Amid the current bearish sentiment around the cryptocurrency market, the popular Ethereum-based meme coin Shiba Inu has taken a positive step by partnering with internet domain company D3 Global.

Significance Of Shiba Inu’s Partnership With D3 Global

The team revealed its partnership with the internet domain name company in its latest version of the SHIB magazine. The latest magazine is now the seventh version that has been released since it was introduced.

D3 Global is a domain company that focuses on bridging the gaps between the web2 and web3 ecosystem which is overseen by Fred Hsu and Shayan Rostam.

Rostam asserted that partnering with Shiba Inu will allow the introduction of unique, memorable, and affordable domain names to users. Additionally, it will make use of Web3 utility on the internet’s base layer to streamline their digital identities.

The latest partnership is a part of Shiba Inu’s broader endeavor toward a decentralized identification project. Shiba Inu is seeking to establish a decentralized internet top-level domain (TLD) name for its users.

The collaboration aims to safeguard the “.shib” TLD name. A TLD is the last element of a web address that appears after the dot such as  “.com,” “.org,” or “.net.”

The TLD will enable SHIB users to register their .shib names which may be resolved through the global Domain Name System (DNS). It will also allow its users to have a digital identity compatible with Web2 and Web3 applications.

The “.shib” domain seeks to offer seamless compatibility with both the traditional Web3 technologies and the modern internet’s Domain Name System (DNS). This is unlike the current web3 names which are incompatible natively with essential internet technologies like email and web browsers.

With this initiative, SHIB users may have more functionality and be able to utilize their domain with regular web browsers. Additionally, it could also improve their blockchain transactions and digital identity.

Process Of Acquiring A New TLD

Being a major player in the internet domain industry, D3 is an expert in the administration and use of top-level domains. Their specialty is maneuvering through the difficult procedure of obtaining and configuring new TLDs.

The procedure of getting a TLD is not that simple or quick. It needs to be approved by ICANN, which is the result of a difficult and extensive application procedure. 

Related Reading: Shiba Inu Faces Make Or A Point As Analyst Identifies Critical Trading Pattern

In addition, the community must be involved and supportive of the initiative. This is because ICANN takes the public interest and possible effects of a new TLD into account.

Despite the notable partnership, the SHIB token is still down by over 2% in the past 24 hours, trading at $0.000010. Its market capitalization is down by over 2%, while its trading volume is down by over 30%, according to CoinMarketCap.

So far, the lead developer of Shiba Inu, Shytoshi Kusama has expressed the team’s pleasure in the collaboration. “We are extremely proud to once again trailblaze decentralization in world history,” Kusama stated.

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Today we’re taking a look at an important first. It is the start of the VESA Podcast, and as the first guest, we meet David Orban, who was generous with his time to record this conversation. A previous iteration of a podcast was already started in 2017, with some notable guests like Charlie Lee, but now the time was right for a rebrand and a jump up to speed on connecting with people in the scene.

It was also a blessing in disguise that the zoom recording of this podcast was recorded on zoom, and VESA erroneously remembered that the recording quality is HD, which it wasn’t. Luckily the upscaling of the 360p video with AI came to make it a crisp 4K, even if the titles of the books are washed out.

New Podcast

David is an investor, entrepreneur, author, keynote speaker, and thought leader of the global technology landscape. His entrepreneurial accomplishments span several companies founded and grown over more than twenty years. VESA and David first met in Dubai during VESA’s exhibition at the Dubai Mall. Their initial conversation spanned over many in depth topics, touching on the ever changing technology space, entrepreneurship, AI and ethics, and what the future holds for the scene itself. This is an interpretative summary of David’s appearance on the VESA Podcast recently and what that conversation looked like.
To listen to the entire episode on the VESA Podcast on You Tube, click here:
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Youtube

David joins the podcast from his home in Northern Italy, where he feels comfortable surrounded by his impressive library of books and high quality Italian food.
As a starting point, VESA dove into David’s view on his inner science, as he knew based on their previous conversation that David had completed a Vipassana, or a silent retreat. Complete silence with no technology, or any kind of entertainment or study material might seem counterintuitive for a technologist, but David credited the retreat as hugely impactful and positive.

