ADA

US regulators doing ‘good job of alienating’ crypto sector — Cardano founder

Charles Hoskinson took a jab at the perceived inconsistency in applying decentralization standards by the U.S. SEC.

The United States’ approach to cryptocurrencies could do more harm than good, and it risks losing major players by the time they “get their act together,” Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has said.

“When you look at some of the U.S.

Charles Hoskinson speaks with Cointelegraph Arabic journalist Hermi De Ramos at the Abu Dhabi Finance Week. Source: Cointelegraph

He took a jab at the perceived inconsistency in applying decentralization standards by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, stressing that Cardano did not conduct an initial coin offering (ICO) and saying ADA (ADA) vouchers were sold in Japanese territory with no U.S.

“I guess, apparently, that’s under U.S.

Hoskinson also pointed out that Ethereum, which he said conducted an ICO for its Ether (ETH) token without implementing mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks, and Bitcoin (BTC) were labeled non-securities for “some reason.” He said:

“There are a lot of facts and circumstances that are insanely ambiguous, and it seems like it’s just the monster of the week. And if they can’t have success with a layer 1, like Ripple, then they go hit the exchanges… That’s not really a well-formed policy.”

On Nov. 20, the SEC filed a complaint in a federal court, alleging that crypto exchange Kraken commingled customer funds and failed to register with the regulator.

Hoskinson contends that the registration process with the SEC is vague, as “it’s not possible to actually operate these systems in a reasonable way.” He argued:

Read more

How to stake Cardano (ADA)

Users can earn staking rewards by delegating the staking process to Cardano staking pool operators via reputable exchanges.

Founded in 2015 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, Cardano is a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain that is often referred to as the “Ethereum killer,” owing to its superior technology and high level of security and sustainability.

Much like Ethereum, Cardano also allows users to stake its native cryptocurrency, ADA, to earn staking rewards. Cardano allows individuals to stake via staking pool operators and pool their tokens with other users or run their own Cardano staking pool.

Staking pools are frequently operated by those with technical experience and the appropriate hardware for effectively staking on the Cardano network, although anyone can become their own staking pool operator. Users also have complete autonomy to decide which pool they’d prefer to join and can assess each based on pool size, uptime and past performance.

Cardano divides periods of time into epochs, a measure of time used to specify when events in the network are set to occur, such as incentive distribution or validator transaction assignments.

On Cardano, each epoch consists of 432,000 slots, smaller units of time further divided into one-second intervals. One Cardano epoch lasts approximately five days. After each epoch concludes, a snapshot records the distribution of staked ADA tokens. This is used to calculate the rewards each staker will receive.

Users who wish to participate in staking will enter a pool through delegating, which allows coins to be unstaked and restaked multiple times with various pools, provided that user wait for the current epoch to pass before relocating their assets.

Steps to stake Cardano (ADA)

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to stake Cardano:

Find a reputable cryptocurrency exchange

The first step is to find a cryptocurrency exchange that supports ADA trading and staking, such as Binance and Coinbase. There are other options for staking ADA, which will be discussed in greater detail later on.

After creating an account with a cryptocurrency exchange, users must deposit ADA tokens in their exchange wallet. This can be done by buying Cardano coins directly from the exchange or transferring existing ADA holdings into their exchange wallet.

Select the staking option

The next step is navigating to the “Staking” page on the exchange platform’s interface and selecting “Cardano.” Most platforms will provide the option to select the staking duration, which will determine the amount of time one’s holdings will be locked away.

After selecting the desired stake duration, users have to decide how much ADA they wish to stake. Exchanges usually charge a small fee for staking services, so this must be considered when deciding the amount to be staked.

Research staking pools

Once the appropriate stake duration and amount of ADA coins have been selected, it is time to research staking pools. Exchanges offering staking services usually list recommended staking pools from which users can choose. Staking pools are usually ranked based on key information, such as the total number of blocks produced, overall performance in block creation, expected returns on investment and more.

