Chainlink

Chainlink oracle, data feeds coming to StarkNet ecosystem

StarkWare is set to partner with Chainlink Labs to integrate oracle services and data feeds to the StarkNet testnet.

Blockchain scaling technology firm StarkWare is set to partner with Chainlink Labs to bring oracle services, data and price feeds to the StarkNet ecosystem.

The coalition will see StarkWare join Chainlink’s Scale program and brings Chainlink price feeds to StarkNet’s testnet. StarkNet tokens will also fund certain operating costs for Chainlink oracle nodes, giving Starket developers access to Chainlink oracle services and data feeds.

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that enables smart contracts to securely access off-chain data sources, APIs and payment systems. It allows smart contracts to interact with real-world data and events, making it possible for them to be triggered by data from external sources.

The network features independent nodes that provide secure and reliable data to smart contracts, incentivized by payment in Chainlink’s native LINK token. Node operators verify and perform data computations, which ensures accurate and reliable data is delivered to smart contracts.

Related: StarkNet overhauls Cairo programming language to drive developer adoption

An announcement from StarWare highlights the establishment of a sustainable economic system between StarkNet and Chainlink. The integration is also expected to provide the necessary infrastructure for StarkNet developers to build “highly performant, increasingly complex, and secure smart contract applications.“

StarkWare product manager and researcher Ohad Barta told Cointelegraph that work to introduce Chainlink’s oracle services to StarkNet has been ongoing since June 2022. Various oracle services will be integrated into StarkNet, according to Barta, highlighting the benefit of diversity in smaller and larger oracles serving the network:

“Oracles are an essential component, they are relevant in many use cases. A lot of applications need to know the price of assets or NFTs. Oracles are like a complete toolkit.”

Barta also believes that the reputation of Chainlink’s services within the Ethereum ecosystem is another major reason for the integration with StarkNet:

“The main benefit is any application or startup can integrate with Chainlink price feeds and know it will be accurate and have some peace of mind when they are building their product.”

A statement from Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov highlighted the partnership’s potential in Chainlink oracle networks operating at high speeds and low costs for Starknet users and developers:

“By reducing the operating costs of oracle nodes, StarkNet is able to accelerate its ecosystem’s growth and become a more attractive environment for building scalable DApps in the Web3 ecosystem.”

Chainlink data feeds are live on StarkNet’s testnet, with a mainnet integration expected in the coming months. Cointelegraph is currently covering StarkWare Sessions in Tel Aviv, Israel, where the company announced that it would make its proprietary Starknet Prover open source. The prover is the engine that StarkWare uses in its zero-knowledge roll-up technology.

US regulator seeks feedback on DeFi’s impact on financial crime: Finance Redefined

US regulators want to know from the industry on what they think about the financial crimes associated with DeFi.

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week.

The United States regulators want to take a closer look at money laundering and terror financing laws by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), as it asked banking sector players for feedback on DeFi’s crime risks.

Ethereum developers are targeting the last week of March for Ethereum’s Shanghai hard fork and some additional improvement upgrades by June of next year. Ankr protocol has deployed $15 million to buy back the bad debt resulting from its recent exploit and the resultant circulation of HAY (HAY).

Chainlink deploys staking to increase the security of oracle services. Stakers will earn Chainlink (LINK) tokens as they participate in a decentralized alerting system that flags the network when feeds are not meeting performing requirements.

The top 100 DeFi tokens had a mixed week in terms of price action, as many tokens traded in green while several others posted a net loss on the weekly charts.

US regulator to seek feedback on DeFi’s impact on financial crime

A United States financial regulator is looking to gain feedback from the banking industry about how DeFi may affect the bureau’s efforts to stop financial crime.

The FinCEN said it is “looking carefully” at DeFi, while the agency’s acting director, Himamauli Das, said the digital asset ecosystem and digital currencies are a “key priority area” for the agency.

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Ethereum developers target March 2023 for Shanghai hard fork

According to a discussion at the 151st Ethereum Core Developers Meeting on Dec. 8, core programmers have set a tentative deadline of March 2023 for Ethereum’s Shanghai hard fork. In addition, developers will aim for May or June 2023 to launch the Ethereum Improvement Protocol (EIP) 4844 upgrade that will introduce proto-danksharding to the network.