–       It is actually not easy, David says.

He describes the amount of discipline it requires to completely withdraw to a world without electronics, books, newspapers or even eye contact with other people. The discipline was self-administered, understanding the benefits of the practice.
He adds that the recommendation is to meditate one to two hours a day after completing the retreat, but that he hasn’t applied this yet to his daily routine.
The conversation then turns to the opposite end of the spectrum, a world of total electronic or machine integration. How far down the pike are we? Will we even realize, when the chip is installed, or has it indeed already been installed years ago due to our association with technology?

David offers that everything we experience can be dissected on the objective-subjective axis, and further by taking into consideration time and place. What is a subjective experience with little to no relevance to others, versus timeless truths will depend greatly on how the information is curated and presented. Technology as we know it is deeply entwined with the time and place aspect. Technology socializes us and points us in the direction of necessary skills and behaviours. This influence has to be modulated, he states.

MMA of Religion

VESA then wants to present an idea to David that he has been developing in his mind for a little while. The concept pertains to the evolution of religion and what the next step could look like in what could arguably be called a post-Christian world. He suggests that there could emerge an amalgam of religions that takes traditions from different faiths, an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) of religion, as he calls it.
–       I recommend people be immodest, but humble, David starts as he describes a person capable of connecting the dots across different fields and from various sources of authority.

–       Many are uncomfortable in accepting revealed religions as the answer to essential questions, but as I saw after the collapse of the Berlin wall, people have a need for religious experiences and I respect that, so I feel an evolution to bridge that gap might very well be underway.

 

In many ways you have to regress 200 years in order to resonate with the current church paradigm of wooden long benches and hymns.

VESA notes that a similar ‘religious’ belief surfacing from different fields is the idea that we live in a simulation. This, he says, brings about an attitude which paired with rapidly evolving AI might lead to a pathologically Godless society, lacking spiritual nourishment and transcendence.
The perplexing phenomenon of our time is that at the same time we have the most advanced non-biological technology and the demand to return to being the centre of the universe, so to speak.

Do we live in a simulation?

Inspired by his revelations with his new AI Series Juxtaposers, VESA presents an idea that in the current cultural context of left vs right, what seems to be missing is differentiation between establishment and anti-establishment, and how some times these labels can flip on their heads simply because of provoking thought, as in the case of Russel Brandt, who is now seen as a right-wing person simply because he has vocalized anti-establishment views. This axiom is at the heart of the Juxtaposers- series, which includes polarizing figures like Andrew Tate, Ben Shapiro, AOC and more.

–       If you think about it, the Amish are more anti-establishment than most, it’s just a low dopamine ride, he explains as to why he wanted to draw parallels between Andrew Tate as an Amish apple picker.

As a segway to another cultural context, VESA tells that he had mixed feelings about a video he viewed with Sam Altman and Android Jones discussing AI. To him, Android’s very name and his fervent opposition to AI was in stark contrast.
–       In times gone past, we used to organize ourselves in guilds as a way to control who has the right to express certain trades. Now, perhaps for the first time, we have the opportunity to open the arts for everyone, David says.

–       The current situation is a dam about to burst. The label ‘artist’ is open to everyone and we will devise new metrics of value as a result, he explains.

Listen on YoutubeVESA gives an example of him commissioning a rap song via AI that was purely produced as a soundtrack for him painting in his studio, and how not even the most indulgent king would have dreamed of doing something like that before.

