A report issued by TRM Labs indicated that Tether’s USDT, the largest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency industry, was the preferred stablecoin used for illicit transactions during 2023. TRM Labs alleges that 1.6% of USDT’s volume was linked to illicit activity last year, with $19.3 billion worth of USDT used in illegal transactional flows. TRM Labs […]
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Michael Patryn, co-founder of the now-defunct Quadrigacx cryptocurrency exchange, has been compelled by Canadian officers to explain the origin of his wealth. Patryn must explain how he acquired a stash of 45 gold bars, more than $180,000 in cash, and a jewelry set with a diamond-studded Rolex watch. Quadrigacx Cofounder Must Explain 45 Gold Bar […]
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Cardano (ADA), the proof-of-stake blockchain platform, has made notable progress in technological advancements, according to Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the engineering firm behind the Cardano blockchain.
IOHK’s recent announcement highlights crucial improvements across various aspects of the platform, signaling further growth and development for Cardano.
One significant area of improvement lies within the ledger team, which has reportedly enhanced test frameworks and data quality in the Newconstraints phase3. They achieved this by introducing constraints and new types such as Size, SizeSpec, and Sized.
The engineering company has also noted advancements in wallets and services. The Lace team is preparing to release Lace v.1.9, which promises new features and improvements for Cardano users.
In the realm of smart contracts, the Plutus team has included a guide in the documentation, elucidating how to use AsData functionality to optimize scripts. They have also implemented a UPLC optimization pass to minimize the number of forces and delays in the script.
Addressing scalability, the Hydra team has restored test compatibility with all networks and reviewed and merged streaming plugins. They have rectified tutorial instructions for downloading the latest Cardano-node and resolved the observed contesters bug.
The Mithril team has released Mithril distribution 2412.0, encompassing critical updates and enhancements. These include support for the Prometheus metrics endpoint in signer, deprecation of the snapshot command in the client CLI, full Pallas-based implementation of the chain observer, and compatibility with Cardano node v.8.9.0.
Moreover, the team has implemented community-requested features to verify the output folder structure created by the client. They continue to investigate and address any sources of “flakiness” in the CI end-to-end test.
According to DeFiLlama data, Cardano’s total value locked (TVL) currently stands at $422 million, signifying a slight dip of $80 million following the achievement of the $500 million milestone. Cardano boasts a significant figure of $23.3 million in terms of stablecoin market capitalization.
Analyzing Token Terminal data reveals several key market indicators for Cardano. The fully diluted market cap, representing the maximum potential market value of all tokens in circulation, is estimated at $29.20 billion, reflecting a notable 4.9% increase over the past 30 days.
Similarly, the circulating market cap, which considers only the tokens in active circulation, stands at $22.88 billion, with a 5.2% growth rate over the same period.
Regarding price action, crypto analyst “Trend Rider” recently shared insights on ADA’s latest price action in a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
According to the analyst, ADA’s price experienced a decline after reaching a yearly high of $0.811 on March 14. It is currently trading within the range of a parabolic red line and a rider band.
The parabolic red line represents a significant resistance level, while the rider band indicates a potential support region for ADA’s price. This range-bound movement suggests a period of consolidation for ADA, as the cryptocurrency takes a breather before its next significant move.
Furthermore, the analyst notes that the bullish strength of the trend has weakened over the past two weeks. This could indicate a temporary slowdown in ADA’s upward momentum, potentially leading to consolidation or sideways trading.
However, despite this weakening bullish strength, the analyst stated that the overall trend direction remains bullish, suggesting that ADA’s long-term prospects remain positive.
ADA is trading at $0.652, exhibiting a sideways price action in the last 24 hours. However, over the past seven days, the token has successfully recovered from previous losses and registered a gain of 5.4%.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
A cryptocurrency analyst has predicted a massive price surge for XRP, anticipating the cryptocurrency to witness a more than 600% increase. Despite its historically sluggish growth, XRP has begun to gather momentum, showing potential to experience major price growth during the 2024 bull run.
