Transactions on the Ethereum network are reaching astronomical levels as the crypto market took a hard dip this Tuesday. The gas fees have become so high, that the average transaction can cost you nearly $50.
Ethereum has become the second most-used crypto and network preferred by Australians. But now it seems like Aussies will have to migrate to other networks —and the entire crypto community is now seeking alternatives, like BSC —Binance Smart Chain— as not everyone can afford those fees in every small/medium-size transaction they make.
If this seems high, DeFi users are complaining about the extreme gas fees taking place right now, where a single transaction could cost you even up to $14,000, and, not surprisingly, everyone is afraid of getting liquidated.
The crypto community is outraging this week not only because the crypto-market experienced a considerable dip —over 5-10% dip— but how high the gas fees are becoming.
In the DeFi space, over $100M in positions were liquidated, following Bitcoin’s -10% dip.
Now analysts and influencers are suggesting ETH 2.0 should come out “anytime soon” before the Ethereum ecosystem becomes unpractical. Lark Davis, a popular influencer from The Crypto Lark, stated that Ethereum could lose a great number of users if these gas fees issues are not solved anytime soon.
Some fees can reach price levels of $150 – $250 with medium-size transactions of $1000 – $2000. This is an outstanding increase considering three months ago, transactions only cost $5 – $7.
I love #ethereum, I think it is truly revolutionary technology, and that ETH 2.0 will be a game changer for the entire crypto space. But paying $50 for a trade on Uniswap is not ok. While this situation remains true non-rich users will use other chains and hopefully L2 like Matic
Nvidia has announced that they will be reducing the efficiency of Ethereum mining on its RTX 3060 series by 50%, in an effort to ease the shortage of graphics cards caused by crypto miners.
For over 2 years, graphics cards – usually snapped up by avid gamers – have seen numerous shortages, causing their prices to skyrocket on secondary markets. Between scalpers and miners, the market is tense – a move that has caused Nvidia to step in, hoping to restore high-end GPUs to their intended purpose.
However, in order to not leave crypto miners orders unfulfilled, Nvidia is also launching a GPU dedicated specifically for miners – the CMP .
Focused Due To Highest Yield Potential
To explain why they have specifically lowered the hash rate on the 3060 series, Nvidia stated that Ethereum has the highest global mining yield of any other cryptocurrency at the moment.
“It has the highest global mining yield for any GPU-mineable coin at the moment and thus is likely the main demand driver for GPUs in mining.”
By making Ethereum mining less efficient, Nvidia hopes it can deter miners from focusing on gaming GPUs and drive them towards their new dedicated CMP cards.
According to Nvidia, the CMP will remove focus from the graphics a high-end gaming card would be able to render and turn that power towards more energy-efficient mining processes.
However, critics have met this claim with a measure of skepticism – stating that more efficient mining hardware will do nothing to stop the card arms race – since miners with these cards will simply be competing against other miners with the same cards now, not against miners with regular graphics cards.
It’s worth noting that the current shortages have not only made the prices of GPUs skyrocket, but that of mining rigs as well, with some companies having their inventory sold out for the foreseeable future.
The daily trading volume of Ethereum has reached over $75 million —almost doubling its previous amount, $40 million. The increase comes just a week after Ethereum Futures were launched on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
According to data from Glassnode, the open interest for Ethereum has increased at least $62 million as well. The institutional demand for Ethereum is also increasing, as corporations are exploring the world’s second-highest market cap crypto.
Institutional demand: One week after #Ethereum futures launched on CME, daily trading volume reached a total of $75.8M yesterday – almost doubling Friday's volume of $40M.
Meanwhile, open interest has increased to $62 million.
Likewise, the number of addresses in the Ethereum blockchain is more active than ever, with over 450K wallets with funds of almost $2,000 in ETH interacting with the network.
The increase in activity and trading volume was also driven following Coinbase’s announcement, allowing users to earn rewards by staking ETH 2.0.
Accordingly, the waitlist is live now, and customers will earn at least 7.2 in yields, by simply holding ETH.
This month, Ethereum broke the 200 billion market cap —currently, 208,567,363,632— as it soared over 150% at the beginning of 2021. This reflects the number of whales moving millions of dollars in Ethereum and XRP, as Bitcoin reached $50,000.
An Australian-based App called Bamboo is providing effortless investment into crypto, simply by rounding up your card transactions into micro payments which get invested into crypto assets Bitcoin and Ethereum.
With headquarters in Perth WA, the Bamboo team have been working hard on an investment tool which can allow everyday Aussies exposure to the crypto market with minimal effort and minimal technical knowledge.
Example of micro payment roundups of recent bank account transactions
Bamboo Features
The Bamboo app has some cool features which include:
Simple setup – Connect your bank and let your everyday purchases turn into long-term investments. Get started in under 90 seconds!