While the most attractive pools based on these indicators are usually ranked on top, users can still choose staking pools based on their own criteria. Before selecting a pool to join, assessing factors such as pool size, uptime, liquidity and past results is essential. Depending on the platform, users can view important details about each staking pool, such as:

  • Return on staked ADA or interest rate
  • The cost to join (divided into a tax percentage and a fixed rate)
  • The size of the staking pool in terms of how much ADA is in it and how close to capacity it is
  • How much money the staking pool operators have delegated to the pool
  • The number of blocks that have been minted in the pool’s history.

Some users may also choose to consider off-protocol factors when selecting what staking pools to join, such as how certain pools align with their personal advocacies. These include considering whether a pool is operated by a non-government organization or is running on green energy, and the like.

Delegate your ADA tokens

After finding a suitable staking pool, users can then delegate their ADA tokens to the chosen pool. This is done by entering the password to one’s wallet and clicking “Delegate.” Once completed, the user’s assets will have been successfully staked in the pool.

Where can I stake my Cardano?

Here is how to stake one’s Cardano crypto asset holdings on various platforms.

How to stake Cardano on Coinbase

Coinbase offers an annual percentage yield, or APY, of 3.75% for Cardano staking. According to the platform, users’ ADA remains in their account at all times, and they can opt out anytime. To stake ADA, users must:

  1. Create an account on Coinbase.
  2. Select their desired Cardano staking pool and review the corresponding staking amount required.
  3. Buy Cardano on Coinbase or deposit the tokens from an external wallet into their Coinbase wallet.
  4. Add their ADA to their selected Cardano staking pool and approve the corresponding fees and minimum lock-up period.
  5. Wait for their Cardano staking rewards to arrive every five to seven days after the initial holding period of 20–25 days.

How to stake Cardano on Binance

According to Binance, users can stake Cardano on the exchange and earn up to 6.1% APY. Users can also receive weekly staking rewards and unstake them anytime to access their funds without waiting for an unstaking period. To stake on Binance:

  1. Create an account on Binance.
  2. Visit the Binance “Staking” homepage.
  3. Ensure that there are adequate funds in your Binance spot wallet.
  4. Choose ADA from the list of tokens listed on the page.
  5. Read and follow the prompts on the screen about first-time staking on the platform. Click “Next.”
  6. A “Stake Crypto” pop-up will appear. Enter the desired amount for staking or choose the percentage of total assets to be staked.
  7. To restake token rewards automatically, select “Auto Restake.” This will compound your staking rewards automatically. To have staking rewards deposited to your wallet, select “Disable Auto Restake.”
  8. Click “Preview Stake.” Review the details and click “Confirm.”
  9. The user will receive a “Staking Successful” confirmation in a pop-up window. To complete, click “Understood.”

How to stake Cardano on eToro

EToro offers its users convenience by automatically staking supported cryptocurrency holdings, such as ADA and Ether (ETH), on behalf of users. As such, no extra steps are involved in staking ADA on eToro. Once a user has created an account and stored ADA in their eToro wallet, they can automatically earn staking rewards.

EToro retains a small percentage of the reward, or “fee,” for all operational and technical costs. The reward percentage of the monthly staking yield that each user can receive will depend on their membership status on eToro:

  • Bronze members and all users in the United States: 75%, with a holding period of nine days.
  • Silver, Gold and Platinum Club members: 85%, with a holding period of nine days.
  • Diamond and Platinum+ Club Members: 90%, with a holding period of nine days.

How to stake Cardano on Yoroi

Yoroi offers up to 4.62% APY on Cardano staking. Yoroi is a noncustodial light wallet for Cardano where users can send and receive transactions and stake their holdings to enjoy returns. To stake Cardano on the platform:

  1. Download the Yoroi plug-in from the Yoroi website.
  2. Enter payment information to be used when purchasing assets through Yoroi.
  3. Select between the platform’s hot wallet or cold wallet options.
  4. Follow recovery set-up prompts on the screen.
  5. Purchase ADA through Yoroi or transfer existing holdings to your Yoroi wallet.
  6. Select a Cardano staking pool and delegation icon.
  7. Add desired funds to the selected pool and review the corresponding fees.
  8. Confirm and start earning returns on ADA.

What are the risks of staking Cardano?

