Category Archives: Altcoin

Cardano Faces an Uphill Battle to Change the Finance World – InvestorPlace

May 18 2021 was a day to be remembered in the cryptocurrency market. A huge selloff sent altcoins such as Cardano (CCC:ADA-USD) into a volatile state on an intraday basis. On May 19, ADA had a low of $1.03 and a high of $2.03.

This is a considerable amount of volatility. While some of it comes from outside factors, such as new regulations, ADAs potential to rise or fall is hard to gauge. The crypto advertises significant advantages over its competitors and has signed some big name deals, but is that enough to make it a buy?

On May 18, the key factor in the altcoin sell off was a cryptocurrency ban in China. The new restrictions came from three of Chinas regulatory bodies: the Payment and Clearing Association of China, the China Banking Association and the National Internet Finance Association of China.

Payment companies and financial institutions are now barred from having any part in transactions or services that use altcoins. The ban is incredibly broad and includes trading, settlement, registration and clearing as restricted activities.

Investors were discouraged from making speculative buys of any cryptocurrencies.

In their announcement of the ban, the three regulatory bodies stated that, recently, cryptocurrency prices have skyrocketed and plummeted, and speculative trading of cryptocurrency has rebounded, seriously infringing on the safety of peoples property and disrupting the normal economic and financial order.

What is interesting, though, is that while the ban prevents new initial coin offerings (ICOs) and exchanges of crypto, individuals are still able to hold altcoins.

The World Economic Forum published a list of countries where cryptocurrency use is most common. In 2020, the percentage of people that said they either used or owned cryptocurrency was 7% for China and 6% for the U.S. If China barred individuals from holding altcoins, the May 18 sell off probably would have been more intense and more severe for the long term.

China has banned further ICOs, and more countries may follow suit soon. Regulatory risks are one of the top threats for cryptocurrencies now, not just locally but globally.

Early in the morning of May 19, the price of ADA was near $1.80. At one point, it fell to about $1.07, then bounced back to $1.80 before declining to about $1.50. All of this happened within hours intraday. Cryptocurrencies are not for every trader or investor, and Cardano is no exception. Some people who bought at the bottom and sold at the top made money, while some lost almost 40% if they bought ADA near the top when the selloff started.

This goes to show that any ADA predictions are pointless. Its nearly impossible to know whether Cardano will rise higher now or fall again. And I agree with the Chinese regulatory bodies that speculative crypto trading is too dangerous and stressful.

I see the business potential for Cardano, but I also see plenty of risks. What can someone do with Ada, Cardanos native coin?

According to Cardano, every ada holder also holds a stake in the Cardano network, and those users can receive rewards. Cardano uses proof-of-stake blockchain architecture instead of proof-of-work, which is used by Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) and Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD). This means that Cardano is more energy-friendly and efficient compared to BTC and ETH.

Cardano has also been gaining traction over the past couple of years. The Ministry of Education in Georgia and New Balance both signed deals to use ADA in 2019. And just this year, IOHK, the blockchain company that develops the altcoin, made a deal with the Ethiopian government to use Cardano in schools.

The main advantages Cardano claims over Bitcoin and Ethereum are that ADA is faster, scalable, and more flexible. It is often used for smart contracts in the finance world.

Cardano states that it has a goal of making the world work better for all. This is intriguing, but it also seems challenging.

The value tag is much different than the price tag. In 2017, Cardano had a market capitalization of $10 billion. Now it has a market capitalization of over $54 billion.

With a current price of $1.71, compared to just five cents this time last year, this return of over 3,000% seems too stretched for me now.

I would like to see more companies and applications embrace Cardano. Until this happens, I consider it overvalued and suggest that potential investors wait and see before deciding to buy.

On the date of publication, Stavros Georgiadis, CFA did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.

Stavros Georgiadis is a CFA charter holder, an Equity Research Analyst, and an Economist. He focuses on U.S. stocks and has his own stock market blog atthestockmarketontheinternet.com/. He has written in the past various articles for other publications and can be reached onTwitterand onLinkedIn.