Put your spare change to work – Coffee for $3.50? Round it up to $4 and invest into digital assets!
Instant top-ups – Add an instant top up to your portfolio (minimum A$50)
Scheduled contributions – Set up a daily, weekly or monthly contribution.
Pick a portfolio – Set your custom portfolio composition.
Set your portfolio composition
Good to see the app being used as Bamboo users publish their stories on Twitter.
We’ve taken a look at the Security Process of Bamboo and they use third party intermediary called Basiq (part-owned by NAB) to connect your bank account to their app. They need this to read transactions and calculate the round-ups, and ofcourse take the direct debit payments from your bank account to invest with the App.
What Banks Are Supported?
Most of the major Australia and New Zealand banks are supported including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Macquarie Bank Limited, National Australia Bank Limited.
What are the Fees?
We’ve also taken a look at the fees. “A deposit/withdraw flat fee applies when the amount is: less than or equal to $100, the fee is $1.49. more than $100 but less than or equal to $250, the fee is $2.49. more than $250 but less than or equal to $500, the fee is $3.99 more than $500, the fee is 0.8%.All fees are inclusive of GST.”
The second-largest digital currency by market capitalization, Ether (ETH), reached a new all-time high in market price today. For the record, this is the second time the cryptocurrency is topping its previous ATHs. Many people in the Ethereum space are going bullish amid the development, expecting to see a US$2,000 priced ETH sooner this year.
Meanwhile, the increased price of the cryptocurrency has also contributed to the massive growth in the value of assets locked in decentralized protocols, including the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract.
Ether Made new ATH at Over US$1,600
According to Coinmarketcap, the second-largest soared to a new price high of US$1,689 on February 4, surpassing the previous ATH at over US$1,400. At press time, however, the cryptocurrency was trading a little below the new ATH, precisely at US$1,622. On a seven-day count, the crypto is up by more than 23 percent. At the current price, ETH has a market capitalization of US$187 billion, from a circulating supply of 114.5 million ETH.
DeFi Markets Exceeds US$30 Billion
Following the spike in ETH price, there is also notable growth in the total value of assets locked in the decentralized finance protocols. Per DeFi Pulse, the industry’s analytics platform, there are currently about $32.48 billion in assets locked in DeFi. Interestingly, the number of Ether locked in DeFi increased by more than 780,000 from January 11 to date. The lending protocol Maker dominates the market by 17.99 percent.
The Ethereum community is still showing a strong level of confidence in the Ethereum 2.0 network. Data from Eth2 Launchpad showed that 2,937,378 ETH has been staked on the deposit contract. In today’s price, these staked coins will be worth over US$4.7 billion.
For the first time in 2021, the company behind the largest US-dollar backed stablecoin, Tether Inc., has swapped a significant amount of USDT supply from Tron blockchain (as TRC-20 token) to Ethereum (as ERC-20 token). This move from Tether is no longer a new thing in the cryptocurrency space, as they did a similar swap last year. The development usually happens when there’s a huge demand for the stablecoin on Ethereum.
Tether moves Tron USDT to Ethereum
Following the announcement on Twitter by Paolo Ardoino, the chief technology officer at Tether Inc., two billion USDT (~US$2 billion) was converted from the Tron blockchain to Ethereum. The swap was completed in five different transactions as Ardoino noted, which was also confirmed by Whale Alert, a dedicated crypto transaction tracker. Noteworthily, the process of swapping to Ethereum ensures that the total circulating supply of USDT doesn’t increase or reduce.
Today, in about 4h, an exchange will convert 2B #tether TRC20 to ERC20. You'll see multiple ERC20 authorisations, followed by TRC20 <=> ERC20 swaps and a final TRC20 burn. As result of this operation the number of issued Tethers in circulation won't change.@Tether_to$USDt
However, Ethereum USDT supply will increase in this case by exactly two billion USDT, while Tron’s supply will decrease by two billion USDT. The development today is coming about five days after Justin Sun, the CEO of Tron, celebrated a total supply of 10 billion USDT issued by Tether on their blockchain network.
According to Tronscan, the network explorer for Tron blockchain, there are currently 8.6 billion USDT issued on Tron, all of which are currently in circulation, and held in about 1,815,892 addresses. Also, a further glance at Etherscan confirmed a total supply of 17.9 billion USDTs on Ethereum. These USDTs on Ethereum are held in over 2.4 million addresses.
Over the years, Ethereum has since remained the biggest network for USDT, followed by Tron and other blockchain networks.
For today’s trading news, we’re looking at three Altcoins that might breakout this week by showing bullish trends in the charts.
1. Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain system that features its own cryptocurrency, Ether. ETH works as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies, as well as for the execution of decentralized smart contracts.