Actioneer

Next, VESA wants to learn more about David’s company Actioneer. He offers himself up as an example of someone who is masterful at their craft and quite observant, but hesitates in fulfilling a role of a CEO or a COO in a company setting, which modern day artists need to consider. What can a company like Actioneer do for artists and others who find themselves in a similar position?
–       The world is so complex that we need all the help we can get. AI can help us decode our questions better  than ever before, as we look into a paradigm where the old system of educating, gaining a job, working and dying is being challenged, David says.
–       The spearhead of this are the founders of startups, and the entrepreneurial spirit is what Actioneer supports. To a select few this has been available for a while through incubators and mentorships, and Actioneer can democratize this help and make it very abundant, he explains.

–       We believe that the world will be as saturated with tools like Actioneer, as it is presently with access to the Internet, because they are such an integral part of our modern lives, he says.

VESA sums up the necessity of these tools by noting that if you don’t become an entrepreneur as an artist, you won’t be an artist for long.

To follow David Orban’s message, you can find him at:
David Orban Dot Com
All socials etc

______

Until next time, 

VESA & Lotta
Crypto & NFT Artist
All links to physical, NFTs, and more below
http://linktr.ee/ArtByVesa

 

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The market is still on the lookout for distinct signs of a long-term recovery. Given this, it is critical to pay strategic attention to tokens such as Woo Network (WOO), which present chances for short- and long-term trading in the dynamic crypto environment.

The cryptocurrency market is in a positive mood as the new week begins, following a time of increased volatility in the first half of December. The two most popular cryptocurrencies, Ethereum and Bitcoin, have shown signs of stability during the last 48 hours.

Woo Network Explodes 75% In The Last Week

The WOO token, which is part of the Woo Network liquidity protocol, has been rising recently after fluctuating earlier. According to data from Coingecko, WOO was trading at $0.45 at the time of writing, up over 2% in the previous day and maintaining a strong 75.0% increase over the previous seven days.

A contributing element to the cryptocurrency’s recent price increase was the WooFi exchange, which attracted attention from possible investors after announcing a partnership with Arbitrum.

The cryptocurrency exchange WOO X, which runs on the WOO token, announced this week that it will be partnering with Wintermute to increase liquidity.

With a combined trading volume of about $3.6 trillion, Wintermute is an algorithmic trading company and liquidity provider. Thanks to its partnership with WOO X, it now serves as the primary liquidity provider for the exchange.

Another market maker, Selini Capital, joined WOO X in order to extend its designated market maker (DMM) program and gain access to over 135 perpetual markets.

When WOO debuted on the open market in late 2020, its value was approximately $0.03. Woo Network surged ahead of the market in early 2021, breaking through the dollar in April and hitting a one-time high of $1.34 on May 9.

The price of WOO token has recovered after suffering a significant drop over the weekend. Over the weekend, it dropped to a low of $0.35, but it rose to a high of $0.42 following that. WOO continues to be higher above the 50-period moving average.

Woo Network Price Prediction

Additionally, it appears to be creating a double-top pattern, with the upper side located at $0.4578. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is heading toward the 70 overbought level after making an upward trend.

As a result, investors are aiming for the double-top point at $0.4578, which is around 15% above the current price, which indicates a bullish view for the cryptocurrency.

The Woo Network short-term price projection for 2023 by CoinCodex shows that the token will fall to $0.411 by December 24 and rise to $0.4881 by January 18. The technical analysis on the website was bullish, with 24 indications indicating a bullish trend and only four indicating a bearish trend.

According to DigitalCoinPrice, Woo Network will trade at $1.19 at some time in the upcoming year. PricePrediction.net and Bitnation, on the other hand, were more conservative and predicted that WOO would be worth $0.58 and $1.18 in 2024, respectively.

Featured image from Binance Academy

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BNB price gained momentum and climbed above the $250 resistance. It is showing positive signs and might rally toward the $272 resistance zone.

BNB price is moving higher above the $250 resistance.
The price is now trading above $250 and the 100 simple moving average (4 hours).
There was a break above a key bearish trend line with resistance near $252 on the 4-hour chart of the BNB/USD pair (data source from Binance).
The pair might continue to move up if there is a clear move above $258.