Staking Cardano is an attractive way to generate passive income, but there are still some risks that users should consider. A potential risk of staking ADA is a high transaction fee. As such, it’s essential to research each pool’s fees and rewards before committing funds.

Additionally, since staking pools must remain online 24/7, they remain potentially vulnerable to cyberattacks. Users risk losing their funds if the pool operator is not security conscious.

Finally, Cardano staking rewards depend heavily on market prices. So, if the price of ADA depreciates, users may experience lower returns than expected. As with any investment, it’s essential to research and understand any associated risks before staking ADA on the Cardano network.

Price analysis 2/8: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, DOGE, MATIC, DOT, LTC, AVAX

Bitcoin and major altcoins are witnessing a tough battle between the bulls and the bears, indicating indecision in the near term.

United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Feb. 7 that the “disinflationary process, the process of getting inflation down,” has started but it is still in its very early stages.

He cautioned that strong data would be met with more rate hikes. Though his comments were mixed, they triggered buying in the S&P 500 and Bitcoin (BTC) on Feb. 7 as investors speculated that the Fed may soon end its campaign of rate hikes.

Bitcoin’s strong rally in January and signs of ebbing inflation seem to have turned around investor sentiment. CoinShares data on Jan. 30 shows that institutional investors pumped $117 million into digital investment products. That sent the total assets under management to $28 billion, a sharp 43% increase from its November low.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Although the sentiment seems to have turned around, bear markets rarely end without a retracement of the rise from the low. The price needs to form a higher low followed by a higher high to confirm a potential trend change.

What are the critical support levels on Bitcoin and altcoins that could arrest future declines? Let’s study the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin slid below $22,800 on Feb. 6 but the bulls purchased this dip. That started a rebound above $23,000 on Feb. 7 but the buyers could not sustain the higher levels.

BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The bulls are unlikely to have it easy because the bears will try to pose a strong challenge on every rise toward $24,000. Although the upsloping moving averages suggest advantage to buyers, the negative divergence on the relative strength index (RSI) signals that the bullish momentum is slowing down.

Sellers are trying to trap the aggressive bulls by pulling the price below the 20-day exponential moving average ($22,568). If they manage to do that, the BTC/USDT pair may give back a part of its recent gains and dive to $21.480. Buyers are likely to defend the zone between $21,480 and the psychologically critical level of $20,000.

ETH/USDT

Ether (ETH) rebounded off the 20-day EMA ($1,600) on Feb. 7. The bulls tried to solidify their position by driving the price above the $1,680 resistance on Feb. 8 but they could not sustain the breakout.

ETH/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

This shows that the bears are active near the $1,680 resistance. The sellers will try to sink the pair below the 20-day EMA. If they succeed, the ETH/USDT pair could drop to $1,500. The sellers will have to crack this support to seize control.

Conversely, if the price turns up and rises above $1,700, the pair may signal the start of the next leg of the uptrend. There is a minor resistance at $1,800, but the potential of a rally to $2,000 increases if the bulls do not allow the price to dip back below $1,680. 

BNB/USDT

The bulls successfully defended the breakout level of $318 on Feb. 6, which is a positive sign as it shows that buyers are not waiting for a deeper correction to buy. The bulls will now try to push BNB (BNB) above $338.

BNB/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

If they can pull it off, the potential for a rally to $360 improves. The bears are expected to mount a strong defense at this level but if this barrier is surmounted, the BNB/USDT pair could extend the up-move to $400.

Conversely, if the price turns down and plummets below $318, it will signal that bears sold on rallies. That may trap the aggressive bulls and increase the risk of a fall to the 50-day simple moving average ($284).

XRP/USDT

The bulls pushed XRP (XRP) back above the 20-day EMA ($0.40) on Feb. 7 but are struggling to sustain the higher levels. This suggests that the bears are not ready to let bulls have their way.

XRP/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The bears will try to pull the XRP/USDT pair to the strong support near $0.36. This is an important level to keep an eye on because a slide below it will suggest that the pair may extend its consolidation between $0.30 and $0.42 for a few more days. Trading inside a range is usually random and volatile.

If bulls want to seize control, they will have to thrust the price above the $0.42 to $0.44 resistance zone. After this zone is cleared, there is no major resistance until $0.51, hence the pair may travel this distance in a short time.

