Prosecutors appear to have a strong case against Virgil Griffith, the ethereum developer charged with conspiring to aid North Korea, legal experts say.
from CoinDesk https://ift.tt/2Ua1U4K
Friday, January 31, 2020
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Litecoin Price Gains 22% as Chart ‘Cup and Handle’ Targets $100
Litecoin price (LTC) led the crypto market with a 20% daily gain, leading traders to wonder if a triple-digit rally is in the making just like a year ago.
On Jan. 30 Litecoin (LTC) lit up the charts in both it’s USD and Bitcoin (BTC) pars by rallying more than 20% to secure a spot as the highest daily gainer amongst the top-10 cryptos ranked by market capitalization.
Crypto market daily price chart. Source: Coin360
Investors will recall that in 2019, Litecoin front-ran the Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin rally by pumping more than 350% from January to June. Thus, the altcoin’s most recent price action is sure to stir up some strong feelings amongst traders who may interpret the altcoin’s trend reversal as the beginnings of a wider crypto-market rally.
LTC USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The LTC/USDT pair broke above the 200-DMA on the highest trading volume seen since April 2019 when the price moved from $59 to $99. In addition to breaking out of the descending channel, Litecoin also surged above a high volume node on the volume profile visible range at $55-$58 to set a weekly higher high at $69.89, a price not seen since September 2019.
Although the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) flipped bullish on Dec. 21, 2019, it has taken some time for Litecoin price action to heat up and the most recent bull cross on Jan. 29 preceded Thursday’s 20% rally.
LTC USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
Traders will also note that Litecoin has completed a massive cup and handle pattern and broke out strongly from the handle.
Typically, the cup and handle formation serves as a springboard for the continuation of the uptrend; and the projected target of the breakout is often predicted by measuring the distance from the right side peak of the cup and the bottom of the cup.
In this case, traders that swear by the cup and handle pattern would cite a $90 to $100 target, but we all know the crypto market is driven by an incredibly complex set of ever-changing factors.
Litecoin now joins the ranks of altcoins breaking above their multi-year descending trendlines and 200-day moving average resistance zones. As for the next steps, traders will need to turn $63 and the 200-DMA to support before the price can move higher.
LTC/BTC also turns bullish
LTC BTC daily chart. Source: TradingView
The price action on Litecoin’s Bitcoin pairing (LTC/BTC) also mirrors that of the LTC/USDT pair although the cup and handle pattern is much more shallow. The LTC/BTC pair broke above the 200-DMA and the high volume VPVR node and now approaches a long-term resistance at 0.007529 satoshis.
Similar to LTC/USDT, the MACD histogram has flipped positive and the MACD crossed sharply above the signal line. The relative strength index (RSI) is also pushing into the overbought region suggesting the price may need to pull back to support at 0.006736 (sats).
Traders playing the USDT pair and especially the BTC pair will need to keep a close eye on trading volume as today’s purchasing volume on both pairs set a nearly 7-month high.
If the price can push above 0.007529 (sats) and 0.008086 (sats) the altcoin would be en-route to set a higher high at 0.009088 (sats).
Litecoin weekly price chart. Source: Coin360
Currently, Litecoin’s dominance rate compared against all other cryptocurrencies is 1.5%. Bitcoin’s dominance rate now stands at 65.9% and the total cryptocurrency market cap is $258.4 billion.
Aside from Litecoin, a few other altcoins posted notable gains. ETH rallied 4.02% to finally break above resistance at $175 and is now trading at $182.56. EOS also rallied 4.75% and TRON (TRX) gained 3.02%.
Keep track of top crypto markets in real time here
from Cointelegraph.com News https://ift.tt/2uL5MPg
Five of the Most Expensive NFTs Sold in 2019
The crypto gaming market took off in 2019 with some record sales.
The nonfungible token market is one of the most exciting spaces in crypto right now. Significant investments are being made on nonfungible tokens as people diversify their decentralized portfolios in the hope that this promising market continues to grow. As we begin 2020, let’s take a look at five of the most expensive NFTs sold last year.
5. Gods Unchained — Atlas ID #8840817
Price: 210 ETH (approximately $31,500)
Date: Dec. 5, 2019
Gods Unchained is a competitive card game on the Ethereum blockchain and is similar to the popular mainstream title, Hearthstone. The most significant difference between the two is the true ownership mechanic, made possible by Gods Unchained being a blockchain-based game. Players have full control over their cards and can sell them on a marketplace.
Gods Unchained has also been described as the first blockchain-powered esports title. Every year, there will be a Gods Unchained World Championship, with a prize pool of $100,000 plus 10% of all card pack sales. Currently, the total prize pool for the first Gods Unchained Tournament stands at $540,865.