BNB Price Regains Traction

These past few days, BNB price formed a base above the $230 level. The price started a decent increase above the $240 and $242 resistance levels. In the past two sessions, it even outperformed Ethereum and Bitcoin.

BNB broke the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $257.1 swing high to the $231.9 low. There was also a break above a key bearish trend line with resistance near $252 on the 4-hour chart of the BNB/USD pair.

It is now trading above $250 and the 100 simple moving average (4 hours). The current price action is positive and signaling more upsides above the $258 resistance zone.

The next resistance sits near the $262 level. A clear move above the $262 zone could send the price further higher. In the stated case, BNB price could test $272. It is close to the 1.618 Fib extension level of the downward move from the $257.1 swing high to the $231.9 low.

Source: BNBUSD on TradingView.com

A close above the $272 resistance might set the pace for a larger increase toward the $285 resistance. Any more gains might call for a test of the $300 level.

Downside Correction?

If BNB fails to clear the $258 resistance, it could start a downside correction. Initial support on the downside is near the $248 level.

The next major support is near the $242 level. The main support sits at $232. If there is a downside break below the $232 support, the price could drop toward the $222 support. Any more losses could initiate a larger decline toward the $205 level.

Technical Indicators

4-Hours MACD – The MACD for BNB/USD is gaining pace in the bullish zone.

4-Hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BNB/USD is currently above the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $248, $242, and $232.

Major Resistance Levels – $258, $272, and $285.

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Ethereum price is struggling to climb again above $2,200 and $2,250. ETH could gain bearish momentum if there is a clear move below the $2,120 support.

Ethereum is struggling to gain pace for a move above the $2,150 resistance zone.
The price is trading below $2,200 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average.
There is a connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance near $2,210 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
The pair could climb further higher if it clears the $2,210 resistance zone.

Ethereum Price Faces Hurdles

Ethereum price attempted a fresh increase above the $2,200 level. However, ETH failed to gain pace for a move above the $2,250 resistance. A high was formed near $2,253 and the price started a fresh decline, like Bitcoin.

There was a drop below $2,200. A low was formed near $2,136 and the price is now attempting a fresh increase. There was a move above the $2,180 level. The price tested the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $2,253 swing high to the $2,136 low.

Ethereum is now trading below $2,200 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. There is also a connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance near $2,210 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD.

On the upside, the price is facing resistance near the $2,205 level. It is close to the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $2,253 swing high to the $2,136 low.

Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com

The next key resistance is near the $2,220 level or the trend line. The main resistance is still near $2,250. A clear move above the $2,250 zone could send the price toward the $2,320 level. The next resistance sits at $2,350. Any more gains could start a wave toward the $2,420 level, above which Ethereum might rally and test the $2,550 zone.

More Losses in ETH?

If Ethereum fails to clear the $2,210 resistance, it could start another decline. Initial support on the downside is near the $2,165 level.

The first key support could be the $2,120 zone. A downside break and a close below $2,120 might start another major decline. In the stated case, Ether could revisit the $2,000 support. Any more losses might send the price toward the $1,880 level in the coming days.

Technical Indicators

Hourly MACD – The MACD for ETH/USD is gaining momentum in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI for ETH/USD is now above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $2,120

Major Resistance Level – $2,250

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Turning the tide in the altcoin race, Sei Network’s SEI token has experienced an extraordinary 50% surge in the last 24 hours, outperforming the top 100 cryptocurrencies. This surge has pushed the token’s current trading price to $0.3638. 

Attracting Global Attention? 

According to CoinGecko data, Sei Network’s blockchain, explicitly built for trading, has optimized every layer of its stack to provide infrastructure for trading apps of all types. 