A crypto analyst identified as Egrag Crypto has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to predict an exponential price surge for XRP. According to Egrag Crypto XRP is “guaranteed” to experience a 600% to 1000% increase to new all-time highs around $5.5.
Basing his predictions on XRP’s historical data from 2017, the analyst shared a chart illustrating XRP’s price movements over the years. He delved into the cryptocurrency’s minimum and shortest price pumps observed when the 21 Exponential Moving Average (EMA) crosses the 55 Moving Average (MA).
The crypto expert disclosed that in 2017, the altcoin witnessed a significant price surge of approximately 902.85%, driving its price to $0.0646 at the time. Around 2021, the cryptocurrency recorded another pump, surging by about 585.29% to trade above the $1 price mark.
Following historical trends, XRP is anticipated to undergo a substantial surge of 585.20%, reaching a price level of about $3.26 in 2024. The analyst has revealed that if XRP manages to achieve a 900% or 585% price pump, it could potentially rise even further to $5.5 or $4, respectively.
On the flip side, Egrag Crypto has disclosed that if XRP fails to achieve an all-time high of $5 to $10 during the 2024 bull cycle, the cryptocurrency may not experience a bullish surge until the next bull run. Despite this, the analyst has remained confident in XRP’s potential to attain triple-digit gains and reach new all-time highs soon.
When asked by a crypto community member about the timeline for the price of XRP to potentially rise to $5.5, Egrag Crypto boldly affirmed that the window of uptick lies between April and July 2024. He urged the XRP army to brace themselves for this potentially bullish period, emphasizing a strong belief for XRP to surge to unprecedented heights.
Despite its recent price drops, the sentiment surrounding XRP has remained positive, with many crypto analysts predicting bullish price movements for the cryptocurrency. At the time of writing, XRP is trading around $0.61, reflecting a decline of 1.77% over the last 24 hours and 3.93% over the past week, according to CoinMarketCap.
While the cryptocurrency has successfully crossed resistance levels above $0.5, it is still a long way from surpassing its all-time high of $3.84 recorded in 2018.
Token price trending at $0.62 | Source: XRPUSDT on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Bitcoin News, chart from Tradingview.com
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
Crypto expert Rekt Capital has suggested that Shiba Inu (SHIB) could follow a similar trajectory to its move back in 2021. If so, this sets up the crypto token for a parabolic move that could see it hit its all-time high (ATH) and even surpass it.
Rekt Capital mentioned in an X (formerly Twitter) post that SHIB’s retest was successful and that history was repeating itself. According to him, SHIB needs to break above the $0.000033285 price range to begin its uptrend continuation. In a previous post, the crypto analyst raised the possibility of SHIB’s price action mirroring the one from 2021.
He noted how SHIB came close to that price range but couldn’t break this resistance level. This was the same thing in late 2021, as Shiba Inu didn’t break that resistance level on the first attempt. That forced the meme coin to retest the $0.000026041 price level as a new support before confirming further upside.
Source: X
This time, Shiba Inu also retested that $0.000026041 price level during its recent price dip, which was partly caused by a wave of profit-taking. The meme coin showed great resolve and somehow managed to hold above that level, and it has since made a good recovery.
Now, it needs to break above the $0.000033285 price range to confirm that history is repeating itself and that a price surge to the one in 2021 is on the horizon. 2021 was SHIB’s breakout year when it enjoyed a mouth-watering gain of 46,000,000% on its way to an ATH of $0.00008845 in October 2021.
Rekt Capital isn’t the only one optimistic about SHIB’s future trajectory. Crypto analyst and trader Xanrox recently predicted that SHIB could rise to $0.00008854 by July, representing a new ATH for the meme coin. Interestingly, that looks to be only the starting point for the meme coin, as other analysts have predicted that SHIB could shed another zero.