ADA/USDT

Cardano (ADA) jumped up from the immediate support at $0.38 on Feb. 7, indicating that lower levels are attracting buyers.

ADA/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

Although the risk from the negative divergence on the RSI remains, the upsloping moving averages suggest that bulls have the upper hand. There is a minor resistance at $0.41 but if this level is crossed, the ADA/USDT pair may touch $0.44. The bears will again try to stall the up-move at this level.

Contrary to this assumption, if the price turns down and plunges below the 20-day EMA, it will suggest that the bulls are tiring out. The bears will then try to sink the price to the 50-day SMA ($0.32).

DOGE/USDT

Dogecoin (DOGE) rebounded off the 20-day EMA ($0.09) on Feb. 7 but the shallow rise showed a lack of aggressive buying at lower levels. The price turned down on Feb. 8 and is testing the support at the 20-day EMA.

DOGE/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

If this level gives way, the sellers will try to strengthen their position by pulling the DOGE/USDT pair to the 50-day SMA ($0.08). This is an important support for the bulls to defend because if it gives way, the selling could accelerate and the pair may tumble to the crucial support at $0.07.

On the upside, the bulls will have to pierce the resistance zone between $0.10 and $0.11 to clear the path for a possible rally to $0.15.

MATIC/USDT

Polygon (MATIC) turned up from $1.17 on Feb. 6, which is a positive sign because traders did not wait for the price to touch the 20-day EMA ($1.13) before buying.

MATIC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The negative divergence on the RSI remains intact but the solid rebound on Feb. 7 shows strong demand at lower levels. This improves the prospects of a break above $1.30. If this level is scaled, the MATIC/USDT pair is likely to pick up momentum and surge to $1.45 and thereafter dash to $1.70.

The long wick on the Feb. 8 candlestick shows that bears are fiercely defending the $1.30 level. Sellers will now try to strengthen their position by pulling the price below the 20-day EMA.

Related: BTC price metric which cued biggest Bitcoin bull runs brakes out at $23K

LTC/USDT

In an uptrend, the bulls usually buy the dip to the 20-day EMA as it offers a low-risk trading opportunity. Litecoin (LTC) bounced off the 20-day EMA ($94) on Feb. 7, signaling that the uptrend remains intact.

LTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

There is a minor hurdle at $102.50 but if that is crossed, buyers will try to propel the LTC/USDT pair to $107. This level may again act as a roadblock but if buyers do not allow the price to dip below the 20-day EMA, the prospects of a rally to $115 increase.

Alternatively, if bears want to gain the upper hand, they will have to sink the price below the 20-day EMA. If they manage to do that, several stop losses may get triggered. The pair could then start a deeper correction to the 50-day SMA ($83).

DOT/USDT

Polkadot’s (DOT) retest of the breakout level was successfully defended by the bulls on Feb. 7. This shows that buyers are trying to flip the resistance line into support.

DOT/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The bears are offering stiff resistance near $7. But the rising 20-day EMA ($6.41) suggests that the sentiment remains positive. If buyers drive the price above $7.12, the DOT/USDT pair could travel to $8, which is likely to again act as a strong hurdle.

The first sign of weakness will be a break and close below the 20-day EMA. That may encourage short-term traders to book profits and open the doors for a possible decline to $6 and then to the 50-day SMA ($5.52).

AVAX/USDT

Avalanche (AVAX) bounced off the 20-day EMA ($19.28) on Feb. 7, indicating that lower levels continue to attract buyers. However, the bulls are struggling to sustain the higher levels, signaling that bears are selling on rallies.

AVAX/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The AVAX/USDT pair is stuck between the 20-day EMA on the downside and $22 on the upside. Usually, a consolidation near an overhead resistance is a positive sign as it shows that bulls are not rushing to the exit. If buyers drive the price above $22, the pair may start its journey toward $30.

Contrary to this assumption, if the price breaks back below the resistance line, it will suggest that the bulls have given up and are booking profits. The pair could then slide to the 50-day SMA ($15.61).

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Leading Cardano stablecoin project shuts down after excruciating launch delays

Ardana developers claimed back in January that “almost all of the product/smart contract development is finished.”

