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Matic, xDai (STAKE) and Loopring (LRC) rally as Ethereum gas fees rise

The start of a new month has brought renewed fervor from the cryptocurrency market as Bitcoin’s (BTC) price steadily climbed from a low of $43,537 on Feb. 28 to a high of $49,200 during Monday’s early trading hours. 

As traders get excited about positive moves in the market and look to reenter positions, the increasing use of decentralized finance (DeFi) continues to drive fees on the Ethereum network higher, shining the spotlight on the top layer-two protocols that offer working solutions.

Three protocols that have emerged as top layer-two contenders with working platforms are Polygon, xDai and Loopring. Each offers its own unique layer-two approaches to helping ease high traffic on the Ethereum network. 

MATIC/USDT

Polygon, previously known as Matic, officially launched as a layer-two aggregator for Ethereum on Feb. 9 as a way to offer an interoperability protocol for the network.

Since excitement for the rebrand began, MATIC’s price has increased by 400% from $0.05 to an all-time high of $0.245 on March 1. Growing excitement for the Aavegotchi mainnet launch on March 2 has also brought a boost of attention and trading volume to MATIC.

MATIC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Aavegotchi was one of the first projects to bridge over to the Polygon network, and it will likely be joined by other projects if its mainnet launch on the network goes smoothly.

MATIC also received a boost on Feb. 26 when it was announced that gaming giant Atari would be integrating Polygon in order to “bring their NFT & token products to Layer 2,” along with the launch of “the first EOS-Polygon cross-chain bridge,” which was done in partnership with pNetwork.

XDAI/USDT

 xDai is another layer-two solution that has caught the attention of investors over the past few weeks. The xDai chain is a stable payment blockchain created by the POA Network, an Ethereum open-source public sidechain that offers a framework for smart contracts.

The blockchain’s STAKE token is designed to be a multichain staking token that validators and delegators offer as collateral in order to participate in the consensus mechanism and receive staking incentives for block production. The goal of the xDai platform is to offer fast and inexpensive transactions on the Ethereum network.

Since trading at a low of $7.50 on Jan. 2, STAKE price increased 500% to a new all-time high of $43 on Feb. 21 before falling under pressure alongside the wider cryptocurrency market.

XDAI/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

A scroll through the project’s Twitter feed shows multiple recent partnerships and integration announcements that have helped propel STAKE higher in recent weeks.

Notable mentions include an integration with the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) that allows users to move funds from Binance to xDai using a BSC-to-xDai bridge along with the announced migration of the up-and-coming Bao Finance to the xDai network.

LRC/USDT

Loopring is a layer-two solution that specifically focuses on the creation of decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges (DEXes).

One of the major sources of congestion on the Ethereum network is the ever-growing activity of popular DEXes like Uniswap and SushiSwap.  A separate sidechain made specifically for exchange trading could help alleviate congestion on the network, and this is what Loopring aspires to provide.

The overall goal of the Loopring protocol is to combine the advantages of decentralized exchanges with the liquidity and order book management offered by centralized exchanges to help increase the efficiency of order execution and enhance the liquidity of the DEX ecosystem.

Since Jan. 2, Loopring’s LRC token has increased 430% from $0.165 to a high of $0.88 on Feb. 12 .

LRC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

After falling to a low of $0.46 on Feb. 28, LRC price rallied 30% after it was announced that the Loopring exchange added multiple Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)/stablecoin pairs, offering “6 new ways to trade WBTC on Ethereum L2.”

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for LRC on Feb. 28, 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.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. LRC price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen on the chart above, the VORTECS™ score for LRC reached a high of 73 on Feb. 28, just as the price was beginning it’s 30% rally to $0.59.

Continued increases in the price of Ether (ETH), which rose back above $1,500 on March 1, will only exacerbate the pain felt by traders attempting to use popular DeFi protocols on the network.

The amount of gas needed to conduct basic transactions, along with the price of these fees, will continue to drive users to trial the alternatives be offered by layer-two solutions, and Polygon, xDai and Loopring are three protocols well positioned to capitalize on this trend.

Matic, xDai (STAKE) and Loopring (LRC) rally as Ethereum gas fees rise

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Here’s how the Purpose Bitcoin ETF differs from Grayscale’s GBTC Trust

Since 2017, investors have been anxiously awaiting a Bitcoin ETF approval as the existence of such a fund was an important symbol of mass adoption and acceptance from the realm of traditional finance. 

On Feb. 18, the Toronto Stock Exchange hosted the official launch of the Purpose Bitcoin ETF and the fund quickly absorbed more than $333 million in market capitalization in just two days.

Now that the long-awaited Bitcoin ETF is here, investors are curious about how it will compete with Grayscale Investments GBTC fund. On Feb. 17, Ark Investment Management founder and CEO Cathie Wood said the likelihood that U.S. regulators will approve a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund has gone up.