The esports element of the game raises the value of cards as players aim to put together strong decks and be as competitive as possible when participating in the tournament.
Each year, the Gods Unchained team will release a maximum of four “Mythic” cards with strong in-game abilities. Atlas is one of the Mythic cards. A lucky player discovered it in a pack, but didn’t realize the card was worth such a substantial amount. It wasn’t until the Gods Unchained team confirmed the card’s owner that the excitement set in and the value of the digital treasure caught their attention.
In the auction, the bidding started at 165 ETH, before reaching its final price five days later, at 210 ETH. Only time will tell whether this will prove to be a good investment, but the early signs are promising.
4. Gods Unchained — Prometheus ID #5742090
Price: 235 ETH (approximately $35,250)
Date: Dec. 9, 2019
After much anticipation, Gods Unchained launched its marketplace in late November, sparking a frenzy of activity as users began to trade cards.
Another of the Mythic cards, named Prometheus, was hidden in a random pack and had a one-in-a-million chance of being discovered. The unique properties of the card, couples with its in-game strength, made it the perfect card for those serious about competing for a share of the $500,000 Gods Unchained prize pool.
So, naturally, when Prometheus was put up for sale by the player who discovered it, the card’s high demand fetched 235 ETH at auction.
3. CryptoSpaceCommanders Battlecruiser ID #3155
Price: 250 ETH (approximately $45,250)
Date: Sept. 19, 2019
Crypto Space Commanders is a sandbox space MMORPG created by Lucid Sight. As Cointelegraph reported in April, Lucid Sight raised a total of $11 million as it seeks to develop its “scarcity engine,” a tool designed to introduce their blockchain-powered games to consoles, PCs and mobile devices.
The game uses the Ethereum blockchain to secure game assets, enforce all in-game contracts, and run the in-game free-market economy, which operates without developer interference. Users can combat other players or explore the universe and mine resources. All resources gained by players are theirs to keep, and they can trade, hold or sell them for a profit.
Every in-game ship is unique and has different properties. The more useful a ship is in helping to build wealth within the game, the more costly it is to purchase.
So, when Battlecruiser ID #3155 arrived on the market in September this year, it was snapped up for a price of 250 ETH.
The battlecruiser was the first of its class to be manufactured and can instantly transport anywhere in the CSC world within 20 lightyears — perfect for sneaking up on enemy ships and executing a deadly ambush.
2. Decentraland — The Secret of Satoshis Tea Garden
Price: 1,299,999 MANA (approximately $80,663)
Date: May 24, 2019
Decentraland is a virtual reality platform on the Ethereum blockchain. It uses the MANA token, which acts as the platform’s currency. The world is split into land parcels, known as LAND, which were sold by Decentraland and bought by the community. LAND owners have the freedom to build strange and unique experiences for Decentraland explorers to enjoy, and can potentially monetize these experiences.
The potential for monetization makes LAND parcels within Decentraland more valuable. The better the location of the LAND, the more its value is perceived to be.
To make it easier to build an empire, Decentraland released an update in August 2018 that gave LAND owners the ability to buy adjacent parcels and merge them into an estate, thereby allowing substantial and more complex scenes to be built.
Estate 331, or “The Secret of Satoshis Tea Garden,” as it was named, was created by the merging of LAND parcels in September 2018. Following its formation, the owner put it on the market. At first, the asking price was a hefty 2,988,000 MANA, but a lack of buyers saw the price decay to a more realistic value of 1,299,999 MANA when it was finally purchased in May.
Located in the game’s sought-after Genesis Plaza, the estate consists of 64 parcels forming a perfect square and is unique, as it is surrounded by roads. The potential build height increases with more contiguous parcels, which means this estate has room for 120 vertical meters of virtual fun.
What the plans are for Estate 331 remain to be seen. The only insight is a cryptic message attached to the estate that states, “the secret to freedom is courage.” Make of that what you will.
1. F1 Delta Time Apex Race Car “1-1-1”
Price: 415.9 ETH (approximately $113,124)
Date: May 27, 2019
In March 2019, game development studio Animoca Brands announced that it had secured an agreement with Formula 1 to develop and publish a blockchain game. The game, F1 Delta Time, allows players to own a digital version of a Formula 1 race car through the use of nonfungible tokens.
It was seen as an exciting move for advocates of blockchain gaming, as Formula 1 is a brand with a broad reach. It broadcasts to over 180 territories and attract a TV audience of about 1.6 billion — suggesting clear potential to bring a new audience to the industry.
The first phase of Animoca Brands’ plan was to create collectible F1 cars, then allowing users to race them at a later date once the gameplay component of the game was released.