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These three cryptocurrencies weathered the storm as Bitcoin plunged – Cointelegraph

As Bitcoin goes, so go we all. Its etched into the consciousness of crypto traders because the price of altcoins so often trends closely with the price of Bitcoin (BTC). If the original cryptocurrency rallies, so does the rest of the crypto market. Whenever BTC tumbles, it invariably drags its smaller siblings down with it.

Yet, as the crypto industry matures and many blockchain projects begin to generate their own unique value, the link between the price of Bitcoin and that of many alternative digital assets grows more tenuous. The fact that the BTC dominance indicator currentlysits at a three-year low, with Bitcoin responsible for just 40% of the cryptocurrency market capitalization, further speaks to altcoins increasing autonomy.

During major market price movements, most cryptocurrencies are still largely correlated with Bitcoin action as this weeks flash crash reminded us. However, today we are seeing more and more cases of altcoin prices remaining mostly unaffected by even the most dramatic BTC price swings. Here are three conspicuous examples from this weeks market bloodbath.

First, here is the price chart for Bitcoin, as seen through the interface of theCointelegraph Markets Pro platform. In the seven days prior to Thursday, BTC lost over 15% against the U.S. dollar, descending from around $56,000 to the mid-$30,000s before bouncing back to around $42,000 on Thursday.

So, how did three popular altcoins fare against Bitcoin's price during this colossal market swing?

Polygon, a platform for building and scaling decentralized applications, is firmly positioned at the heart of the explosively growing decentralized finance, or DeFi, ecosystem. Last week alone,it added 75,000 new users and $1 billion in transaction volume.

Against the backdrop of the general crypto market sliding down this week, Polygons token, MATIC, continued its staggering hike tonew all-time highs, reaching $2.18 on May 18 up from $0.36 just a month before. Over the week that has brought somber news for many other coins, MATIC gained 106% against the dollar and 142% against Bitcoin. (The chart below is denominated in dollars.)

During the tokens latest rally, its VORTECS Score an algorithmically generated metric that compares the observed patterns of market conditions around the coin against years worth of historical data registered a mind-blowing sequence of values of 90+ for MATIC, culminating in a score of 99 on May 15.

This is the highest score ever recorded for any token, and a score of this magnitude means that the model is extremely confident that in the past, similar combinations of data points consistently preceded consequential price spikes.

MATICs rallies so far have followed quite similar scenarios in terms of market and social activity, as streaks of strong VORTECS Scores (red boxes in the graph) have frequently come two to three days before the next surge (red arrows).

It should be noted that VORTECS is trained on conditions that resulted in price appreciation around 48 hours beyond the score; so, the repeated pattern of high score followed by price gains is a remarkable validation of the methodology behind the algorithm.

A layer-one network with solid fundraising and a slew of market-ready applications launched on top of it in the last couple of months, Solana has been another one to defy the markets bearish mood and tear the price charts. On May 18, SOL sprung to its all-time high above $58.

The VORTECS Score for SOL has been looking bullish for most of the week, before growing even more confident (dark green stretch marked by red box) some 30 hours before the most recent spike. Overall, SOL ended the week some 4% up against the dollar, beating Bitcoin by 23%.

In the chart here, the white line represents the value of SOL against Bitcoin rather than the dollar.

Harmony's ONE token was another asset that did remarkably better than many of its counterparts this week. Reaching the price of $0.17 following a sequence of strong VORTECS Scores, it came close to its all-time high of $0.20 recorded back in March.

When the market tumbled on May 19, Harmony took a hit as well yet it was among the quickest to recover the day after. Over the last seven days, ONE gained about 24% against the dollar and almost 50% against Bitcoin, as illustrated in the chart.

When the market turns red, parking funds safely becomes every investors chief concern. Traders can fall back on stablecoins or employ various forms of analysis to try and figure out which altcoins are most likely to go against the wider downward trend and be the first to make strong recovery.