Although exchange-traded funds (ETF) and exchange-traded notes (ETN) sound quite similar, there are fundamental differences in trading, risks, and taxation.

What is an exchange-traded fund?

An ETF is a security type that holds underlying investments such as commodities, stocks, or bonds. It often resembles a mutual fund, as it is pooled and managed by its issuer.

ETFs have become a $7.7 trillion industry, growing by 65% in the last two years alone.

The most recognizable example is the SPY, a fund that tracks the S&P 500 index, currently managed by State Street. Invesco’s QQQ is another EFT that tracks U.S.-based large-capitalization technology companies.

More exotic structures are available, such as the ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil ($SCO). Using derivatives products, this fund aims to offer two times the daily short leverage on oil prices.

What is an exchange-traded note?

Exchange-traded notes (ETN) are similar to an ETF in that trading occurs using traditional brokers. Still, the difference is an ETN is a debt instrument issued by a financial institution. Even if the fund has a redemption program, the credit risk relies entirely on its issuer.

For example, after Lehman Brothers imploded in 2008, it took ETN investors more than a decade to recoup the investment.

On the other hand, buying an ETF gives one direct ownership of its contents, creating different taxation events when holding futures contracts and leveraging positions. Meanwhile, ETNs are taxed exclusively upon sale.

GBTC does not offer conversion or redemption

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust Fund (GBTC) is the absolute leader in the cryptocurrency market, with $35 billion in assets under management.

Investment trusts are structured as companies — at least in regulatory form — and are ‘closed-end funds.’ Thus, the number of shares available is limited and the supply and demand for them largely determines their price.

Investment trust funds are regulated by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), therefore outside the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) authority.

GBTC shares cannot easily be created, neither is there an active redemption program in place. This tends to generate significant price discrepancies from its Net Asset Value, which is the underlying BTC fraction represented.

An ETF, on the other hand, allows the market maker to create and redeem shares at will. Therefore, a premium or discount is usually unlikely if enough liquidity is in place.

An ETF instrument is far more acceptable to mutual fund managers and pension funds as it carries much less risk than a closed-ended trust like GBTC. Retail investors may not have been aware of the possibility that GBTC trades below net assets value. Thus the recent event might further pressure investors to move their position to the Canadian ETF.

To sum up, an ETF product carries a significantly less risk due to greater transparency and the possibility to redeem shares in the case of shares trading at a discount.

Nevertheless, the impressive GBTC market capitalization clearly states that institutional investors are already on board.

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.

Here’s how the Purpose Bitcoin ETF differs from Grayscale’s GBTC Trust

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Southeast Asian Fintech Grab to Create 350 New Jobs in Singapore during 2021 to Support Business Growth and Development Plans

Southeast Asian Fintech firm Grab has revealed that it will be creating about 350 new jobs in Singapore during 2021 in order to support its ongoing growth and development plans.

These new roles and requirements aim to support the Fintech company’s expansion of products and services to support the digitalization of micro SMEs and also the delivery of digital financial services across the Southeast Asia region. Grab is also committed to the development of the “digibank” which will reportedly be led by a Grab-Singtel consortium.

Grab’s announcement to hire more workers has come at a time when the company has signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Digital Industry Singapore (DISG).

Per the terms of the MOI, Grab will be working cooperatively with IMDA and DISG to grow its main line of products and also its engineering teams’ capabilities via the support of talent development programs like the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA).

These programs are designed to enhance the technical skills of experienced professionals and offer practical, hands-on training to those who are interested in exploring different roles in the technology industry.

Some of these new hires will be specialists focused on AI, cybersecurity, data science, software development, and product management and design.

Grab stated that it will also be providing various employment opportunities in key areas like finance, operations, legal, public affairs and business development.

Tan Hooi-Ling, Co-founder, Grab, stated:

“As a Singapore-based tech company, Grab fully supports the development of the tech ecosystem here. We are building products that positively impact millions across Southeast Asia, and we want to continue deepening our R&D capabilities and push the boundaries of innovation, right here at our strategic base. This is only possible with the support of Grabbers across different business functions, who are continually learning and adapting to new technologies and customers’ requirements.”

Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive, IMDA, noted that in order to secure its digital future, Singapore “must be the place where companies choose to build unique digital products that cater for global markets.” Hong also mentioned that this is “the only way that Singapore can sustainably capture value and differentiate ourselves in the digital economy.”

He added:

“We are pleased to partner Grab, to strengthen Singapore’s tech ecosystem in these two key areas – to build our local talent in product development, and grow Singapore as the base for high-end R&D in tech.”

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Focus on DeFi ‘fairness’ benefits Holochain, Orion Protocol and Dodo

Bitcoin’s (BTC) strong bull run and the immense popularity of the decentralized finance space have attracted several new investors to cryptocurrencies. A report from Crypto.com shows a massive increase in crypto users as the figure rose from 66 million in May 2020 to 106 million by January this year. 