One of them is crypto investor and analyst Oscar Ramos, who expressed his bullish sentiment about the meme coin when he predicted it could rise to $0.0001. Technical analyst Javon Marks also echoed similar sentiments when he suggested that SHIB could rise to as high as $0.0001553.
Meanwhile, crypto analyst Ali Martinez once suggested that SHIB’s price gain in 2021 could be nothing compared to what lies ahead for the meme coin. Specifically, Martinez predicted that Shiba Inu could see a historic 122,000% price surge to $0.011.
At the time of writing, SHIB is trading around $0.00003116, up over 3% in the last 24 hours according to data from CoinMarketCap.
SHIB price at $0.00003 | Source: SHIBUSDT on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Coinpedia, chart from Tradingview.com
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
Bitcoin has experienced a remarkable first quarter in 2024, as reported by Coinglass, with the digital asset surging by an impressive 64% over the quarter and by 13% in March alone.
This surge marks the seventh consecutive month of gains for Bitcoin. The introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States has played a significant role, attracting over $12 billion in net inflows.
Furthermore, analysis of session data from Velo Data indicates that European trading hours have surpassed both the US and Asia in performance year-to-date. European sessions have seen a 34% increase compared to 30% for Asia and 14% for the US.
Notably, there was a significant spike on March 25, coinciding with the announcement by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) of the launch dates for Bitcoin and Ethereum Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs).
Looking ahead, a number of anticipated bullish events, such as the Bitcoin halving, the launches of LSE ETNs, and the potential introduction of Hong Kong ETFs, are expected to provide further impetus to Bitcoin’s momentum.
The post European trading hours lead global Bitcoin surge in 2024’s first quarter appeared first on CryptoSlate.
The AI bull market is here. Stocks are back at all-time highs, thanks largely to a new boom in artificial intelligence (AI).
The launch of ChatGPT has set off a race to be a leader in what top CEOs and major investors think will be the next transformative technology, generative AI. Nvidia, which sells the graphics processing unit (GPU) components that are the backbone of the advanced computing systems required for AI, has been the biggest winner so far. However, there are several other stocks primed to be winners as well. Let’s take a closer look at two of them.
Micron Technologies (NASDAQ: MU) is a leader in memory chips. Historically, its business has been highly cyclical, fluctuating from boom times to busts as the semiconductor industry tends to be sensitive to supply gluts and demand shifts. Just a year ago, the company was operating at a wide loss as coming out of the pandemic, the slowdown in demand for PCs and tablets crushed prices for memory chips.
However, Micron is now emerging as a beneficiary of the AI boom as memory chips play a key role in AI servers. As Micron management explained on a recent earnings call, AI server demand is driving growth in high-bandwidth memory, which tightened the supply for the DRAM and NAND chips that Micron specializes in.
Because of that trend, the company expects DRAM and NAND prices to increase through calendar 2024. It now expects record revenue and “much-improved profitability” in fiscal 2025.
CEO Sanjay Mehrotra also said, “We are in the very early innings of a multiyear growth phase driven by AI as this disruptive technology will transform every aspect of business and society.” Micron’s memory and storage components are valuable in both training and inference functions for AI algorithms, making Micron a likely winner in AI.
If the company can generate record revenue in fiscal 2025, it would top the $30.7 billion in revenue it made in fiscal 2022. At that level, Micron would trade at a price-to-sales ratio of around 4, which is an attractive valuation, compared to other AI stocks.
Micron also has the potential to be highly profitable as its operating margin reached 50% in 2019. If the company’s profitability surges, the stock could move a lot higher from here.
Another tech stock that seems well-positioned to ride the AI wave is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM). The company, better known as TSMC, is the world’s largest contract semiconductor foundry. It handles manufacturing for many of the world’s biggest chip designers, including Apple, Nvidia, Broadcom, and Advanced Micro Devices.
