PDD’s stock powered higher Wednesday, after the China-based e-commerce company and parent of fast-fashion platform Temu reported fourth-quarter earnings that rose well above expectations, citing signs of improving consumer spending.
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In the dynamic realm of cryptocurrencies, Avalanche (AVAX) is causing a stir, riding the waves of a recovery rally that commenced last month. As the broader spectrum of alternative coins experiences a resurgence, AVAX stands at the forefront, ready to extend its ascent, with whispers in the market hinting at a potential surge towards the coveted $50 mark.
Avalanche Booms: Durango Upgrade Ushers Growth
Presently, the AVAX price confidently stands above the 50% retracement level at $39.91, signaling a robust support level within the market range spanning from $28.00 to $49. Technical indicators add to the positive sentiment, with the Simple Moving Averages (SMA) gracefully trending upwards. This suggests that the path of least resistance favors continued price appreciation, creating an optimistic atmosphere among market observers.
This is a big opportunity for Avalanche builders and validators to learn all the ins and outs of Durango 🌀
Going live right here on X or on YouTube this Wed. at 12pm ET 👇
— Avalanche 🔺 (@avax) February 12, 2024
The buzz surrounding AVAX reaches a crescendo as the eagerly anticipated AVAX Durango upgrade gears up for implementation on the 13th of February. The community’s anticipation has been steadily building since the pre-release of the upgrade’s code on February 2.
This upgrade brings forth a suite of exciting features, including the Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM) functionality. The AWM is poised to revolutionize communication capabilities on-chain and across chains, promising a more interconnected and resilient network. This enhancement is set to facilitate seamless interoperability of protocols on the ever-evolving Avalanche platform.
AVAX currently trading at $41.31 on the daily chart: TradingView.com
Market analysts, fueled by the palpable excitement, predict that the mounting buying pressure could propel a substantial 20% surge, potentially propelling AVAX to $49.95, effectively filling the current market range.
In a more bullish scenario, the gains might extend to $54.92, marking levels not witnessed since the bloom of May 2022 and showcasing an impressive 35% climb from current valuation.
AVAX social dominance volume. Source: Santiment
AVAX: On-Chain Metrics Signal Sustained Growth
Examining the coin’s on-chain metrics, an additional layer of support for this positive outlook can be seen. Both social dominance and social volume metrics for AVAX have gracefully eased, painting a picture of serenity in the market. This tranquility often lays the foundation for sustained price growth, steering clear of premature topping out fueled by heightened volatility from mainstream attention.
As the imminent AVAX Durango upgrade takes center stage, traders and investors are on the edge of their seats, eagerly awaiting the potential surge that might unfold. With technical indicators, on-chain metrics, and market sentiment aligning favorably for AVAX, the cryptocurrency seems poised to continue its upward trajectory, potentially scaling new heights in the unfolding weeks.
Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView
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 experts during the Next Block Expo conference in Berlin unanimously agreed the crypto bear market is over but emphasized a cautious approach.
Bitcoin (BTC) price has continued to showcase its stability as an investment product in the past few days. After reaching a new yearly high of around $44.5k, Bitcoin price has been ranging in a bullish pennant pattern, which could yield a fresh rally toward $48k before the end of the year. The flagship cryptocurrency has attracted significant attention from institutional investors seeking to diversify their portfolios and balance sheet assets. Trading around $44k on Thursday during the early London session, Bitcoin bulls are in control in the short term, despite the increased risk of a correction toward $32k.
Bitcoin Bulls Take Solace in Upcoming Halving
The Next Block Expo conference in Berlin which concluded on Tuesday, December 5, brought together some of the top crypto experts. During an interview with Cointelegraph, Robby Yung, the Chief Executive Officer of Animoca Brands, Miko Matsumura the managing partner at gumi Cryptos Capital, Binance regional manager Jonas Jünger, and João Leite the Polkastarter business development lead unanimously agreed the upcoming Bitcoin halving has significantly rejuvenated the bullish sentiment.
According to Matsumura, the past three Bitcoin halving events, which have yielded the macro bull markets, have psychologically trained investors to incline on the next halving. Moreover, Jünger highlighted that the Bitcoin halving event has presented a phenomenon that was completely lacking in the fiat market, as most global central banks struggle with high inflation.
“Every four years, we swing the ram, and we smash. Four years is long enough that the people inside the castle think we’ve gone away,” Matsumura noted.
As a result, Yung noted that Bitcoin will continue to play the role of reserve for the web3 industry while alternative coins like Ethereum attract new players. Moreover, Bitcoin provides deep liquidity for all people without discrimination of traditional geopolitical norms.
After all these years, I finally met @mikojava IRL when we got a chance to do a panel today at @nextblockexpo in Berlin. TL;DR? We’re emerging from the bear market, and the honey badger is getting fat (ask Miko). pic.twitter.com/h0PslG3DK9
— Robby Yung ⦿⦿⦿ (@viewfromhk) December 5, 2023
Spot ETF Narrative
The crypto experts also unanimously agreed that the ongoing Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) narrative in the United States has significantly charged the bulls. Furthermore, Yung believes the potential approval will attract more than $12 billion in subsequent months. Moreover, all the funds trapped in non-performing traditional investment accounts like treasury bonds and retirement packages will gradually tap into the Bitcoin market via spot ETFs.
“All of a sudden, with this ETF vehicle, you will no longer have synthetic financial instruments that reflect the price of Bitcoin. You have an actual spot. It’s all secured. It’s all in custody,” Jünger said.
Meanwhile, the crypto experts cautioned investors to understand that another bear market will happen, hence it is prudent to prepare in advance. Ideally, Leite highlighted that the hype will cool down and only companies with long-term strategies will be rewarded.
