Down with NFTs. Long live the NFTs
NFTs indicate the market is once again ready to restart
Bitcoin's more typical of a precious metal. Instead of the supply changing to keep the value the same, the supply is predetermined and the value changes
Satoshi Nakamoto
The financial crisis of 2008 not only brought an economic system to its knees with a legacy that we still carry with us, but it also highlighted the fragility of the banking sector. We don't know precisely if Satoshi Nakamoto's bold idea was accelerated by the events of that time, but certainly observing the dates of the messages posted in the Bitcointalk forum, where the incubation of the project that in the following months would be launched with the name of Bitcoin was already starting (as well as the historical date of the genesis block of January 3, 2009), we can conclude that the chronology of history was perhaps not accidental. What, instead, clearly emerged was the stance taken by politics, which, supported by public opinion, in that same period began to call for transparency in both the banking and financial sectors.
During this last week, some political figures, already present at the time, have risen to the headlines for mentioning cryptocurrencies during their speeches in government offices. The first was SEC Chairman Gary Gensler during the Aspen Security Forum's national security event. His call urged lawmakers to regulate the crypto world by calling it a wild west. In particular, his appeal called for speeding up the framing of "decentralized platforms, which undermine the operation of banks and cryptocurrency exchanges ." There are a few things in Gensler's lengthy and articulate appeal that take us back a few years, although unlike then, the fears have remained the same, the subject of the attack seems to have changed. If at the end of 2008, Gary Gensler, appointed President of the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) by Barak Obama amid the subprime mortgage storm, in his first inaugural speech defined the world of derivatives as a "wild west," today the same label is applied to cryptocurrencies. His skills and roles in inspiring consumer protection laws have, over time, elevated him to an authoritative figure in the political decisions to be made.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons that led Senator Elizabeth Warren to lash out at the entire crypto sector, calling it useless, similar to drugs, and dangerous not only for consumers but also for the environment and the country's financial stability. A resonance that in recent days had already occupied in a conversation the U.S. legislator Ted Budd, a member of the Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives, with Chris Cameron of MakerDAO. The two, discussing the impact of stablecoins and decentralized finance models on the new lending and payment process, had expressed their concerns that a lack of regulation could lead to an economic collapse described as a "financial 9/11" and a consequent crippling not only of the economy but also of national security. There is a common thread running through all of these interventions; in fact, they are all political figures who were at the forefront of the 2008 economic crisis. The same people who at the time pointed the finger at the banking system asking for more rules and transparency, today are doing it again by shifting their attention to the new alternative economic system that occupies the cryptocurrency sector as well as decentralized finance. But there is a contradiction in all this.
The process born with Bitcoin has not only immediately demonstrated concretely how the new digital system of payment and transfer of value can exist even without a centralized entity that controls and regulates the process, but that all this can take place in total transparency without the possibility of someone deciding a direct control on openness. It is curious and funny how those who were once in favor of a financial system that was free and light from banking gabels are now against a system that will solve this very problem. However, the regulation process has begun, and politics is taking notice of the simple fact that cryptocurrencies can no longer be ignored. Now there is a need to educate those who must legislate. The advent of new technology has always passed by overcoming its criticalities that have improved usability and adoption. And that will be the case this time around as well. It's just a matter of time.
Decentralized Finance
Two news positively shake up the decentralized finance sector. The first, not least, concerns the trading app Robinhood born in 2013, offering the possibility to buy and sell shares without paying transaction fees, which a few days after the IPO on Nasdaq and an initial valuation at $32 billion, it seems that it is now in talks with Uniswap DEX to integrate some services; the second one instead concerns the payments giant Paypal. The last-mentioned emerged during the publication of Paypal's second quarter accounts, which turned out to be profitable. From the company, it has been announced that decentralized finance is being explored in relation to its products. An endorsement that opens up new payment possibilities to the already crypto-friendly wallet announcing several initiatives in favor of integrating cryptocurrencies into its payments platform. Â
August began with a return of trading volumes increased by 17%, making the total counter value rise above $19 billion in the last seven days. That's a turnover equal to 30% of the total traded in the entire month of July.
Uniswap's leadership is also consolidated with a 66% market share among DEXs, with over $12 billion generated by over 143 thousand traders using the DEX in the last week.