The VORTECS Score, exclusively available to Cointelegraph Markets Pro members, could be used in such calculations to evaluate how bullish or bearish the outlook for every coin is at any given moment. The platforms interface allows toggling between asset prices denominated in U.S. dollars or BTC, which is useful at times when either of the benchmark currencies is in motion.

And as shown here, the fact that tokens with strong VORTECS Scores weathered this weeks market crash better than Bitcoin should be encouraging for crypto traders everywhere, many of whom have been advocating for further decorrelation in the markets for years.

The Markets Pro team has been tracking 42 possible strategies since the launch of the VORTECS algorithm on Jan. 3. Current top returns as of May 20, as detailed in the document on the methodology used, are as follows:

Holding Bitcoin: 22% return

Holding top 100 altcoins: 298% return

Best-performing time-based VORTECS strategy: 2,745% return

Best-performing score-based VORTECS strategy: 2,691% return

Cointelegraph Markets Pro is available exclusively to memberson a monthly basis at $99 per month, or annually with two free months included. It carries a 14-day money-back policy, to ensure that it fits the crypto trading and investing research needs of subscribers, and members can cancel anytime.

Cointelegraph is a publisher of financial information, not an investment adviser. We do not provide personalized or individualized investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are volatile investments and carry significant risk including the risk of permanent and total loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Figures and charts are correct at the time of writing or as otherwise specified. Live-tested strategies are not recommendations. Consult your financial advisor before making financial decisions. Full terms and conditions.

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Younger investors are calling bitcoin ‘boomer coin’here’s why they prefer dogecoin and other altcoins – CNBC

While bitcoin is still relatively new to mainstream investors, the next generation has already pronounced it the "dinosaur of crypto."

"We're looking at [bitcoin] in crypto years," dogecoin millionaire Glauber Contessoto, 33, tells CNBC Make It. "We just like to tease bitcoin people. They're so serious all the time."

Indeed, across social media platforms such as Twitter and Reddit, Gen Z and young millennial investors are starting to refer to bitcoin as "boomer coin," particularly during the crypto's major sell-off on Wednesday.

Many in this next gen investor cohort prefer to buy other cryptocurrencies known as altcoins or, sometimes, "s--- coins."

"RIP BOOMERCOIN," one Twitter user wrote, along with "#Bitcoin."

Another Twitter user wrote, "I don't understand why people still hold the BoomerCoin," as bitcoin prices declined.

Of course, not all investors within this group agree many are "hodling" bitcoin along with other digital coins. Tuesday, one Reddit user wrote a post titled, "The reason I'm still bullish on BTC, the 'Boomer Coin.'"

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, launched in 2009 and is seen by its supporters as a store of value that will appreciate over time. Its 12-year run opened the door for altcoins, such as dogecoin which was initially created as a joke.

While any cryptocurrency investment is considered to be very risky, experts say investing in altcoins is extremely speculative. Experts warn to invest only what you can afford to lose.

Still, various altcoins have recently soared in popularity as some new, young investors are seemingly willing to take that risk.

"Combine their excitement for finding the next big thing with their risk tolerance and unprecedented access to trading applications, and you have a generation that isn't beholden to the conventional wisdom of traditional investors," says John Wu, president of Ava Labs, a team supporting development of the Avalanche blockchain.

"This generation was too young to catch bitcoin, and are now on the hunt for the next big thing that offers more upside on their investing budget," he says.

Indeed, even down from its all-time high of $64,863, bitcoin is priced at over$42,000per coin as of Thursday morning, though it's possible to buy fractional shares. Dogecoin, on the other hand, which surged in recent months, is currently priced at about42 cents.

Though dogecoin launched in 2013 based on the "Doge" meme, which portrays a shiba inu dog, and its creatorsdidn't intendfor dogecoin to be taken seriously, it is now one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies, with a market value of over $53 billion.

"Doge is the millennial coin," Contessoto says. "I believe that memes are the language of the millennials. Memes are the language of our generation, of Gen Z."