Ethereum was first described in a 2013 whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin. Buterin, along with other co-founders, secured funding for the project in an online public crowd sale in the summer of 2014 and officially launched the blockchain on July 30, 2015.
ETH Price Analysis
At the time of writing, ETH is ranked 2nd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $1,812 AUD. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis.
ETH’s bullrun met resistance near the beginning of January, with a brief spike above its all-time high being forced back down into support on January 25th.
The current support between $1,492 AUD and $1,407 AUD could form a higher low before a surge above the all-time high, offering aggressive bulls an entry in the current region.
However, a deeper retracement across the crypto market could drop the price to support near $1,330 AUD, possibly creating a wick to fill the gap between $1,090 AUD and $987 AUD and giving longer-term bulls an excellent entry.
If the price breaks resistance between $1,848 AUD and $1,939 AUD, it’s likely to take out the high at $1,975 AUD. The extension near $1,985 AUD provides a reasonable first target, with the extensions at $1,894 AUD, $2,202 AUD, and $2,417 AUD providing reasonable take profit zones.
2. iExec Rlc (RLC)
iExec RLC claims to have developed the first decentralized marketplace for cloud computing resources. Blockchain technology is used to organize a market network where users can monetize their computing power, applications, and datasets. By providing on-demand access to cloud computing resources, iExec is reportedly able to support compute-intensive applications in fields such as AI, big data, healthcare, rendering, or FinTech.
RLC Price Analysis
At the time of writing, RLC is ranked 142nd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $1.66 AUD. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis.
RLC printed nearly +164% gains by January 25th. After this move, the price has been consolidating for the last week around a monthly level near $1.55 AUD.
Overlapping support zones should provide bullish strength, with the current region beginning at $1.38 AUD providing a reasonable entry accompanied by a wide stop. Relatively equal daily lows near $1.15 AUD could prompt a stop run that provides a better entry, maybe as low as the next overlapping support area near $0.95 AUD.
January’s high near $1.82 AUD provides the highest probability target, with the next swing high inside resistance at $1.73 AUD giving another target and potential short-term reversal area.
A strong move through this level into resistance beginning at $1.97 AUD is likely to target the monthly high at $2.29 AUD, potentially reaching the next monthly high near $2.95 AUD.
3. TomoChain (TOMO)
TomoChain is a scalable blockchain-powered via Proof-of-Stake Voting consensus which is used commercially by companies globally. Its mission is to accelerate the onboarding of millions of users by empowering today’s applications with technology that masks the friction of Blockchain, all while retaining its underlying benefits. TomoChain’s technology and DeFi-focused flagship products include: Fast & Near-Zero Fees: 2000 TPS, 2-second blocktime, ~$0 gas fees, and EVM compatible. An array of original features and protocols is designed to support speed, privacy, usability, and liquidity needs all in one platform.
TOMO Price Analysis
At the time of writing, TOMO is ranked 135th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $1.78 AUD. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis.
January brought a +125% pump at TOMO’s price, almost filling in the bowl-shaped structure between the current price and August’s high.
Bulls can look for entries to form in the current region to ride a parabolic run beyond August’s highs. The previous swing high near $1.52 AUD provided support, although a deeper market-wide retracement could drop the price into the weekly gap between $1.25 AUD and $1.34 AUD.
This region has confluence with a structure from mid-October, making it a highly probable support zone. If January’s move retraces, a similar scenario could appear at the daily gap beginning at $0.92 AUD and support structure near $0.99 AUD.
The resistance beginning at $1.98 AUD contains two swing highs at $2.10 AUD and $2.18 AUD, which provide the first probable targets. Beyond this level, the extension at $2.26 AUD provides a reasonable target for this leg of the move. The extensions at $2.45 AUD and $2.60 AUD also provide rational take-profit levels.
Where to Buy or Trade Altcoins?
These 3 Altcoins have the highest liquidity on Binance Exchange so that would help for trading on USDT or BTC pairs. However, if you’re just looking at buying some quick and hodling then Swyftx Exchange is a popular choice in Australia.
It’s been no secret for a while now that Ripple have gotten themselves into hot water ahead of their court date with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
With a preliminary court date set in a little over 3 weeks – the 22nd of February to be precise – times have not been good for Ripple Labs, with multiple exchanges delisting XRP, MoneyGram issuing statements that seem to have been issued with the intention of distancing themselves from the fallout, and the price of XRP plummeting as a result.
FOIA Request For Ethereum
In RippleLabs official response to the SEC, they have reiterated the fact that XRP is not a security and thus is not within the SEC’s jurisdiction.
The team also appear to have begun pointing fingers at other high-profile cryptocurrencies, inquiring what sets them apart from Ripple.
“The SEC has clearly picked two winners and ignored a growing and robust industry that is much larger than Bitcoin and Ether. In addition to discovery we will seek directly in the lawsuit, we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for more information about how the SEC determined the status of Ether as a non-security.”