At a distance, follow Sushiswap with $1.9 billion and 10% of dominance and
Curve with $1.5 billion traded equal to 8% of weekly traded volumes. Â
The Total Value Locked on DeFi protocols is back above $78 billion, the highest level since mid-May. Thanks to rising prices despite the number of total Ethereum locked dropped from 9.7 million to 9.4 million. In contrast, the total number of Bitcoins tokenized on ERC-20 is nearly 195 thousand BTC, the highest level ever.
Aave's multichain protocol confirms leadership by climbing to new records above $12 billion immobilized.
That is followed by Compound's lending platform with over $10 billion locked and
Curve Finance's DEX at $9.6 billion.
The overall positive momentum is enhanced, especially by the performance of tokens linked to the DeFi sector. Among the most popular projects, the rises of the Uniswap (UNI) and Terra (LUNA) tokens stand out, with a weekly performance of over 30%. Out of the ten most capitalized decentralized finance projects, only one red sign stands out: Amp (AMP), with its token losing 15% from last week's levels.Â
Non Fungible Token
After last spring's exploit that started with Christie's record auction with the sale of Beeple's Everydays for the record price of $69 million, many had already given up on the end of the Non-Fungible Tokens market. What is happening in these last weeks is making the declarations of these trombones come true. Trading volumes continue to grow this week, with the Axie Infinity project once again exceeding $208 million in only seven days. A result that added to the previous three weeks records an incredible volume exceeding $750 million in one month, the absolute record. Axie's game has seen a 230% increase in active users since last June, reaching 900,000. Many of these are getting rewards enough to supplement their monthly income.
Right behind the Animal Crossing project that takes inspiration from the famous and dated PokemonGo, CryptoPunks are once again living a period of rebirth, collecting $148 million in one week and placing 4 of the top 5 most expensive auctions, with the first one being the rare image of Zombie#2338 for 1500 ETH or $4,230,960. The previous sale was in November 2018 for 3.5 ETH, which, at the time, represented $526.37 to the counter value in fiat. As the third project, in order of weekly traded volumes, stands Bored Ape Yacht Club, raising over $51 million. The game of the 10,000 monkeys replicating the dynamics of an exclusive yacht club where among members you can participate in events, discuss and share opinions or create and collect works of art (digital) also created on a wall of graffiti called "The Bathroom" has been promoted by the prestigious auction house Christie's that announced to hold from September 17 to 29 the sale of rare NFT of the project BAYC. The release announced that the event would be "another milestone in cryptocurrency history." Along with the NFTs from BAYC, there will also be some rare ones from Meebits, another project created and launched by the Larvalabs team, the same as CryptoPunks. Meebits with 1,862 transactions traded $33 million in the last week, surpassed only by ArtBlocks' project with $41 million, at the first step off the podium. The volume of Stoner Cats, the digital kitten game linked to the Mila Kunis TV show, dropped by more than 50% on a weekly basis, raising more than $8 million in a few days. Another very popular project these days that of Zed.run has partnered with the famous car racing house Nascar intending to bring the experience of horse breeding and racing back into the metaverse environment.
Among non-fungible sports token projects, grow volumes for Paris Saint-Germain fan tokens up over 160% on a weekly basis, with $571 million. The sales are also reflected in the token that increases 30% in seven days outperforming all others. Merit to the purchase campaign exalting the French club that has made official the signing of the Argentine world star Lion Messi. The podium is completed by the Spanish club FC Barcelona with $131 million traded and a token gain of 3%; and the Italian club Juventus with $97 million volumes and the token up 4.5% from last Sunday's levels.Â
5 hottest DeFi news of the week
NFT CryptoPunks, record sales and colossal errors
Play-to-earn games are the catalyst for this bullish period in the markets
Ethereum Burns 36% of New Coin Issuance Over 2 Days
Infrastructure Bill Advances in Senate, Crypto Amendments Await Vote
SEC claims first enforcement action in $30M fraud case involving DeFi project
Technical Analysis
Bitcoin (BTC)
After the difficulties of the last three months, which after the collapse in May and the uncertain and lateral trend had led to fears of further price drops, the recovery that began from the price lows of last July 20 is starting to show its muscles. The previous week's ascent marks the third consecutive double-digit gain, an event that had not occurred since last February, and a return of quotations to the 45,000 USD area, a level abandoned during the descent in mid-May. The working hypotheses formulated in the previous updates in these pages have found confirmation in the facts, with prices that in these hours are close to the target of 45,500 USD (2) indicated as the first level for prices to be tested if purchases had supported the rise above 42,500 USD (1).