"For dogecoin, the meme is the message," Meltem Demirors, CoinShare's chief strategy officer,previously told CNBC Make It. "As the influence of FinTwit [financial industry Twitter] grows, so will the memes and the way they move our markets."

"We gravitated toward doge because it's pleasantly familiar. We come from a world of memes, and the future is cryptocurrency, so it only makes sense that we combine the two," Contessoto says.

Other altcoins, such as safemoon and shiba inu (known as the "doge killer"), were recently driven up by social media buzz but are also deemed very risky investments by experts. Some have likened safemoon to a Ponzi scheme and a scam. There are endless options, including ethereum, binance coin, cardano and more, all with strong communities built around them.

In fact, for the next generation of investors, referring to bitcoin as "boomer coin" can also be a way to support the altcoin of their choice.

"It's a whole new world for the majority of young investors getting into [it] right now. You start researching and investing because you hear you can make money," Contessoto says. "But then they discover the community ... and it becomes bigger than just making money. It gives us all a bigger purpose as a team."

But right now, they are mostly trolling. "Most" bitcoin supporters, Contessoto says, just "aren't really much fun."

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Don't miss: This 'dogecoin millionaire' refuses to sell, bought during the dipnow his stash is worth $2 million

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Younger investors are calling bitcoin 'boomer coin'here's why they prefer dogecoin and other altcoins - CNBC

Altcoins Follow Bitcoin to the Abyss, XRP Lost 25% – Finance Magnates

After the massive crash of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the market bloodbath has extended to the altcoin markets. Top altcoins like Binance Coin, Cardano, XRP and others have lessened to double-digits.

Altcoins, which still maintained gains after Bitcoin started its downward rush recently, all dived in the last few hours to several month lows. XRP, for instance, which spiked above $1.8 recently went below the $1 mark, but recovered a bit after that still with a 24-hour loss of around 25 percent, as of press time.

Looking Forward to Meeting You at iFX EXPO Dubai May 2021 Making It Happen!

Additionally, Meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba INU are facing market wrath as both coins went down by more than 21 percent and 32 percent, respectively in a day-chart.

Though factors like Elon Musks U-turn from Bitcoin rocked the market initially, the recent altcoin sell-off was mostly triggered by the latest reiteration of the Chinese ban on cryptocurrencies.

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Virtual currencys prices have soared and plummeted recently, resulting [in] a rebound of speculative trading activities of virtual currency, a joint note issued by the China Internet Finance Association, China Banking Association and China Payment and Clearing Association stated. It has seriously damaged the safety of the peoples investment and damaged the normal economic and financial orders.

The three associations confirmed the government ban implemented in 2013 and 2017 that prevent any financial and payment institutions from offering services linked with crypto transactions.

However, the cryptocurrency market is not alien to crashes. Though individual coins like XRP went as low as $0.18 after the US financial market regulator moved to court against it, the collective market has followed a downward trend several times in the past few years.

Critics who celebrate what they perceive as a meltdown in crypto exhibit the very worst characteristics, coupled with schadenfreude, towards a technology that is elegant in its brilliance. Those who dont and refuse to get it will be proved wrong, said Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Bitfinex.

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Top Trader Says Hes Bullish on Two Underrated Altcoins, Unveils Big End of Year Target for Bitcoin – The Daily Hodl

A high-profile crypto trader is sharing his two under-the-radar altcoin picks and his Bitcoin bull market end-of-year prediction.

In a new tweet, the crypto analyst known as Capo tells his 112,000 followers that hes preparing for global digital marketplace World Token (WORLD) to perform extremely well against Ethereum (ETH) in the coming days.

WORLD ready to bounce.

WORLD is nearly 100% off its February all-time high of $0.25, trading at around $0.13 at time of writing. World Token is what some traders might call a micro-cap, sitting at just above a $12 million valuation. The assets 24-hour volume is under $500,000.

Capo also spotlights Phala Network (PHA), a privacy protocol built on budding smart contract platform Polkadot (DOT).