On Nov. 24, Ardana, a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) and stablecoin ecosystem building on Cardano, abruptly halted development, citing “funding and project timeline uncertainty.” The project will remain open-source for builders while treasury balances and remaining funds will be held by Ardana Labs “until another competent dev team in the community comes forward to continue our work:”

“Development on Cardano has been difficult with alot of funding going into tooling, infrastructure and security. This alongside the uncertainty around development completion has led to the best course of action being halting development of dUSD.”

The move came as a shock to many due to the sudden nature of the announcement. However, it appears that issues were already present for some time. Beginning July 4, Ardana has held an ongoing initial stake pool offering, or ISPO, to fund its operations. Unlike traditional fundraising mechanisms, developers do not receive Cardano (ADA) delegated by users, but instead, the staking rewards. Users are incentivized to keep delegating by receiving the native DANA tokens as a reward.

Unfortunately, a simultaneous collapse of the price of DANA and ADA, as well as declining Cardano staking yields from the ongoing crypto winter, has caused issues for ISPO issuers. Over the past year, Ardana’s native DANA tokens have lost close to 99.85% of their value.

In January, Ardana claimed that “almost all of the product/smart contract development is finished. We could launch our products within a few weeks if we so wanted” and instead blamed the delay on the Cardano network’s “liquidation issues” and “risk to users’ funds.” Most users reacted negatively, placing the blame on Ardana instead. One individual, LucidCiC, wrote: 

“Sounds like you’re blaming Cardano for your own lack of motivation and dedication. You decided to build here for a reason, And now you’re giving up. Others like Axo will come in and take all the glory.”

Fork, yeah! Cardano Vasil upgrade goes live

Cardano’s newest hard fork is the blockchain’s most significant update since adding smart contract functionality last September.

After several months of delays, the Cardano Vasil upgrade and hard fork has finally gone live as of Thursday at 9:44 pm UTC, bringing “significant performance and capability” enhancements to the blockchain.

The success of the Cardano mainnet hard fork was announced by blockchain company Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) on Twitter on Thursday, while others also observed the hard fork tick over in a live Twitter Spaces with Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson.

IOHK previously stated the significant upgrades brought by the fork is block transmission without full validation, allowing for faster block creation. Upgrades to its Plutus smart contracts for increased efficiency also allow decentralized applications to deploy and run at lower costs.

New capabilities brought by the Plutus script upgrades will become available for developers on the mainnet on Sept. 27, after one epoch, which currently lasts around five days.

Bill Barhydt, founder of crypto trading platform Abra, called the upgrade a “big win for developers” with decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Genius Yield, tweeting it was “one of the most complex and consequential updates to the Cardano network ever done.”

The date for the upgrade was announced in early September by IOHK, while the “critical mass indicators” needed to trigger the hard fork were reached in the 24 hours leading up to the event.

Related: Ethereum post-Merge hard forks are here: Now what?

It comes after months of delays and reschedules, with the launch day originally slated for June, it was twice delayed due to issues on the testnet caused by bugs in a prior node version creating compatibility issues.

Following the Vasil upgrade, Cardano is continuing to develop its layer-2 scaling solution, the Hydra head protocol, which processes transactions off the Cardano blockchain whilst still using it as the security and settlement layer.

The latest update on Hydra from Sept. 16 detailed the team addressed a known issue with the Hydra nodes. The protocol has no set launch date, but it’s intended for some time in late 2022 or the first quarter of 2023.

The announcement of the successful launch sent the price of Cardano (ADA) upward by nearly 4% over the last 24 hours to $0.46, according to CoinGecko data, although it is still down over 4.5% on the week.

Cardano Vasil upgrade ready with all ‘critical mass indicators’ achieved

With the countdown now under 24 hours for Cardano’s most ambitious upgrade, all three metrics necessary to launch the awaited Vasil upgrade have been met.

The Cardano Vasil upgrade is set to take place in less than 24 hours on Thursday, with the Cardano team noting all three “critical mass indicators” needed to trigger the upgrade are now met.