Although the much-anticipated proof-of-stake Merge upgrade was completed on Sept. 15, staked Ether (stETH) is currently locked on the Ethereum Beacon Chain. The token is created by the decentralized finance protocol Lido, with close to 3.5 million stETH ($4.48 billion) in circulation. After the Shanghai upgrade, stETH users can withdraw their funds along with any applicable staking rewards for validating network transactions. The Ethereum Foundation said that it structured the upgrades in this manner to “simplify and maximize focus on a successful transition to proof-of-stake.”

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Ankr deploys $15M to make users whole as Helio stablecoin recovers after exploit

Stablecoin protocol Helio, which issues the United States dollar-pegged HAY stablecoin, said in a Dec. 7 tweet that it had bought back $3 million worth of bad debt in HAY thus far in the open market. The day prior, blockchain infrastructure platform Ankr stated it would allocate $15 million to buy back the bad debt resulting from its recent exploit and the resultant over-circulation of HAY.

A series of seemingly unrelated incidents occurred on Dec. 2 when a hacker manipulated vulnerabilities in Ankr’s smart contract code and compromised private keys after a technical upgrade. As a result, the hacker minted 20 trillion Ankr Reward Bearing Staked BNB (aBNBc), which was pegged to BNB and dumped them, with the price of aBNBc plunging to less than $2 from around $300.

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Chainlink launches staking to increase the security of oracle services

In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Chainlink said that the new staking feature is an integral part of its “Chainlink Economics 2.0” efforts that focuses on security and sustainable growth.

Previously, Chainlink users who wanted to receive LINK token rewards needed to launch their own nodes. With the newly launched staking mechanism, Chainlink stakeholders have an additional way to earn while helping increase the oracle platform’s security.

Continue reading

DeFi market overview

Analytical data reveals that DeFi’s total value locked remained above $40 billion. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView show that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a volatile week, with several tokens registering a bullish weekly surge while others traded in the red.

Synthetix (SNX) was the biggest gainer among the top 100 DeFi tokens, registering a surge of 11.8% over the past week, followed by Stacks (STX) by 10.8% and Thorchain(RUNE) with 7.47%.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education in this dynamically advancing space.

Total crypto market cap falls to $840B, but derivatives data shows traders are neutral

Regulatory pressure continues to limit each upside breakout, but data shows some compelling reasons for an eventual crypto market rally.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has dropped 1.5% in the past seven days to rest at $840 billion. The slightly negative movement did not break the ascending channel initiated on Nov. 12, although the overall sentiment remains bearish and year-to-date losses amount to 64%.

Total crypto market cap in USD, 12-hour. Source: TradingView

Bitcoin (BTC) price dropped 0.8% on the week, stabilizing near the $16,800 level at 10:00 UTC on Dec. 8 — even though it eventually broke above $17,200 later on the day. Discussions related to regulating crypto markets pressured markets and the FTX exchange collapse limited traders’ appetites, causing lawmakers to turn their attention to the potential impact on financial institutions and the retail investors’ lack of protection.

On Dec. 6, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said it is “looking carefully” at decentralized finance (DeFi), with the agency’s acting director, Himamauli Das, saying that digital asset ecosystem and digital currencies are a “key priority area.” In particular, the regulator was concerned with DeFi’s “potential to reduce or eliminate the role of financial intermediaries” that are critical to its efforts against money laundering and terrorist financing.

Hong Kong’s legislative council approved a new licensing regime for virtual asset service providers. From June 2023, cryptocurrency exchanges will be subject to the same legislation followed by traditional financial institutions. The change will require stricter Anti-Money Laundering and investor protection measures before being guaranteed a license to operate.

Meanwhile, Australian financial regulators are actively working on methods for incorporating payment stablecoins into the regulatory framework for the financial sector. On Dec. 8, the Reserve Bank of Australia published a report on stablecoins that cited risks of disruptions to funding markets, such as bank exposure and liquidity. The analysis highlighted the particular fragility of algorithmic stablecoins, noting the Terra-Luna ecosystem collapse.

The 1.5% weekly drop in total market capitalization was impacted mainly by Ether’s (ETH) 3% negative price move and BNB (BNB), which traded down 2.5%. Still, the bearish sentiment significantly impacted altcoins, with 10 of the top 80 coins dropping 8% or more in the period.