The analyst says PHA is gearing up to follow the footsteps of Quant (QNT), a project that seeks to facilitate blockchain interoperability. According to Capos chart, PHAs price action is reminiscent of Quants market structure before it ignited a massive breakout.

Do you see this breakout? I know a chart that looks EXACTLY like this before breaking out And its PHA!

In a separate tweet, Capo also revealed his assessment regarding BTC versus altcoin performance in the short term. The analyst believes Bitcoin will likely consolidate for an extended period possibly leaving an opportunity for Ethereum to flip Bitcoins market cap. However, Capo predicts the flagship cryptocurrency will rally by over 400% before the years end.

After this consolidation, we get a last epic run until December, which will take BTC above $200,000. Altcoins will probably keep outperforming Bitcoin, and a flippening is likely before the cycle ends.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/THONGCHAI.S/Inked Pixels

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Top Trader Says Hes Bullish on Two Underrated Altcoins, Unveils Big End of Year Target for Bitcoin - The Daily Hodl

Altcoins Take The Reins After Bitcoin Market Dominance Hits Three Year Low – Benzinga

Bitcoins market dominance fell to a three-year low of 40.05% after the weekends Musk drama saw its price fall back under $45,000.

What Happened:Crypto Twitter blamed the Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO for the selloff, alleging his tweets hinting at an imminent Bitcoin selloff by Tesla caused a large number of market participants to panic sell their own share of the digital asset.

While Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) isnt the only cryptocurrency that was subject to the weekends adverse price movements, altcoins now accounted for the majority of the market, reaching a collective market cap of $1.2 trillion.

Ethereums market dominance stood at a three-year high of over 19%, while others like Binance Coin (BNB) and Cardano (ADA) accounted for over 3% each.

Why It Matters: Since September 2018, Bitcoin has accounted for over 50% of the crypto market, and during the peak of the assets bull run between December 2020 and March 2021, dominance reached a high of 70%.

In fact, a few large-cap altcoins even managed new all-time highs amidst the market-wide selloff. One of these coins wasCardano (ADA), which reached a high of $2.42 over the weekend. ADAs 24-hour losses were also less significant than other coins, as it remained around $2.19 at press time despite only breach the two-dollar mark on Saturday.

Solana (SOL) was another altcoin that rose to a new high, as it breached $52.50 earlier today. The tokens 24-hour trading volume was up by 227% to $2.56 billion at the time of writing.

The Bitcoin dominance is still falling, wrote crypto trader The Moon on Twitter. The alt season is not over yet. But my gut feeling is that the end is near!

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2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Altcoins Take The Reins After Bitcoin Market Dominance Hits Three Year Low - Benzinga

Altcoin Season’s Outer Limits: Ether Outpacing Bitcoin Further Than in 2017 – CoinDesk – CoinDesk

Cryptocurrency markets tend to vacillate between bitcoin-led regimes and altcoin-led regimes. In this view of the category, bitcoin is the original currency and everything else, including ethereum, is an alternative, based on the same principles but with tweaks or additions.

The altcoin-led regimes are called alt seasons. Ethers rapid rise since the start of the year (it passed $4,000 over the weekend) has put 2021 so far firmly into alt season, following a the fourth quarter of last year that was led by bitcoin. Timing shifts in momentum between cycles such as these is important for investors seeking to maximize their returns in a crypto bull market.

The chart above looks at bitcoin vs. ether returns across bull and bear market regimes. Bitcoin is still the benchmark for all cryptocurrencies (for now anyway), and so we use its price to define the start and end of bull and bear markets.

The methodology is simple: A shift into a bull or bear market is defined as a bitcoin price change of 20% or greater, followed by at least 90 days during which the price does not return to its level before the change. It gives us a way to definitively, with a little patience, say what the market regime of bitcoin is and by extension the entire cryptocurrency category. Methodologies like this are in line with the kind of work were doing at CoinDesk Indexes.