Sei claims to outperform other Layer 1 blockchain, such as Solana and Aptos, by offering a native order-matching engine in Layer 1. This engine enables exchange apps built on top to scale more efficiently than ever.

One of the standout features of the protocol is its speed, with a lower bound time to the finality of 300ms, making it the fastest chain in existence. This speed is achieved by implementing the Twin Turbo consensus, consisting of intelligent block propagation and optimistic block processing. According to CoinGecko, these innovations reduce the time required to achieve consensus securely and reliably.

Moreover, Sei’s market-based parallelization sets it apart by offering a specialized kind of parallelization that differs from other leading blockchains. Additionally, Sei implements order batching to prevent frontrunning, enhancing the fairness and efficiency of its trading ecosystem.

On the other hand, the Sei blockchain, launched on August 16, has amassed a market cap exceeding $380 million and a 24-hour trading volume surpassing $1 billion. Notably, the blockchain has witnessed a surge in new user registrations, with over 40,000 new users joining in the past two days. 

This influx of new users has further propelled the token’s market cap and trading volume, underscoring the growing interest in the Sei blockchain.

Sei v2 Proposes Seamless EVM Integration

Sei Labs co-founder Jayendra Jog recently unveiled the first “parallelized” Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), combining the aspects of Solana and Ethereum. According to Jayendra, this “hyper-optimized” execution layer leverages the tooling and mindshare surrounding the EVM, addressing a major pain point for developers. 

As announced, Sei v2 introduces EVM support by integrating go-ethereum and enabling seamless deployment of contracts from other EVM chains. This compatibility allows developers to leverage existing Ethereum-based tooling and resources without additional effort. 

Furthermore, optimistic parallelization eliminates the need for developers to define dependencies explicitly, enabling the chain to handle parallelization autonomously. This enhancement reduces developer friction and guarantees maximum parallelization of transactions whenever possible. 

Sei Labs’ co-founder stated that Sei v2 boasts orders of magnitude greater throughput with Sei’s speed than Ethereum’s Layer 1 or Layer 2 solutions. 

The protocol’s upper bound of 12.5k transactions per second (TPS) is supported by early load tests, which have already observed over 5k TPS. Sei v2 will launch on a public testnet in the first quarter 2024.

As Sei Network continues to garner attention from developers and traders alike, the future looks promising for this open-source Layer 1 blockchain. 

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

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Bitcoin price attempted a fresh upside break above the $43,500 resistance. BTC failed and corrected lower to test the $41,800 support zone.

Bitcoin is correcting gains from the $43,500 resistance zone.
The price is trading above $42,000 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average.
There is a connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance near $42,600 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
The pair could continue to move down if there is a move below the $41,650 support.

Bitcoin Price Drops Again

Bitcoin price gained pace above the $42,000 resistance zone. BTC even climbed above the $43,000 level, but it faced a strong rejection near $43,500. It seems like the price failed again to clear the $43,500 zone.

A high was formed near $43,464 and the price started a fresh decline. There was a move below the $42,800 and $42,500 support levels. The price even spiked below the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward wave from the $40,514 swing low to the $43,464 high.

Bitcoin found support near the $41,800 level. It is now trading above $42,000 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average. The price is also stable above the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the upward wave from the $40,514 swing low to the $43,464 high.

On the upside, immediate resistance is near the $42,600 level. There is also a connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance near $42,600 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

The first major resistance is forming near $43,000. The main resistance is still near the $43,500 zone. A close above the $43,500 resistance might start a steady increase. The next key resistance could be near $44,500, above which BTC could rise toward the $45,000 level.

More Losses In BTC?

If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $42,650 resistance zone, it could continue to move down. Immediate support on the downside is near the $42,000 level.

The next major support is near $41,650. If there is a move below $41,650, there is a risk of more losses. In the stated case, the price could drop toward the $40,500 support in the near term.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now gaining pace in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now near the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $42,000, followed by $41,650.

Major Resistance Levels – $42,650, $43,000, and $43,500.