TSMC has more than a 50% market share of the third-party chip manufacturing industry, giving it tremendous market power in the semiconductor industry more broadly and in AI chips specifically. It handles approximately 90% of the third-party market of advanced chips, which AI models rely on.
Because of its virtual monopoly in third-party chip manufacturing, TSMC is more resilient than a company like Nvidia, which needs to maintain its competitive edge and pricing power for the stock to keep gaining. Chip manufacturing has high entry barriers, which makes it unlikely that TSMC’s leadership will be challenged in the coming years.
Like Micron, TSMC is also emerging from the earlier slump in the semiconductor industry, but its growth is picking up with the help of AI. Through the year’s first two months, revenue was up 9.4% and revenue growth accelerated to 11.3%. Investors took this as a sign of AI demand picking up as it was a significant improvement from flat revenue growth in the fourth quarter.
TSMC is also highly profitable, further proving its competitive advantages and pricing power. In the fourth quarter, it recorded an operating margin of 41.6%.
Finally, TSMC is affordably priced, trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28, and profits are expected to improve as AI provides a tailwind. The chip manufacturing giant was already a rock-solid business, but its economic moat seems poised to widen in the AI era.
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On Friday, March 29, 2024, the combined open interest in bitcoin futures reached a new all-time peak of $37.55 billion. This uptick occurs amid buoyant bitcoin markets and a growing attraction from institutional investors. Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Reaches Unprecedented $37.55 Billion Since the close of 2023, interest in bitcoin (BTC) derivatives has escalated, reaching […]
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Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger got a big bump in compensation in 2023, but it still amounted to just over half what Lisa Su made as CEO of rival Advanced Micro Devices.
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The outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF rocked the market hard last week, leading to a dramatic decline in the BTC price. However, with the new week, there has been a change in direction as investors begin to get bullish on Bitcoin once more. As a result, the outflows from the Grayscale ETF have slowed down, reaching one of its lowest points for the month.
Grayscale outflows ramped up last week, spearheading what would turn out to be a full week of outflows from Spot Bitcoin ETFs for the first time ever. The outflows rose rapidly over the week, even moving into the new week. However, inflows into Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been on the rise, which have overshadowed the outflows from GBTC.
Despite the outflows from the GBTC continuing, it has begun to spin into a more positive narrative as the number of BTC flowing out of the fund is declining fast. To put this in perspective, data shows there was 299.8 BTC moved out of the fund on Wednesday, March 27, and on Thursday, March, 20204, this figure dropped to 104.9 BTC, representing a 60% drop.
This marks the second day with the lowest outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF right behind the March 12 outflows of 79 BTC. It also points to a decline in the volume of outflows as investors start to level out and find their footing elsewhere.
Nevertheless, the GBTC has remained the loser of the Spot Bitcoin ETF race, nursing a full month of outflows so far. Since the ETFs were first approved in January until now, there has been more than $14.6 billion moved out of the fund, which accounts for around 50% of its total balance. These BTC have presumably found a home in other Spot ETF funds which have been seeing massive inflows.
Unlike last week, inflows have also dominated Spot Bitcoin ETFs this week. Total inflows for the week crossed above $800 million, bringing the total Assets Under Management (AuM) to almost $57 billion in less than three months.
The last time that GBTC outflows saw a slowdown after rising for about a week, it triggered a response from the Bitcoin price in the form of a rally. Inflows also continued to dominate for the next couple of weeks and during this time, the BTC price enjoyed a long stretch of recovery. It went from $40,000 to over $70,000 in the space of two months.
If this trend repeats itself this time around, then another massive BTC price rally could be around the corner. A similar price increase would also put Bitcoin right above $100,000 in the next few months. In this case, the uptrend would be far from over.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is still struggling to break $70,000 after a 1% drop in the last day.
BTC price jumps above $70,000 | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Which.co.uk, chart from Tradingview.com
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