In the previous update, in fact, it was written: "On the upside: overcoming the recent weekly highs of 42,500 USD would open space to test 45,500-46,000 USD".
Area 45,500-46,000 USD (2) remains a decisive resistance level to be overcome with the support of volumes, being a technical level that coincides with 50% of the Fibonacci area, a technical indicator well known and followed by many traders. The confirmed overcoming with at least two consecutive daily closes above this technical area would signal a reversal of the trend in the medium to long term, useful to provide important clues for the continuation of the coming months.
BTC Levels to monitor for the week:
° To The Upside: the current monthly cycle that began on July 20 in the USD 29,300 area (3) is in its maximum bullish extension phase. Theoretically, in this phase, we start to evaluate the benefit taking and not new upward entries. That does not exclude the possibility of further stretches that above 46,000 USD (2) could provoke a further push towards the 50,000 USD (4) area that, besides being a psychological level, is also a watershed strike for operators in options. Such a movement must develop within the next ten days; otherwise, the monthly cycle, if correctly set, will enter its closing phase. For this reason, it is necessary to follow carefully any possible overcoming of the 46,000 USD (2) supported by the volumes that, although growing in these last days of the week, remain below the average daily volumes traded in the first four months of the year.
° To The Downside: the support of 36,000-37,000 USD (5) had rejected the weakness manifested in mid-week when prices suffered a descent from 42,500 USD reached a few hours earlier. The return of purchases in the support area brought the quotations back above the previous maximum of the week, confirming the importance of 36,000 USD that also, for the course of the week, remains a level to be taken as a reference in case of declines.
BTC Options
The strategies of professional traders in options continue to confirm the bullish sentiment. Also, the aggregate Open Interest of futures just under $15 billion goes back to the levels of mid-May, indicating how the derivatives operations support the price increase of these last days. The ratio between Put and Call options is clearly in favor of Put at 10:1. An index of how the operators prefer to cover the risk for eventual reductions leaving space for the prices to rise. The first hurdle to the upside is the 50,000 USD strike, where the highest number of open contracts is located with around 12,000 BTC total of which 90%, in Call options. From a short-to-medium term perspective, it is recommended to follow this resistance in case of a continuation of the upward trend. While for the downside, the support levels are confirmed: only below 37,500-36,000 USD would come into action the covering of open Put options. That is the area to monitor to start evaluating the profit-taking of the bullish positions still open.  Â
Ethereum (ETH)
For Ethereum, this is the best consecutive streak of daily rises ever. Of the 18 days that have passed since the low of July 20, the lowest point reached since the end of last March, only once, on Tuesday, August 3, the close of the day was negative (-3.7%), staining with a red candle the triumphant rise of the price that in little more than two weeks has recorded an increase in the price of over 80%. To find a recent better performance for Ethereum, although different in the rise dynamics but the same in time, we must go back to the end of April and the beginning of May. Several clues make us understand the strength of the climb: the comparison of performance since the beginning of the year with the price of Ethereum that gains over 330% in eight months, doing about seven times better than Bitcoin that 'stops' its gain at 30% since January 1. The current rise has made Ethereum recover the level of 3,100 USD (1), pushing the price above 3,050 USD (2), a level that corresponds to 50% of the Fibonacci retracement highlighting (unlike Bitcoin, which has not yet given this technical signal as reported above) that it has changed the medium-term trend from bearish to bullish.
In the coming days of the week, it will be necessary to confirm the break of 3,000 USD with at least 2-3 consecutive daily closings. For the moment, the confirmation comes from the volumes that twice in three days record a counter value of over $10 billion on the leading exchanges, exceeding the total volume of the counter value in Bitcoin exchanges.