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Recently, a notable observation has been the significant correlation between XRP and XLM’s price action. This phenomenon has caught the attention of industry experts and investors alike, leading to a deeper examination of the factors driving this trend.

Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), David Schwartz, has weighed in on this topic, addressing the liquidity aspects of XRP and XLM. However, despite the visible correlation, Schwartz argues that more liquidity is needed in the XRP/XLM market to cause a notable price correlation.

This statement is based on data from CoinmarketCap, which illustrates the parallel price movements of these two cryptocurrencies over the past year. Schwartz’s insights provoke a deeper analysis of the potential reasons behind the alignment in their price behaviors.

Coinmarketcap makes it easy to compare the charts of various tokens. Here’s XRP versus XLM over the past year: pic.twitter.com/qNzfIu2TTB

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 18, 2023

Unraveling The Factors Behind XRP And XLM’s Correlated Price Movements

David Schwartz has identified three key factors influencing the XRP-XLM price correlation. Firstly, he posits that the entire digital asset market is significantly interconnected.

The market is still determining cryptocurrencies’ long-term viability, so industry news tends to affect all tokens, not just specific ones. This broader market sentiment could drive the correlation observed in XRP and XLM.

Secondly, Schwartz suggests that the dominance of Bitcoin in the cryptocurrency market could play a role. Given Bitcoin’s substantial market share and its influence on liquidity within the crypto space, movements in Bitcoin’s price often result in ripple effects across other crypto, including XRP and XLM.

I think there are a variety of factors that might be at play and it’s hard to know which are real.

One thing is that all digital assets track each other significantly. I think that’s because the market is still trying to figure out if they’re going to be a thing and so industry…

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 18, 2023

The third factor revolves around the crypto community’s perception that XRP and XLM require similar market conditions to thrive. However, Schwartz noted that he is “not sure if he believes this.”

Developments within the broader crypto industry could prompt parallel reactions from users of both tokens, leading to correlated price patterns.

Diverse Perspectives: From Short-Term Volatility To Long-Term Convictions

On the other hand, Bill Morgan, a lawyer and digital asset enthusiast, brings a different viewpoint, mainly focusing on XRPL token. Addressing recent market volatility, Morgan emphasizes the importance of a long-term perspective when analyzing XRP’s price action.

Responding to crypto community concerns about XRP’s performance, especially during heightened market movements, Morgan argues that convictions about the token should go “beyond short-term price fluctuations.”

Morgan’s stance is echoed by Matt, the Moon Lambo YouTube channel host, who points out that XRP’s price drop was not as severe as some in the crypto community perceived. Matt’s analysis places XRP at a moderate position among the top 50 coins by market cap in terms of gains and losses.

This is correct but placed in the context of XRP’s price action over the last month it is not great. XRP is down over 2% over the last month. Many but not all top 50 coins are up over the last month. In that context the fall was harder comparatively than could have been expected… https://t.co/VrlD2k0mWu

— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) December 19, 2023

However, Morgan notes that the token’s performance over the past month has been lackluster, falling by over 2% despite a market-wide rally. This observation suggests that XRP’s decline was more pronounced than that of some of its peers, warranting a closer examination of its market dynamics.

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView

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Taking to X on December 18, Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, celebrated the network’s recent growth, noting that it’s mirroring the organic development of Bitcoin (BTC). While some have expressed concerns about network congestion, Hoskinson affirmed that Cardano is designed to handle such loads and has ample room for future scalability.

Demand Increasing, Cardano Moving Away From “Ghost Chain” Status

In a post garnering significant attention on X, the founder said he has been watching with ” glee as some people worry about Cardano’s blocks filling up.” The founder reminded the community that it was only a few months earlier that the network had been slammed for being a “ghost chain” with no utility. 