Weekly winners and losers among the top 80 coins. Source: Nomics

Trust Wallet (TWT) gained 18.6% as the service provider gained market share from the browser extension wallet launch in mid-November.

Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) rallied 17.6% as investors adjusted their expectations after a drastic 89% correction since the 1Q of 2022.

Chainlink (LINK) saw a 10.1% correction after its staking program opened up for early access on Dec. 6, indicating investors had anticipated the event.

1INCH dropped 15.2% after 15% of the supply was unlocked on Dec. 1 under its original four-year vesting schedule.

Leverage demand is balanced between bulls and bears

Perpetual contracts, also known as inverse swaps, have an embedded rate usually charged every eight hours. Exchanges use this fee to avoid exchange risk imbalances.

A positive funding rate indicates that longs (buyers) demand more leverage. However, the opposite situation occurs when shorts (sellers) require additional leverage, causing the funding rate to turn negative.

Perpetual futures accumulated 7-day funding rate on Dec. 8. Source: Coinglass

The seven-day funding rate was near zero for Bitcoin and altcoins, meaning the data points to a balanced demand between leveraged longs (buyers) and shorts (sellers) in the period.

Traders should also analyze the options markets to understand whether whales and arbitrage desks have placed higher bets on bullish or bearish strategies.

The options put/call ratio reflects moderate bullishness

Traders can gauge the market’s overall sentiment by measuring whether more activity is going through call (buy) options or put (sell) options. Generally speaking, call options are used for bullish strategies, whereas put options are for bearish ones.

A 0.70 put-to-call ratio indicates that put options open interest lag the more bullish calls by 30% and is therefore bullish. In contrast, a 1.40 indicator favors put options by 40%, which can be deemed bearish.

BTC options volume put-to-call ratio. Source: Laevitas

Even though Bitcoin’s price failed to break the $17,500 resistance on Dec. 5, there was only temporary excessive demand for downside protection using options.

Presently, the put-to-call volume ratio stands near 0.40 as the options market is more strongly populated by neutral-to-bearish strategies, favoring call (buy) options by 60%.

Related: US lawmakers question federal regulators on banks’ ties to crypto firms

Derivatives markets point to upside potential

Despite the weekly price decline in a handful of altcoins and the 2% drop in total market capitalization, there have been no signs of sentiment worsening, according to derivatives metrics.

There’s balanced demand for leverage using futures contracts, and the BTC options risk assessment metric remains favorable even after Bitcoin’s price failed to break above the $17,500 level.

Consequently, the odds favor those betting that the ascending channel will prevail, propelling the total market capitalization to the $875 billion resistance. A break above the channel would give bulls much-needed breathing room after a week of negative newsflow.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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.

Chainlink eyes 25% rally ahead of LINK staking launch in December

LINK’s price could rally on speculations over Chainlink’s oracle services growth coupled with a supportive technical pattern.

Chainlink (LINK) looks poised for a 25% price rally in the days leading up to its staking protocol launch, based on several fundamental and technical factors.

Chainlink’s price rallies ahead of staking launch

The staking feature, which will go live as v0.1 in beta mode on Dec. 6, comes as a part of the so-called “Chainlink Economics 2.0” that focuses on boosting LINK holders’ reward-earning opportunities for “helping increase the crypto economic security” of Chainlink’s oracle services.

Earlier, Chainlink users had to launch their own nodes to receive rewards in LINK tokens. The staking feature effectively opens new avenues for them to earn LINK rewards that could, in theory, boost demand for the token.

Additionally, demand for LINK’s parent platform, Chainlink, as an oracle service provider, should also increase.

David Gokhshtein, founder of blockchain-focused media company Gokhshtein Media, believes it could happen in the wake of the recent FTX collapse.

The analyst highlighted how traders have been seeking more clarity on exchanges’ reserves after the FTX fiasco, which can boost demand for oracle services like Chainlink and, in turn, push LINK’s price higher.

Chainlink Labs launched its proof-of-reserve auditing services to exchanges on Nov. 10.

The speculations have helped LINK’s price rally in recent days. Notably, Chainlink’s price gained 35.50% eight days after bottoming out locally at around $5.50 — trading for as much as $7.50 on Nov. 29, its highest level in two weeks.

The LINK/USD pair now eyes further upside in the near term, price technicals suggest.

A failed LINK price breakdown

LINK reclaimed its multi-week rising support trendline on Nov. 29, three weeks after losing it in the wake of the FTX-led market sell-off.