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

Contrary to the popular notion that new crypto users are mostly speculating on the price, data from Unchained Capital shows that investors who bought in the past three to five years are still holding and are not yet tempted to book profits.

Unlike the 2017 bull market where many low-cap altcoins rallied, the current bull trend has rewarded projects with strong fundamentals. Let’s have a look at three such tokens and also analyze their charts.

HOT/USD

Holochain (HOT) aims to provide the solution for the scalability problems which may be a limiting factor in the crypto sector. Holochain wants to give control of data and privacy back to the people, eliminating large corporations and middlemen.

To achieve that, Holo, a distributed peer-to-peer hosting platform, acts as the link between the web and the Holochain apps. Holochain wants to make this technology available to users who can access the apps in a web browser. If this needs to be done, the technology must have vast scalability, fast speeds, and it should also be financially viable. The team at Holochain believes they are on the path to achieving this goal.

As part of the process, Holochain launched an app called Elemental Chat that runs on HoloPorts. The team is also planning to enable web users to log into Elemental Chat through the HoloPort. This will put the protocol’s scalability claims to the test and help to further fine-tune the project.

The team has also outlined the progress on the upcoming milestones of the Holo suite of products that will be progressively released in the future. If the team delivers on its promises, the protocol may attract investor attention.

HOT surged from $0.0007817 on Feb. 8 to an intraday high at $0.00424 on Feb. 21, a 442% rally within two weeks. This up-move had pushed the relative strength index (RSI) above 92 on Feb. 21, indicating the market was extremely overbought in the short term.

HOT/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

That resulted in profit-booking on Feb. 22 and 23, which pulled the price down to the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.0021028. But the positive sign is that the long tail on the candlesticks on both days showed strong buying at lower levels.

However, traders who are stuck at higher levels are dumping their positions on rallies, as seen from the long wick on the Feb. 24 candlestick.

After the large intraday range of the past few days, the HOT/USD pair has formed an inside day candlestick pattern today, indicating a balance between supply and demand. The pair may now consolidate for a few days.

If the bulls can push the price above $0.00363, a retest of $0.00424 is possible. A breakout of this level could start the next leg of the up-move that may reach $0.0055629.

Conversely, if the bears sink the price below $0.0028, the pair may drop to the 20-day exponential moving average ($0.0020).

ORN/USD

As the decentralized finance space grows, many new projects are being announced on a regular basis. It becomes difficult for investors to keep track of all of them. Hence, a liquidity aggregator that connects to several decentralized and centralized exchanges in order to swap pools and provide access from a single platform may be sought after and this is what the Orion protocol (ORN) aims to do.

The protocol plans to offer its investor’s a variety of revenue streams. The Orion Liquidity Boost Plugin offers increased liquidity to its partners and has already onboarded Polkastarter and many other blockchain projects.

Orion’s Launchpad Liquidity has partnered with DAO Marker and DuckDAO, which will enable projects launch incubated projects on the launchpad’s own platform

Orion recently launched the staking calculator, allowing ORN token holders to calculate the staking rewards and attain APY’s of up to 38%.

After launching the first phase of the Orion Terminal’s mainnet on Dec. 15, the team plans to add several features like derivatives, leveraged ETFs, contract trading, NFTs, lending, margin trading and staking of any digital asset by 2021.

As more products are launched, the revenue is likely to increase and that may benefit ORN token holders.

ORN has been in a strong bull run this year. It rallied from $4.3014 on Feb. 8 to an intraday high at $15.20 today, a 253% rally in just over two weeks. As a result, the RSI has surged to above 91 levels, indicating the possibility of a short-term fall or a range-bound trading action.

ORN/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The bears tried to stall the rally on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23, but the long tail and the positive closes of each day show that the bulls purchased the dips and resumed the rally.

However, today it looks as if traders booked profits and a retest of the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at $11.4379 is possible. 

If the ORN/USD pair rises from this support level, it will indicate strong demand at lower levels. That could result in a retest of $15.20 and a breakout of this resistance may propel the pair to $20.

On the other hand, a break below $10.2759 could pull the price down to the 20-day EMA ($8.21). Such a deep fall could delay the next leg of the up-move.

DODO/USD

The DeFi space has been attracting investor attention in the past few months. However, the growing popularity has clogged the Ethereum network gas fees have soared to unsustainable levels. Therefore, traders are searching for options that are on competing networks and charge fewer fees. Binance Smart Chain has been one of the major beneficiaries of this trend.

DODO is a decentralized exchange that uses the Proactive Market Maker (PMM) algorithm, which the team claims is better than automated market makers. DODO offers several features such as trading, aggregation, initial DEX offerings, and mining.