A Wednesday update on Twitter by the company behind Cardano, Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), states that within the last 48 hours, 13 cryptocurrency exchanges had confirmed their readiness for the hard fork, representing over 87% of Cardano’s (ADA) liquidity.

Of the top exchanges for ADA liquidity, Coinbase is the only exchange listed as “in progress” regarding its integration status, according to an ecosystem readiness page by IOHK.

However, a recent tweet by Coinbase has already hinted that it will support the fork, saying ADA transactions will be halted for maintenance “for the Cardano Vasil hard fork.”

Originally intended for a June launch, the Vasil upgrade has seen its launch day twice rescheduled, most recently due to a bug discovered in Cardano’s prior node version, which created incompatibility issues.

With an updated Vasil node in place, over 98% of mainnet blocks are now being created by the updated nodes, while the blockchain’s top decentralized applications (DApps) have also confirmed their readiness, marking all three metrics needed for the upgrade go-ahead. 

News of the upgrade has seen social media chatter about ADA increase by 35.16% over the past seven days from Monday, according to market intelligence platform Santiment, third behind Ripple and Ethereum.

Once live, the upgrade will be the blockchain’s most significant since its Alonzo hard fork in September last year, which brought functionality for smart contracts for the first time. This upgrade aims to bring smart contract enhancements, reduced costs and increased throughput on the network.

IOHK said one of the most significant upgrades brought by the fork is faster block creation as they can be transmitted without full validation.

Related: Cardano outranks Bitcoin in global top intimate brands in new report

The Vasil upgrade is named after the late artist Vasil Stoyanov Dabov, a Cardano community member and ambassador who passed away in December 2021 due to a pulmonary embolism.

Currently, ADA’s price sits at $0.44, according to CoinGecko, down 3.4% over 24 hours and down over 85% from its $3.09 all-time high on Sept. 2, 2021.

EOS price jumps 20% for biggest gain in 15 months — What’s fueling the uptrend?

EOS attempts to become a fully decentralized network following a key hard fork in September.

EOS rose approximately 20% to reach $1.66 on Aug. 17 and was on track to log its best daily performance since May 2021.

Initially, the EOS rally came in the wake of its positive correlation with top-ranking cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which gained over 2% and 3.75%, respectively. But, the upside move was also driven by a flurry of uplifting updates emerging from the EOS ecosystem.

EOS/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

EOS incentive program launch

On Aug. 14, the EOS Network Foundation (ENF), a nonprofit organization that oversees the growth and development of the EOS blockchain, opened registrations for its upcoming Yield+ incentive program.

The Yield+ is a liquidity incentive and reward program to attract decentralized finance (DeFi) applications that generate returns for their users. In doing so, the service attempts to compete with its top blockchain rivals in the DeFi space, namely Ether, Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL).

Since the beginning of Yield+ registration, the total value locked (TVL) inside the EOS pools has increased from 94.71 EOS to 102.18 EOS, showing a temporary spike in demand for the tokens. The TVL will likely increase in the days leading up to the reward activation on Aug. 28.

EOS hard fork in September

In addition, EOS will rebrand to EOSIO later this week, followed by a v3.1 consensus upgrade called Mandel in September, according to Yves La Rose, the CEO of ENF.

The rebranding and upgrade serve as EOS’s symbolic divorce from Block.One, the company that originally designed the network, nine months after the EOS community elected to stop the issuance of 67 million EOS, or around $108 million, to it on malpractice concerns.

La Rose noted that the upgrade would occur via a hard fork, meaning that the new version (EOSIO) will not be backward compatible with the original chain and will follow new consensus rules.

A hard fork also means that in the event of a possible chain split, all the existing EOS holders will receive an equal amount of tokens on both chains. In theory, that could increase EOS demand among speculators in the days leading up to the hard fork as witnessed in the case of Ethereum.

Technicals hint at more upside

From a technical perspective, EOS’s price eyes an extended bull trend in the coming weeks

The first major hint comes from a cup-and-handle formation on the EOS daily chart, confirmed by a U-shaped price trajectory followed by a downward channel trend. As a rule of technical analysis, a cup-and-handle breakout should send the price higher by as much as the pattern’s maximum height.