The F1 Delta Time team released the car named “1-1-1” on May 24, describing it as a “truly one-of-a-kind digital collectible and a digital milestone in motorsport.” It offered comprehensive in-game capabilities, with performance indices above the maximum levels possible for other cars in the game.
The winning bid came less than four minutes before the auction closed. The sale had been fiercely contested by two bidders before a third crept up from behind and beat them at the finish line.
While this sale didn’t beat the 600 ETH record set by CryptoKitties’ “Dragon” in 2018, it is the highest known price paid for an NFT in 2019 and demonstrates that the market is in a healthy state.
from Cointelegraph.com News https://ift.tt/2Oa1SGk
Bitfinex Adds Margin Trading on Tether Gold With Pairs of Up to 5x Leverage
Bitfinex has launched margin trading for Tether Gold with select pairs of up to 5 times leverage.
from CoinDesk https://ift.tt/2GCkWsu
from CoinDesk https://ift.tt/2GCkWsu
Silk Road Operator Pleads Guilty to 1 Charge of Conspiracy
Roger Clark, an alleged operator behind the Silk Road darknet site arrested in 2015, has pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to distribute narcotics.
from CoinDesk https://ift.tt/3aWxNUx
from CoinDesk https://ift.tt/3aWxNUx
The National Bank of Cambodia Will Launch a Digital Payments Network This Quarter
Cambodia is the latest country to demonstrate serious pro-blockchain action.
The National Bank of Cambodia’s new digital currency is called Bakong.
It’s effectively a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that was launched on a trial basis throughout Cambodia in July. Chea Serey, director-general of the National Bank of Cambodia, said the system will be operational within the present fiscal quarter. Serey described Bakong as “the national payment gateway for Cambodia.”
Bakong will play a central role in bringing all players in the payment space in Cambodia under the same platform, making it easy for end-users to pay each other regardless of the institutions they bank with. Eventually, we hope to allow cross border payment through the Bakong system too.
Unlike most blockchain-driven cryptocurrencies, Bakong is a closed system that’s backed by banking authorities. A software wallet is linked to each user’s bank account for them to more easily interact with hard currency. The system supports real-time transactions while the National Bank of Cambodia stores centralized records about where the money goes.
This is a bit of an adjustment to Cambodia’s previous heading on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The country had previously issued requirements for a cryptocurrency business license — a Cambodian crypto exchange became the first such licensed business in August 2018.
In any event, the at-scale use case of a national bank granting its users the ability to transact with each other using blockchain verification seems sure to accelerate adoption.
from Cointelegraph.com News https://ift.tt/2OcSzFE
Mercedes Will Use Blockchain to Track Carbon Emissions in Cobalt Supply Chain
Mercedes Benz and Circulor are jointly launching a blockchain pilot to bring transparency in carbon emissions in the cobalt supply chain.
Major car manufacturer Mercedes Benz and blockchain startup Circulor are jointly rolling out a pilot aimed at the tracing carbon emissions in the cobalt supply chain.
According to a Jan. 30 press release, the project by Mercedes and Circulor comes as part of the Startup Autobahn initiative, aimed at identifying next-generation automobiles. The companies will deploy blockchain to trace the emissions of climate-relevant gases and the amount of recycled materials along the complex supply chains of battery cell manufacturers.
Mercedes eventually intends to use data collected during this pilot to develop its new carbon-neutral passenger car fleet.
But first is cobalt
The project will initially focus on cobalt supplies, which have recently raised issues related to provenance and ethics. Cobalt is a key mineral for making lithium-ion batteries, with the majority of cobalt production comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region criticized for its unethical cobalt mining conditions. In 2017, the United Nations estimated that 168 million children were in exploitative working conditions globally, with around 40,000 children in cobalt mines in the DRC. That means it’s especially important for companies to know where the materials for its products are coming from.
A blockchain-based pilot program will map the production flow of these materials and their associated carbon emissions, as well as record how much recycled material gets used in the supply chain.
This will purportedly help Mercedes determine whether its partner companies comply with its sustainability requirements, especially when it comes to human rights.
Automakers are gradually embracing blockchain
Mercedes is not the first car manufacturer to turn to blockchain technology on issues of sustainability and ethical product sourcing. Volvo also partnered with Circulor to trace raw materials through the supply chain to its battery manufacturer, and then to Volvo cars.
Indian automobile manufacturer Tata Motors announced its intention to integrate blockchain solutions into its internal processes last September. The firm wants to apply blockchain-based solutions in various aspects of the automotive industry, including parking marketplace, demand prediction algorithm and real-time monitoring of fuel quality.
from Cointelegraph.com News https://ift.tt/3aVnUX0
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)