As you can see from the chart, as of May 2, the current cycle wasnt out of line with past patterns. It still isnt. ETH at $4,000 puts returns for ETH at around 340% since its mid-March 2020 bottom. Thats still within the pattern for an alt-season bull market, set in 2017. But at $4,000 ETH and $55,000 BTC, the gap between ether and bitcoin puts 2021 crypto markets at the edge of any altcoin season precedent. (To get insights like this in your inbox every Monday, sign up for CoinDesk Indexes weekly newsletter, The Hard Fork.)

One problem with this chart is its measuring ether returns over bitcoin market cycles. Thats fine for now, because ether may be gaining, but bitcoin is still the benchmark. But if the alt-season gap between ether and bitcoin widens further, were likely to begin to see an erosion of bitcoins viability as a market benchmark.

A more fundamental trend is the change in bitcoin dominance, which weve noted before. Bitcoin dominance is the ratio of bitcoins market cap to the sum market cap of all cryptocurrencies. Ethers moves this week have pushed it below 45%, testing lows set in 2018.

The long-term decline in bitcoin dominance is a one-step-forward, two-steps-back kind of dance across bull and bear markets: In bear markets, a flight out of altcoins into the relative safety of bitcoin; in bull markets, an embrace of added risk that swells the altcoin share of the market.

If the trend continues, eventually well be looking for broader data sources as benchmarks for the market the CoinDesk Digital Large Cap Index, for example. That would push crypto more in line with equity markets. Consider that if Apple, the largest stock in the S&P 500 Index, were as dominant as bitcoin, it would be a $16 trillion company.

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South Korean Banking Association Concerned Over Surge of the Altcoin Trading Frenzy Altcoins Bitcoin News – Bitcoin News

A banking association in South Korea recently added weight to regulatory discussions across the country, raising concerns about the high altcoin trading volume. The Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) requested its members to audit trading volumes through their crypto exchanges customers altcoin activity.

According to The Korea Herald, the KFB is concerned about potential risks that South Korean banks could be exposed in front of high altcoin trading volumes, as they offer their services to domestic virtual currency exchanges.

The warning comes in the wake of a significant surge of the transaction volumes to around 95% in altcoins, said the media outlet.

An official from the Korea Federation of Banks commented on the matter:

One of the criteria that we recommend is the safety of digital assets, and that can be measured by the number of digital coins on an exchange. If an exchange deals with too many digital assets, it takes on more risks.

During 24 hours last Saturday, bitcoin (BTC) volume levels were only 4.26% on the domestic exchange Upbit.

That said, the banking association asks local banks to strengthen existing rules on overseeing suspicious transactions through the cryptocurrency exchanges and report them, according to the revised Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information.

Overall, the plethora of crypto regulation news in South Korea keeps making the headlines, as the ruling mentioned above is underway.

In fact, the chairman of South Koreas top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Eun Sung-soo, recently warned that all of the digital asset exchanges in the country could be shut down. But his harsh rhetoric on the industry has not been well received among the domestic crypto community.

As Bitcoin.com News reported on April 28, 2021, South Koreas presidential website is now being filed with thousands of petitions from furious people aged 20-39, seeking Euns resignation.

As of press time, South Korea has about 200 virtual currency exchanges.

What do you think about the warning issued by the South Korean banking association? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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South Korean Banking Association Concerned Over Surge of the Altcoin Trading Frenzy Altcoins Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

EOS and YFI lead altcoins higher as Bitcoin and Ether bounce from swing lows – Cointelegraph

The markets were mixed on May 11 as Bitcoin (BTC) recovered from Monday's drop to $53,000 by bouncing to $56,862 but the digital asset is still finding resistance at the $57,000 level.