EOS/USD daily price chart featuring cup-and-handle breakout setup. Source: TradingView

As a result, EOS’s upside target comes to be near $2.45, up almost 50% from the price on Aug. 17.

Related: Is Ethereum really the best blockchain to form a DAO?

Nevertheless, as a note of caution, the breakout risks losing its momentum near EOS’s 200-day exponential moving average (200-day EMA; the blue wave) at $1.79. Such a pullback could have EOS test the 50-day EMA (the red wave) at $1.21 as its next downside target, almost 25% below the current price.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Cardano’s Vasil hard fork proposal submitted: Countdown commences

From July 3 the four-week window for application developers and exchanges to test the upcoming Cardano upgrade begins before it’s launched onto the mainnet.

Cardano (ADA) blockchain developer Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) has submitted an update proposal to hard fork the Cardano testnet, kicking off the countdown for the network’s Vasil mainnet upgrade.

The Vasil upgrade is slated to bring “significant performance and capability upgrades” to the blockchain, with IOHK describing the fork as the “biggest and best upgrade to date” providing a higher throughput, improved script performance for developers and lower costs.

One of the most significant updates pointed out by the team is the implementation of diffusion pipelining aimed at improving the blockchains’ scalability for decentralized applications (DApps).

The update will allow faster block creation as they can be transmitted without full validation.

If everything goes smoothly, the upgrade to the testnet will take place July 3, with the mainnet upgrade scheduled for roughly around the end of July. The Cardano community requested four weeks minimum to allow time to test and upgrade applications on the testnet, and IOHK says the hard fork for the mainnet will take place “once everyone is comfortable and ready.”

The Cardano mainnet upgrade was previously supposed to take place on June 29 but was delayed by a month on June 22 citing several outstanding bugs. IOHK has called the project the “most complex program of work we’ve undertaken”.

IOHK’s “prime concern” is ensuring the upgrade is managed in a “safe and secure” manner. It reports the Vasil node is creating over 75% of the testnet network’s blocks and believes there is “good chain density to proceed safely.”

The last significant upgrade to the blockchain was in September 2021 with the Alonzo hard fork which brought in long-awaited smart contract functionality for the first time using Plutus scripts, a smart contract development language purpose built for Cardano.

The upgrade was widely considered to be a disappointment as Cardano still only has 11 DApps according to DeFi Llama. The co-founder of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson previously predicted there would be “thousands of DApps” on Cardano by 2021 and believes developers are waiting for the Vasil upgrade to launch their projects.

The Vasil node is named in honor of Vasil Stoyanov Dabov, an artist and Cardano community member and ambassador who passed away in December 2021 after a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

Related: Can Cardano’s July hard fork prevent ADA price from plunging 60%?

Cardano is a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain and touted as a so-called “Ethereum Killer” which aims to beat Ethereum (ETH) by providing better scalability, transactions per second and lower fees.

Currently, its native coin ADA sits in eighth position with a $15.7 billion market capitalization at a price of around $0.45, down 85% from its all-time-high of over $3 in September 2021 according to data from CoinGecko.

Cardano’s Vasil hard fork proposal submitted: Countdown commences

From July 3, the four-week window for application developers and exchanges to test the upcoming Cardano upgrade begins before it’s launched onto the mainnet.

Cardano Blockchain developer Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) has submitted an updated proposal to hard fork the Cardano testnet, kicking off the countdown for the network’s Vasil mainnet upgrade.

The Vasil upgrade is slated to bring “significant performance and capability upgrades” to the blockchain, with IOHK describing the fork as the “biggest and best upgrade to date,” providing higher throughput, improved script performance for developers and lower costs.

One of the most significant updates pointed out by the team is the implementation of diffusion pipelining aimed at improving the blockchains’ scalability for decentralized applications (DApps).

The update will allow faster block creation as they can be transmitted without full validation.

If everything goes smoothly, the upgrade to the testnet will take place July 3, with the mainnet upgrade scheduled for roughly around the end of July. The Cardano community requested four weeks minimum to allow time to test and upgrade applications on the testnet. IOHK says the hard fork for the mainnet will take place “once everyone is comfortable and ready.”