DODO introduced Crowdpooling in January, and this feature aims to provide equal opportunity to investors by addressing the biggest issues being faced by new projects. If successful, Crowdpooling will help prevent frontrunning, insufficient liquidity, and the high costs associated with attracting liquidity. The first phase of the DODO V2 Beta crowdfunding pool called ‘ShuttleOne’ was a huge success as it was oversubscribed by 173 times.

DODO token was listed on Binance on Feb. 19 following the DODO V2 Public Beta launch on the Ethereum Mainnet and Binance Smart Chain on Feb. 22. There are also several incentive programs available on BSC.

DODO price rallied from an intraday low at $2.788 to an intraday high at $10 on Feb. 19. The token had strong listing gains but since then, the price has been in a corrective phase.

DODO/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The bulls attempted to start a rebound off $3.50 on Feb. 23, but the bears continue to sell on minor rallies, indicating a negative sentiment. However, a minor positive is that the bulls have been defending the $4.50 level for some time.

If the price turns up from the current level and breaks above $5.660, the DODO/USD pair may rise to $7.50. This level is likely to act as a stiff resistance but if crossed, the pair could rally to $8.75 and then retest $10. The next leg of the uptrend may resume above this level.

Conversely, if the bears sink the price below $4.50, a drop to $3.50 is possible. The selling could intensify if the $3.50 to $2.788 support cracks.

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.

Focus on DeFi ‘fairness’ benefits Holochain, Orion Protocol and Dodo

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Celebrating Black Inventors for Black History Month

While Black history should always be recognized and shared every day, for Black History Month, we’d like to give thanks and highlight the many generations of African American inventors and their groundbreaking discoveries that changed the world. Thanks to their contributions, which paved the way for scientific discovery and tech innovations, we saw our daily lives improve throughout the years with everyday inventions.

Get inspired by checking out these Black inventors that helped shape our lives. We’ve been posting about these innovators on the Indiegogo Instagram all month long, and you can click through to see the original social media post for each one.

Born in 1867 as Sarah Breedlove, Madam C.J. Walker was America’s FIRST female self-made millionaire. In 1905, she invented Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower, which grew into a line of hair products and introduced a new system of hair care for African-American hair. She wasn’t just a pioneer in the cosmetics industry, she was also a successful entrepreneur. 

By 1913, Walker’s business was earning $3,000 a month (over $50,000 in today’s dollars). A lifelong philanthropist, she also focused her efforts in employing Black women in her community, giving them the opportunity to be financially independent. You can learn more about Madam C.J. Walker by watching Self Made, a Netflix series based on her life.

In 1973, she became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nuclear physics at MIT. She is also the second Black woman in the U.S. to earn a doctorate in physics. Her illustrious career as a theoretical physicist includes leadership positions in STEM across many industries — from academia to public service and government to research.

Most notably, her groundbreaking experiments led to the invention of caller ID, call waiting, touch-tone telephone, portable fax, the fiber-optic cable, solar cells, and many other innovations in telecommunications that we use today. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Dr. Jackson the National Medal of Science, the highest honor in the country for her contributions to STEM and the world.

In 1922, after witnessing a carriage accident at an intersection in the city of Cleveland where he lived, he came up with a new and improved traffic signal. He invented a traffic signal with a warning light that will alert drivers in needing to stop. This T-shaped design was patented and became the precursor of what we now know as our modern three-way traffic light system. So the next time you’re driving and arrive at a stoplight, think of Garrett Morgan!

He also went on to patent more inventions, including a hair straightening product, a sewing machine, and a respiratory breathing device or safety hood which would later become the prototype for gas masks in WWI, protecting soldiers from toxic gas. In fact, Morgan himself would personally demo his invention to fire departments, even leading a rescue mission that saved many lives during the 1916 Lake Erie tunnel explosion.

Dubbed the “Father of Modern Gaming, ” Lawson led the development of the Fairchild Channel F console in the 1970s, which was the first programmable ROM cartridge–based video game console and the first console to use a microprocessor.

But Lawson didn’t stop there. In 1980, he founded Videosoft, a video game development company that made software for the Atari 2600. Atari adopted his cartridge approach and became the top video game console on the market, NBD. He was also one of the only Black members of the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of early computer hobbyists that included Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Lawson received numerous awards and honors for his contributions as a video game industry pioneer.

Celebrate Black inventors every day

As we look back at these legacies, it’s up to all of us to do the work and share these stories and contributions with more people. 

Here at Indiegogo, we’re all about giving a platform for new ideas (especially in STEM) to take shape, grow, and thrive with the contributions of crowdfunding backers like you that help bring these innovations to reality. And if you’re an inventor or creator, we look forward to supporting your ideas this year!

Want to explore more Black creators? Show your love and support for Black entrepreneurs and creators in our crowdfunding community.

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