ETH Levels to monitor for the week:
° To The Upside: the consolidation of the price above 3,000-3,100 USD also in the coming days of the week will open room for further pushes to revisit 3,700 USD in the coming weeks. With the triple minimum (June 22-26/July 20) that has tested more than once the 2.300 USD, the new quarterly cycle that should accompany us until next autumn has started. If this hypothesis is correct, technically, we are in the first push phase, which usually records the fastest rise.
° To The Downside: for the short term, it is helpful to monitor the 2,800 USD area. In the medium term, only a return in the area of 2,400 USD (-25% from current levels) would put at risk the bullish structure built in the last two weeks.
ETH Options
The substantial rise in prices since last week has swept away all bullish coverages. Option traders prefer not to set up trades continuing to keep the strike of 5,000 USD as the only operational reference. The chart shows 77.4 ETH placed with 98% of Call options left open. It signals a critical barrier to overcome in case of a continuation of the uptrend also in the following days or weeks. Also, the total Open Interest, an indicator that measures the contracts that remained open overnight, is at the highest levels since the beginning of June. All signals confirm the current positive momentum.  Â
Promising Altcoin Projects #002
Pool Togheter - Save, pool funds, & win prizes together
In the last DeFi Today post, we told you about Idle Finance, a DeFi project that our readers liked a lot and that sooner or later will explode and will indeed be added on some top-tier exchanges like CoinBase, Binance, and others. The same fate we are convinced will touch PoolTogheter (token $POOL).
It's a DeFi project founded in 2019 by Brendan Asselstine and Leighton Cusack based on an innovative startup that uses Ethereum smart contracts to offer a special lottery called the no-loss lottery. As you can guess from the name itself, the game is different from national lotteries or other sweepstakes since no one will ever lose the money used to buy the ticket needed to participate in the weekly lottery. That is possible because PoolTogheter has created special smart contracts that use all the money from the purchase of the tickets to generate interest through the Compound platform on a weekly basis, thus obtaining a prize to be given to a lucky winner without having to use the funds from the tickets sold previously. You will then be able to withdraw the money deposited in the protocol at any time, losing only the costs of the Ethereum gas fee. As long as our dollars are deposited on PoolTogheter, we will have the chance to win, while when we decide to withdraw, we will also lose access to the game.
Everyone is free to buy as many tickets as they want, thus increasing the chances of winning. This week's prize pool is about $ 95,000, but this figure is expected to increase in the years to come as this dApp is one of the most used in the world, and with the crypto adoption growing, PoolTogheter is also intended to grow by leaps and bounds. A few months ago, the $POOL token also arrived, and PoolTogheter's DAO was launched, through which the token holders will decide the future fate of the project.
Remember that all projects that use smart contracts are subject to high risk of hacks, exploits, and other bugs. But serious projects like PoolTogheter usually use audits of external companies to ensure the security of their code. If you want to read the report about the OpenZepellin audit, we suggest you follow this link.
On February 17, 2021, the POOL token was launched with a special airdrop that made happy those who were using the platform before that date. Many people ended up with thousands of dollars worth of POOL tokens as a gift for entering the PoolTogheter lottery a few times. This 'fair' launch was inspired by the UNI token given away by Uniswap to its users a few months earlier. POOL has a maximum supply of 10,000,000 tokens (which will be released over four years) and a current circulation of about 2.6 million units. The lowest price ever touched was $8.17 on launch day, while the highest price has been well over $50 ($53.98 on February 20, 2021). Today, the price has corrected 75% from ATH and is around $14, marking a fully diluted valuation of only $140 million and a market cap of less than $37 million. That makes us understand that the potential of the POOL token is endless. We expect the following two years to see prices at least ten times higher, so it is strongly recommended to invest in purchasing this token for a portfolio designed for the long term.
Just think that PoolTogheter is a project supported by significant names in the crypto landscape such as Consensys, Parafi Capital, Ideo, DTC Capital, The LAO, MetaCartel, Robot Ventures, and many others. It is also part of the Coinbase USDC Bootstrap Fund, the startup Coinbase uses to support the projects it believes in the most, and who knows what will happen when Coinbase decides to list the token pool...
It is well integrated into the DeFi world and actively collaborates with Dharma, ZapperFi, Zerion, IDLE, Yearn Finance, and other first-class names. A serious project for people who know how to recognize a winning investment.