Ether (ETH) also worked its way back above $4,100 but according to Cointelegraph analyst Marcel Pechman, the bullish sentiment for Etherseen in recent weeks has begun to fadeas traders question whether new all-time highs will be sustainable in the short term.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that Bitcoin bulls defended a late-night sell-off on May 10 that briefly dropped the price of BTC below $54,000 before dip buyers gobbled up sell orders and lifted the price back above $56,000.

blue-chipWhile the blue chip cryptocurrencies have been stuck in a sideways market, canine-themed meme coins including Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogelon Mars (ELON) have followed Dogecoins (DOGE) lead and seen their prices explode for triple-digit gains.

Bitcoins range-bound trading between $50,000 and $60,000 in recent weeks can partially be attributed to the rising price of Ether, which has caught the attention of institutional investors looking for exposure to more than just BTC. The growing demand for Ether can clearly be seen in the price action of the ETH/BTC pair.

According to David Lifchitz, managing partner and chief investment officer at ExoAlpha, Ether's recent all-time high was in part due to a continued rotation away from Bitcoin which helped push the price of Ether as high as $4,214 before suddenly puking down to $3,658 (-13% in an hour).

The downturn in the crypto market coincided with a selloff in the U.S. equity markets that hit the tech-heavy NASDAQ index especially hard. Lifchitz noted that Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies were eventually able to bounce back half of the loss from the high.

While the sell-off could be explained by some correlation trades leading to a quick profit-taking in cryptos, Lifchitz also pointed to the possibility of a more organized selloff where some traders took advantage of frothy market conditions.

Lifchitz said:

Lifchitz highlighted that just:

Further insight into the market moves over the past week was offered by Ben Lilly, co-founder and analyst at Jarvis Labs, who highlighted an increase in on-chain profit taking over the last week that had lots of capital turning over throughout altcoins.

Lilly said:

The overall altcoin market shook off the bearish moves seen in the larger-cap cryptocurrencies. EOS led the day with a 50% jump which took the price to $13.92 after Block.one announced that it had secured $10 billion in funding to launch an EOS-based cryptocurrency exchange named Bullish Global.

Yearn.finance (YFI) managed to break out of the trading range it had been stuck in to put on a 58% rally to a new record high above $80,000, while the price of Revain (REV) exploded 130% to reach a multi-year high at $0.049.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.474 trillion and Bitcoins dominance rate is 42.8%.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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South Korea’s banking association alarmed by altcoin trading mania – Cointelegraph

The Korea Federation of Banks has raised alarm over the increase in altcoin trading volumes across crypto exchanges in the country.

According to a report by The Korea Herald on Monday, the banking association has asked member banks to conduct an audit on the altcoins being offered by their crypto exchange clients.

The KFB is reportedly concerned about the potential risks of banks providing account services to exchanges overexposed to altcoins.

An official of the banking association quoted by The Korea Herald explained:

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, there has been a noticeable pivot by crypto traders in South Korea toward altcoins. This shift coincided with a corresponding dip in Bitcoin (BTC) trading activity that had characterized the earlier part of the year, even leading to the collapse of the Kimchi premium.

Three of South Koreas Big Four crypto exchanges Upbit, Coinone and Bithumb each list over 150 altcoins on their platforms. The KFBs recommendation comes as BTC trading on these exchanges accounted for less than 5%, far lower than the average across other major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.

Indeed, as of the time of writing, only Coinone has Bitcoin trading activity occupying the top two positions in the last 24-hour period. Data from CoinMarketCap shows BTC trading on Upbit and Bithumb at 4.15% and 9.13%, respectively.

Under South Koreas real-name crypto trading paradigm, the onus is on banks to maintain strict oversight over their cryptocurrency exchange clients, hence the reason for the KFBs warning. The banking association also wants its members to be aware of the potential money laundering risks that could be associated with the current altcoin trading explosion.

South Koreas altcoin trading surge is yet another piece of evidence in support of the alt season market cycle narrative. Indeed, Bitcoin's market capitalization dominance continues to decline and is now at its lowest level since July 2018.

Several major altcoins have set new all-time highs, with Ether (ETH) breaking the $4,000 milestone to deliver over 450% in year-to-date gains.

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South Korea's banking association alarmed by altcoin trading mania - Cointelegraph