems determined to dodge the Merge shadow. Is there a reason for the exuberance? Other than some ongoing positivity based around the Helium projects potential migration, nothing major that were seeing

Although theres this, too Solana is Ethereums greatest rival for NFT-based activity and that appears to be spiking on Solana market place Magic Eden again, according to crypto-data gurus Nansen

As for Bitcoin, its kicked with some confidence into what most think is going to be a vortex of volatility this week. BTC is now trading back above US$22k at the time of writing, after closing its latest weekly candle at US$21,800. Thats the OG cryptos highest weekly close for about a month.

In the very short term, the US dollar tapering off and seemingly hitting some chart-based resistance seems to be helping Bitcoin, other cryptos and stonks so far this week.

Dont forget, though (well, you can if you want), that the fresh US Consumer Price Index inflation-related data for the month of August is set to be released. And, for those who are a tad over-exposed to risk assets, lately these figures have been a recipe for nervy toilet sessions and/or Hey EVERYONE, this rounds on me!

Sweeping a market-cap range of about US$8.4 billion to about US$446 million in the rest of the top 100, lets find some of the biggest 24-hour gainers and losers at press time. (Stats accurate at time of publishing, based on CoinGecko.com data.)

DAILY PUMPERS

Ravencoin (RVN), (market cap: US$783 million) +32%

Hedera (HBAR), (mc: US$1.6 billion) +10%

The Graph (GRT), (mc: US$932 million) +9%

Helium (HNT), (mc: US$682 million) +6%

NEAR Protocol (NEAR), (mc: US$3.9 billion) +5%

DAILY SLUMPERS

Terra(LUNA), (market cap: US$661 million) -28%

Terra Luna Classic (LUNC), (mc: US$2.13 billion) -21%

Celsius Network (CEL), (mc: US$608 million) -9%

Rocket Pool (RPL), (mc: US$588 million) -7%

Amp (AMP), (mc: US$472 million) -6%

Well, probably shoulda known this would happen. As soon as we open our traps about a Terra LUNA revival, its coins go and dump harder than that Brent Naden spear tackle a couple of months back. If you follow such things, that is.

This, however, doesnt change the fact that both LUNA (or LUNA2 as its also now known) and LUNC have made stupendous gains just recently.

That said, as per yesterdays column, weve been very much cautioning with buyer beware when it comes to CeFi tokens struggling for revival, especially considering Terra LUNAs catastrophic and crypto-contagion-inducing collapse in May.

Touch them with an extendable barge pole? Not financially advising on that, or anything for that matter, as theres, unsurprisingly, no qualification for that hanging in my pool room.

A selection of randomness and pertinence that stuck with us on our morning moves through the Crypto Twitterverse

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Mooners and Shakers: Ravencoin soars and Bitcoin pumps, but Ethereum flattens out ahead of Merge - Stockhead