The Cardano mainnet upgrade was previously supposed to take place on Wednesday but was delayed by a month on June 22, citing several outstanding bugs. IOHK has called the project the “most complex program of work we’ve undertaken.”

IOHK’s “prime concern” is ensuring the upgrade is managed in a “safe and secure” manner. It reports the Vasil node is creating over 75% of the testnet network’s blocks and believes there is “good chain density to proceed safely.”

The last significant upgrade to the blockchain was in September 2021 with the Alonzo hard fork, which brought in long-awaited smart contract functionality for the first time using Plutus scripts, a smart contract development language purpose-built for Cardano

The upgrade was widely considered to be a disappointment, as Cardano still only has 11 DApps, according to DefiLlama. The co-founder of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson, previously predicted there would be “thousands of DApps” on Cardano by 2021 and believes developers are waiting for the Vasil upgrade to launch their projects.

The Vasil node is named in honor of Vasil Stoyanov Dabov, an artist and Cardano community member and ambassador who passed away in December 2021 after a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

Related: Can Cardano’s July hard fork prevent ADA price from plunging 60%?

Cardano is a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain and is touted as a so-called “Ethereum Killer,” which aims to beat Ethereum by providing better scalability, transactions per second and lower fees.

Currently, its native coin Cardano (ADA) sits in the eighth position with a $15.7 billion market capitalization at a price of around $0.45, down 85% from its all-time high of over $3.00 in September 2021, according to data from CoinGecko.

Cardano price fake-out? ADA’s 45% rebound in two days could trap bulls

ADA price has seen sharp recoveries during bear markets in the past with many turning out to be bull traps.

Cardano (ADA) price climbed from $0.48 on May 30 to as high as $0.68 on May 31—a 45% rally in less than 48 hours. But ADA/USD failed to extend its rally further upward and dropped by almost 13.75% from its weekly high.

ADA price: Ear market vibes

Cardano’s price retreated sharply on June 1, giving up a portion of the gains secured in the previous two days. The question now arises whether the ADA/USD pair can extend its recovery trend, especially as it trades almost 80% below its September 2021 peak of $3.16.

Interestingly, the downside retracement began after ADA tested its 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave in the chart below) as resistance. Also, the pair moved lower in tandem with a broader correction sentiment across riskier assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and the S&P 500 (SPX).

ADA/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

Now, the Cardano token risks a further price correction, according to the Digital Trend, a financial analysis contributor at SeekingAlpha, noting that ADA has seen sharp price rebounds in the past that turned into bull traps, adding:

“In March, we saw ADA go from south of $0.80 to over $1.24 in a couple of weeks. This, to me, looks like another fake-out.”

Several fundamental factors also support a bearish outlook. On June 1, the Federal Reserve will begin unwinding its $9 trillion asset portfolio, likely creating more headwinds for risk-on assets, Cardano included.

“I don’t think we know the impacts of QT [quantitative tightening] just yet, especially since we haven’t done this slimming down of the balance sheet much in history,” Dan Eye, the chief investment officer of Fort Pitt Capital Group, told Market Watch, adding that removing liquidity from the market would “affect multiples in valuations to some degree.”

Cardano price paints bull pennant

From a technical perspective, Cardano could continue its recovery trend in June due to a bullish continuation pattern.

Related: Bitcoin’s recent gains have traders calling a bottom, but various metrics remain bearish

ADA has been consolidating inside what appears to be a “bull pennant,” confirmed by the price fluctuating inside a triangle structure following a massive move upside, called “flagpole.”

As a rule, a bull pennant resolves after the price breaks above its upper trendline and rises by as much as the flagpole’s height.

ADA/USD hourly price chart featuring ‘bull pennant’ setup. Source: TradingView

In other words, a $0.77 bullish target in June, up more than 25% from June 1’s price.

ADA/BTC sees a similar upside setup

ADA has been painting a similar bull pennant setup against Bitcoin, raising the chances of an uptrend for the ADA/BTC pair in June.

ADA/BTC hourly price chart featuring ‘bull pennant’ setup. Source: TradingView.com

As a result, ADA/BTC’s decisive breakout above the pennant’s upper trendline could have it rise toward 0.00002355, up 23% from June 1’s price.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.