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TODAY:Prices: Bitcoin (BTC) $8,857 (+2.7%) | Ether (ETH) $214 (+3.8%)Tezos jumped 83% in April, the most among digital assets with a market value of at least $1 billion.News and analysis: Whales tighten their grip as crypto companies gear up for a new hiring spree post-halving.
MARKET MOVES
Bitcoin? Ether? Ripple? Meh. During a month where cryptocurrencies zoomed, the lesser-known Tezos beat them all. Tezos (XTZ), one of the largest and most prominent among a fast-growing roster of digital coins known as “staking tokens,” jumped 83% in April, the most among cryptocurrencies with a market value of at least $1 billion, based on data from Messari. That’s more than double the 37% gain for bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market value, which benefited from speculation that an inflation hedge will come in handy as the Federal Reserve and other central banks inject trillions of dollars of emergency liquidity into the global financial system. Ether (ETH) rose 62% alongside a surge in growth for U.S. dollar-linked stablecoins built atop the Ethereum blockchain, and as investor interest grew in the white-hot arena of decentralized finance. Ripple's XRP, a payments token, rose 30%. Source: CoinDesk Research. Staking tokens give holders the right to weigh in on a blockchain’s governance — similar to the way shareholders vote for a company’s board of directors — while also giving them the ability to earn a share of newly minted tokens, in the manner of a dividend or bond coupon. The strong performance of Tezos is “likely in part due to increased investor interest in staking-based returns,” said Joseph Todaro, managing partner at Blocktown Capital, an investment firm specializing in digital currencies.
Some cryptocurrency exchanges offer staking as a service to make it easier for investors to participate, and Tezos has benefited recently from new listings on the exchanges Bitfinex and Binance. It’s been on Coinbase, another exchange, since last year.
Ethereum, whose native token ether is the second-biggest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, plans to upgrade to a staking model in July. Some analysts say ether has generated additional enthusiasm among speculators due to the transition to staking. Source: CoinDesk Research. Tezos has doubled on a year-to-date basis, despite a bout of volatility along with bitcoin, ether and other tokens earlier this year. One caveat for traders is that Tezos has a market value of just $2.1 billion, less than 1/70th that of bitcoin. So Tezos has the potential for big losses alongside any fast gains, even when compared with the notoriously volatile bitcoin; in March, Tezos tumbled 41% as bitcoin slid 24%. “The price movement of any given crypto asset is partially dependent on current investing narratives,” said Todaro.
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TWEET OF THE DAY
BITCOIN WATCH
BTC: Price: $8,857 (BPI) | 24-Hr High: $8,958 | 24-Hr Low: $8,528 Trend: Bitcoin is on the rise, having bounced up from its key average support early Friday. The original cryptocurrency is trading near $8,850 at press time, representing over 2% gains. Prices defended an ascending 50-hour average support during Asian trading hours. The average has consistently restricted downside and reversed pullbacks in the recent rally that pushed bitcoin from $6,800 to $9,400. As a result, the immediate bias will remain bullish as long as prices are trading above the 50-hour average, which is currently at $8,751. If the latest bounce from the average support ends up clearing the immediate resistance at $8,913, bitcoin will likely revisit $9,200. While the hourly chart is reporting bullish conditions, the daily chart studies also show buyer exhaustion. It's possible there could be a break below the 50-hour average support, which would take bitcoin down to $8,500.
- Omkar Godbole, Markets Analyst
CoinDesk Live: Lockdown Edition continues its popular twice-weekly virtual chats via Zoom and Twitter, giving you a preview of what’s to come at Consensus: Distributed, our first fully virtual - and fully free - big-tent conference May 11-15. Register to join our sixth session Tuesday, May 5, with speaker Amy Davine Kim from the Chamber of Digital Commerce to discuss upcoming guidelines from the Financial Action Task Force, most notably the Travel Rule, hosted by Consensus organizer Aaron Stanley. Zoom participants can ask questions directly to our guests.
WHAT'S HOT?
Bitcoin Whale Addresses Hit Highest Number Since August 2019 (CoinDesk)The seven-day moving average of the number of addresses holding 10,000 bitcoin or more rose to 111 on Wednesday, the highest level since Aug. 2, 2019, according to blockchain intelligence firm Glassnode. That number has risen by more than 11% since early March. Crypto Exchanges Boost Hiring in Wake of Coronavirus Crash (Bloomberg)Many cryptocurrency exchanges such as Kraken, Binance and OKEx are revving up recruitment in anticipation of greater interest from investors thanks to the bitcoin halving in May. TZero Expects To Be A Registered Security Broker-Dealer In Q2 2020 (Forbes)tZERO's CEO, Saum Noursalehi plans to expand security tokens and mainstream trading, but faces regulatory retail broker-dealer hurdles in the U.S., an issue that Mr. Noursalehi hopes to solve by Q2, 2020, he says. CBDCs Come in Many Forms – Here’s a Quick Guide (CoinDesk)Intelligence Lead at R3 George Calle says "the most common retail use for digital currencies is speculative trading." However, he argues that the underlying technology is being adopted by the largest financial institutions in the world, providing efficiency boosts and opening up new business opportunities.
Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.