However, as the network “gets busy” and blocks fill up, Hoskinson assured the community that the platform is designed to handle rising demand with more room to grow in the future. While Cardano aims to compete with Ethereum as a smart contract platform of choice, its development is anchored on peer research, and progress has been systematic.

Looking at block explorer data from Cexplorer, the average block saturation of Cardano stands at 56.98% as of December 18. This figure is higher than the monthly average of 44.5%. However, what’s clear is that block size has been gradually rising over the past two years. As of early 2021, the average block usage, measuring capacity, was 64kb. 

This figure now stands at 88kb, signaling growth and more adoption from app developers. However, it should be noted that the maximum capacity in Cardano is an adjustable parameter. Accordingly, it can be changed in light of transactional demand.

Cardano Refinements: Will ADA Prices Boom Like Bitcoin?

Cardano is in the Basho stage after graduating from Goguen when the network activated smart contracts. With more dapps launching, the platform is optimizing to enhance performance and boost scalability. Scalability is a big concern in blockchains since it can directly determine how fast transactions are processed, a factor that also plays a big role in determining fees. Even so, unlike Ethereum, fees are stable in Cardano, regardless of network load.

Hoskinson also highlighted Cardano’s organic growth in the post on X, attributing its success to the community’s involvement and engagement. The founder emphasized that venture capitalists, the crypto media, or influencers are not driving the platform, just like how Bitcoin grows. 

This comparison could aim salvo at other smart contract competitors, including Solana. The FTX estate controlled a significant portion of SOL’s circulating supply. The defunct exchange will gradually sell SOL to repay creditors. Even so, whether ADA will follow the same trajectory as BTC in the long run remains to be seen.

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The anticipation around a potential approval of a Spot Bitcoin ETF is still high among crypto investors. This anticipation has been one of the main drivers of the price rally that has been witnessed over the last two months.

Despite the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponing its decision on multiple spot ETF filings, industry experts remain very positive that the regulator is on the verge of approving the first Spot Bitcoin ETF.

Bitcoin Spot ETF Coming In January 2024

Many experts have revised their expectations for if and when the SEC would approve a Spot Bitcoin ETF. At first, expectations were low. But as time has gone on, the expectations have risen quickly and analysts at Matrixport are part of the camp that believes a Spot Bitcoin ETF is on its way.

In a report released on Monday, December 18, Matrixport Head of Research Markus Thielen reveals a 95% chance that a Spot BTC ETF will be approved in January 2024. January carries the deadline dates for most of the 13 filings so far, and Thielen expects that the SEC will approve a spot ETF on January 10.

The report points to the fact that BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, reviewed its S-1 filing with the SEC. Here, the regulator had given the asset manager instructions which included monitoring unusual price movements, storing all private keys in cold storage, and having procedures in the event there are Bitcoin forks.

Additionally, the SEC also responded to Franklin-Templeton’s filing in November despite having until January to do so. This move, the analyst says, “gave the impression that the SEC is lining all issuers up to get approval by January 10, 2024.”

Thielen explains the importance of the meeting the regulator had with BlackRock, saying,  “The SEC has never actively engaged with potential ETF issues and appears to have given all ETF issuers with whom it had discussions the same instructions.”

BTC Price Expectations After Approvals

Given that Matrixport expects approvals to come in January, the analyst also gave their expectation for price when this happens. Thielen expects that Bitcoin will go on another rally once this happens and the price could rise as high as $50,000 in the first quarter of the year 2024 as a result.

“We expect this correction to switch back into another leg higher in Bitcoin prices after Christmas as investors take advantage of the recent correction and position themselves for the likely Bitcoin Spot ETF approval period – January 8 to January 10, 2024,” the analyst said, alluding to the decline in price that Bitcoin has recorded over the last week.

As for Grayscale, the analyst doesn’t believe that the SEC would allow for a conversion of the Bitcoin trust into a Spot ETF on January 10. However, they do expect 20% of precious metal demand to switch to Spot Bitcoin ETFs following the approvals.

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