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Market optimism surrounding the potential approval of a spot crypto ETF by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has resulted in inflows for eight consecutive weeks into Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs), according to CoinShares’ latest weekly report.
Per the report, these crypto investment products attracted inflows totaling $176 million last week, bringing the year-to-date flows to $1.32 billion.
Additionally, ETPs’ share of the total crypto volume has significantly increased, accounting for approximately 11%—surpassing the long-term historical average of 3.4% and the averages seen during the 2020/21 bull market.
Despite this milestone, the overall inflow for ETPs this year remains significantly lower than recorded during the bull markets of 2020 and 2021, when inflows to these products were $6.6 billion and $10.7 billion, respectively.
Bitcoin dominates
A breakdown of the inflows by asset class shows that Bitcoin continues to dominate the sector.
According to CoinShares, BTC investment products saw $155 million in inflows last week due to the prevailing positive sentiments surrounding the possibility of a spot ETF.
“We believe this continued positive sentiment is related to the imminent approval of a spot-based Bitcoin ETF in the US,” CoinShares said.
Meanwhile, the last eight consecutive weeks of inflow represent about 3.4% of the flagship digital asset total under management of $30.7 billion.
Conversely, Short Bitcoin experienced its second consecutive week of outflows, shedding $8.5 million. This reflects the growing optimism among investors about a potential increase in BTC’s value.
Data from CryptoSlate shows that the top cryptocurrency has grown by around 25% over the last 30 days and by more than 100% during the past year.
Other altcoins such as Solana, Ethereum, and Avalanche saw inflows of $13.6 million, $3.3 million, and $1.8 million, respectively. However, Uniswap and Polygon experienced minor outflows of $550,000 and $860,000, respectively.
Across regions, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland contributed the majority of the inflows, with $98 million, $63 million, and $35 million, respectively. Investors in the U.S. remain cautious as they removed $19 million worth of assets from futures-based products.
Sora Ventures has joined a consortium of investors in a $7 million funding round for Fhenix. This significant investment supports the development of the Fhenix Network, poised to be the first confidential blockchain platform leveraging fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Jason Fang, the Founder of Sora Ventures, expressed his enthusiasm for the project:
“We’re excited for the future of FHE adoption in web3, an area which we think is highly underrated.”
Fully homomorphic encryption is at the core of this innovation. FHE is a revolutionary encryption type enabling complex computations on encrypted data without decryption. This ensures unparalleled data security and privacy during processing, addressing a gap in existing public blockchain frameworks such as Ethereum.
Fhenix.io describes the integration of FHE as a transformative step in managing encrypted data on public blockchains. Guy Zyskind, Fhenix’s and Secret’s founder, emphasized the importance of this technology, saying:
“Fhenix gives users the confidence to put sensitive data on public blockchains while also giving developers the tools to compute and transform that data for the first time… fostering collaborations between complementary blockchains.”
Fhenix CEO, Guy Itzhaki, also highlighted the potential of FHE in enabling a wide range of blockchain applications, from trustless gaming to private voting in Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). The Fhenix Network, underpinned by the fhEVM protocol developed with Zama, simplifies FHE integration for Ethereum developers, allowing them to create encrypted smart contracts with existing tools like Solidity.
Rand Hindi, CEO of Zama, remarked on the potential for privacy maintenance on-chain through FHE, pointing to various novel applications beyond traditional privacy concerns. The collaboration with Fhenix is a step towards expanding the blockchain privacy landscape.
The upcoming launch of Fhenix’s public testnet, “Renaissance,” expected in early 2024, aims to provide a testing ground for developers to experiment and build applications using this innovative technology. The testnet is designed to attract blockchain innovators and promote the development of applications that capitalize on FHE’s privacy features.
The recent funding round, led by Sora Ventures and including other notable investors like Multicoin Capital, Collider Ventures, Node Capital, Bankless, HackVC, TaneLabs, Metaplanet, and Robot Ventures, underscores the increasing interest and investment in blockchain technologies focused on privacy and security.
Kraken said it is “always looking to identify and solve for new industry challenges and opportunities,” in a Nov. 7 email sent to CryptoSlate. The exchange made this statement in response to recent speculations about its potential development of a layer-2 network.
While the email neither confirmed nor denied the rumors, it underscored Kraken’s commitment to identifying and resolving industry challenges.
Kraken’s co-founder Jesse Powell also failed to provide additional information about the development. Powell posted a gif on social media platform X on Nov. 7, claiming that he “has no idea.”
Layer 2 networks are scaling solution that builds and improves upon Layer 1. These projects usually aim at providing scalability and speed to the ecosystem.
Over the past week, reports have indicated that Kraken may be following in the footsteps of Coinbase by exploring the establishment of its layer-2 network.
Some reports also suggested that the exchange might collaborate with crypto firms like Polygon or Matter Labs to develop the rumored layer-2 protocol.
The specifics of such a partnership, if it materializes, remain undisclosed at this stage.
Meanwhile, the rumored scaling network gained further traction due to a recent job posting on Kraken’s website. The job posting advertised a position for a Senior Cryptography Engineer responsible for designing and implementing layer-2 solutions.
The job listing expressed enthusiasm for delving into layer-2 technologies and collaborating with others on on-chain scaling solutions. The exchange also mentioned its ongoing exploration of integrating more protocols and decentralized applications into its platform.
Meanwhile, Kraken’s potential move follows a pattern in the crypto industry, where major players are increasingly exploring layer-2 solutions to alleviate the strain on the Ethereum mainnet.
Earlier in the year, Coinbase launched Base, an initiative aimed at supporting Coinbase’s on-chain products and fostering an open ecosystem for developers.