Ripple have since sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the SEC, asking for all information regarding Ethereum’s status. The SEC has stated in the past that Ethereum is sufficiently decentralized – which prevents it from being a security, and classifies it as a commodity instead. This places Ethereum under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The FOIA request also seems to use the constant fear of US institutions regarding Chinese control of digital and other assets, hinting that China-based Bitcoin and Ethereum mining pools could mean that Ethereum is as controlled by one party as XRP is by Ripple.
The massive social media and news forum Reddit has announced a partnership with the Ethereum Foundation for the creation of scalable blockchain-based applications. The collaboration represents Reddit’s first-ever blockchain partnership and further solidifies its growing commitment to the technology.
According to the announcement posted by Reddit admin u/jarins on the r/Cryptocurrency subreddit, blockchain technology will allow Reddit to provide decentralized applications to its users, helping them to “create, govern, and grow their own communities.”
“Through this partnership, we will be increasing our commitment to blockchain, accelerating scaling and resources for the Ethereum ecosystem, and bringing the value and independence of blockchain technology to millions of Redditors,” states the post.
Reddit initially collaborated with the Ethereum Foundation in June last year when it hosted an Ethereum “Scaling Bake-Off“. The event invited Ethereum-based scaling projects to put forward proposals for how they could help the r/Cryptocurrency community ‘scale’. The scaling in question involves bringing Reddit’s Community Points onto a blockchain-based network, with the eventual goal of scaling to fit all of Reddit’s 430 million monthly users. Unlike traditional, centralized computer networks, the decentralized nature of blockchain makes scaling a particularly troublesome task.
The new partnership will help to further this goal and bring a wealth of new features to the platform. Further to the new partnership, Reddit is already hiring backend engineers and blockchain developers to help build the network and its applications.
Reddit’s Ethereum-based Moon Tokens
Reddit has long been a vocal support of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, with its popular r/Cryptocurrency subreddit recently introducing ‘Moon’ token rewards on the platform. Moon (RCP) tokens are built on the Ethereum blockchain and are now the official cryptocurrency of the r/Cryptocurrency subreddit. Users are rewarded with tradeable Moon tokens when they receive ‘Karma’ for posting unique and insightful content on the subreddit.
Ethereum Price Action
The good news has helped to push the price of Ethereum (ETH) tokens up by a considerable amount in the past 24 hours, although the cryptocurrency remains slightly down over the past 7 days. It’s been a tough few weeks for cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin (BTC) suffered a rejection at $42,000 earlier this month. Along with most other coins, Bitcoin has been steadily dropping since, hitting a low of $29,300 last week.
Some altcoins have managed to weather the storm though, particularly in the Defi market. Defi Oracles network Chainlink (LINK) is up 10% in the past week, with Defi protocols Uniswap (UNI) and AAVE up by 60% and 48% respectively.
January 19 will forever be remembered by Ethereum bulls as the day Ether (ETH) surpassed its previous all-time high in 2018. The second-largest cryptocurrency has been on the rise since December last year, raising hopes that the cryptocurrency is going to make a new high soon. This remained a prediction until today, where Ether reached a new high at over US$1,437 across different digital currency exchanges.
#Ethereum hits new all time high on January 19th. $ETH crushed previous records on many exchanges. Ethereum’s previous peak was in mid-January 2018, around three years ago. pic.twitter.com/iYNIsvBNot
The new high brought the crypto’s market capitalization to over US$160 billion. Amid the crypto surge, there’s also a rush in the Ether futures market, as open interest has risen to a new record level as well.
Ether Futures Sets new ATH
There is currently about US$4.61 billion open interest in Ether, according to the market data from ByBt. Over the past 24 hours, the open interest surged by 34 percent. The leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, dominates the ETH futures market with a total valuation of US$1.13 billion open interest. Huobi follows Binance exchange with US$694.55 million open interest in Ethereum.
Other derivative exchanges with a sizable amount of open interest include OKEx (US$691.4 million), Bybit (US$663.78 million), and FTX exchange (US$631.27 million). Bitfinex, BitMEX, Deribit, Kraken, and Gate have a combined valuation of US$794.9 million open interest in Ether futures.
Demand for ETH is Rising
There is a steadily growing demand for the second-largest digital currency, which is probably one of the factors contributing to the price increase. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) activities are gradually peaking up, causing more coins to leave the centralized exchanges (CEXs). Just before ETH’s new ATH, Messari researcher Ryan Watkins reported that the daily transaction volume on Ethereum had increased significantly, to the extent it surpasses Bitcoin transaction volume.
Ethereum's daily transaction volume is going parabolic.
It now settles $12 billion in transactions daily – $3 billion more than Bitcoin.