In doing so, the Chainlink token also invalidated its prevailing ascending triangle breakdown setup toward $4.

It now trades inside the pattern’s range, eyeing a rally toward the upper trendline near $9.40, up 25% from the current price levels, by the second week of December, as shown below.

LINK/USD three-day price chart. Source: TradingView

Michaël van de Poppe, market analyst and founder of Eight Global, also anticipates LINK to hit or cross above $9

Moreover, a bullish continuation move above the $9.40 resistance could have LINK eye $16 next, the ascending triangle breakout target.

Related: Binance publishes official Merkle Tree-based proof of reserves

Conversely, slipping below the triangle’s lower trendline again risks bringing the breakdown setup toward $4 back in play, down about 45% from current prices.

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.

Chainlink Labs offers Proof of Reserve service for embattled exchanges

The company claimed its PoR product can restore trust in crypto exchanges through greater transparency, but not everyone is convinced.

Chainlink Labs offered its Proof of Reserve product as a solution to future trust issues in the crypto exchange market on Nov. 10. In a tweet thread, Chainlink Labs asked “Will crypto continue to repeat the mistakes of the traditional black-box financial industry? Or will a better system emerge?”

In answer to this question, it offered its Proof of Reserve (PoR) product, which it said is useful for “for verifying centralized exchange asset reserves, off-chain bank account balances, cross-chain collateral, real-world asset reserves, and much more.”

Over the past few days, the crypto market has been in a freefall thanks to a liquidity crisis at the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, FTX. The exchange has been unable to process withdrawals in a timely manner, and the panic caused by these delays has spread throughout the crypto market.

In the wake of these ongoing issues, the crypto community has started to discuss ways to solve the problem, and one solution that has been offered is for customers to require that every exchange they use offer a Proof of Reserve.

Proof of Reserve is a technique that allows users to audit the reserves of crypto exchanges in real-time. Some exchanges have already implemented Proof of Reserve, and CZ of Binance has argued that all exchanges should now offer this feature.

But some exchanges have said that it will take weeks or longer to create a Proof of Reserves system.

In response, Chainlink Labs argued that its product provides an “out-of-the-box” solution that exchanges can implement immediately.

The product uses Chainlink nodes connected to both the exchange’s API and its vault addresses, and the nodes are connected to a Proof of Reserve smart contract. The contract can be queried by any other account on the network to determine whether the exchange’s crypto assets are equal to its liabilities. Chainlink Labs sees this as a simple solution to the problem of trust in exchanges.

However, not everyone is convinced. A Twitter user who goes by the name “BLanka” said that Binance chose not to use Chainlink PoR because “the merkel tree algo used by chainlink had its token set as the core piece, after some basic math we realize the token was not even needed.”

Chainlink Labs offers proof-of-reserve service for embattled exchanges

The company claimed its PoR product can restore trust in crypto exchanges through greater transparency, but not everyone is convinced.

Chainlink Labs offered its proof-of-reserve product as a solution to future trust issues in the crypto exchange market on Nov. 10. In a tweet thread, Chainlink Labs asked, “Will crypto continue to repeat the mistakes of the traditional black-box financial industry? Or will a better system emerge?”

In answer to this question, it offered its proof-of-reserve (PoR) product, which it said is useful “for verifying centralized exchange asset reserves, off-chain bank account balances, cross-chain collateral, real-world asset reserves, and much more.”

Over the past few days, the crypto market has been in a freefall thanks to a liquidity crisis at the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, FTX. The exchange has been unable to process withdrawals in a timely manner, and the panic caused by these delays has spread throughout the crypto market.

In the wake of these ongoing issues, the crypto community has started to discuss ways to solve the problem, and one solution that has been offered is for customers to require that every exchange they use offer a proof-of-reserve.

Proof of reserve is a technique that allows users to audit the reserves of crypto exchanges in real time. Some exchanges have already implemented proof of reserve, and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has argued that all exchanges should now offer this feature.

But some exchanges have said that it will take weeks or longer to create a proof-of-reserves system.

In response, Chainlink Labs argued that its product provides an “out-of-the-box” solution that exchanges can implement immediately.

The product uses Chainlink nodes connected to both the exchange’s API and its vault addresses, and the nodes are connected to a proof-of-reserve smart contract. The contract can be queried by any other account on the network to determine whether the exchange’s crypto assets are equal to its liabilities. Chainlink Labs sees this as a simple solution to the problem of trust in exchanges.

However, not everyone is convinced. A Twitter user who goes by the name “BLanka” said that Binance chose not to use Chainlink PoR because “the merkel tree algo used by chainlink had its token set as the core piece, after some basic math we realize the token was not even needed.”

Chainlink plunges from three-month high as LINK price eyes another 50% correction

LINK could drop to nearly $4 by December 2022 given its failure to close above a key resistance level despite strong whale accumulation.

Chainlink (LINK) returned to mimic the broader crypto market downtrend as its price fell alongside top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on Nov. 8. 

LINK plunged by as much as 10% into the day to reach $8. While BTC and ETH slipped by approximately 6.5% and 9%. That contrasts with the trend witnessed on Nov. 7, wherein LINK rallied 14% to $9.25, its three-month high, while BTC and ETH dropped 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively.

LINK/USD two-hour price chart. Source: TradingView

Overall, on a week-to-date timeframe, Chainlink has outperformed both Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

What’s making Chainlink stronger

LINK’s price has rebounded by nearly 75% after bottoming out at $5.29 in May. Notably, the Chainlink token’s recovery rally has coincided with a persistent increase in the supply held by its whales (entities that hold at least 1,000 LINK).

The Chainlink supply percentage held by addresses with a balance between 1,000 LINK and 1 million LINK has risen to nearly 23% in November from 18.2% in May, according to Santiment data. This indicates that rich investors may have been the key players behind the LINK price recovery.

LINK supply distribution among addresses holding 1K-1M tokens. Source: Santiment

Interestingly, the LINK accumulation trend is rising in the days leading up to the launch of “Chainlink Staking.”

Chainlink Co-founder Sergey Nazarov announced at SmartCon 2022 that their long-awaited LINK staking reward function would go live in December. In addition, the project’s official website confirms that it would enable “eligible community members” to stake LINK into its pool in December.

The LINK staking service will be opened for the public in the same month, with the initial annual percentage yield set at 5%. The event has started drawing speculations about increased demand for the Chainlink tokens by the end of 2022.

LINK appears to have benefited in the short-term due to the euphoria around the Chainlink Staking function, given other coins have tumbled in unison in response to the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research’s insolvency rumors.

A 25% correction setup is still in play

From a technical perspective, LINK’s recovery rally since May has been confined inside an ascending triangle range.

Related: Bitcoin heads to US midterms as research says dollar ‘closing in’ on a market top

Ascending Triangles are continuation patterns, meaning they typically send the price in the direction of its previous trend after a consolidation period. LINK was trending downward before it formed its ascending triangle.

The token’s likelihood of continuing its downtrend and reaching its profit target stands at 44%, per the observation of ascending triangles by veteran investor Thomas Bulkowski. The profit target is measured after adding the maximum triangle height to its breakdown point, as illustrated below.

LINK/USD three-day price chart featuring ascending triangle breakdown setup. Source: TradingView

That puts LINK en route to around $4.15 by December 2022, down about 50% from today’s price.

Conversely, independent market analyst Pentoshi anticipates LINK to reach $12 in the same period, given the token has been floating above the same support that was instrumental in sending its price to a record high in May 2021.

LINK/USDT three-day price chart. Source: TradingView/Pentoshi

“While people are quiet on it now. I don’t think that will be the case 3-4 weeks from now,” Pentoshi said.

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.

Chainlink plunges from 3-month high as LINK price eyes another 50% correction

LINK could drop to nearly $4 by December 2022 given its failure to close above a key resistance level despite strong whale accumulation.

Chainlink’s LINK (LINK) token returned to mimic the broader crypto market downtrend as its price fell alongside top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on Nov. 8.

LINK plunged by as much as 10% into the day to reach $8, while BTC and ETH slipped by approximately 6.5% and 9%. That contrasts with the trend witnessed on Nov. 7 wherein LINK rallied 14% to $9.25, its three-month high, while BTC and ETH dropped 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively.

LINK/USD 2-hour price chart. Source: TradingView

Overall, on a week-to-date timeframe, LINK has outperformed both Bitcoin and Ether. 

What’s making Chainlink stronger?

LINK’s price has rebounded by nearly 75% after bottoming out at $5.29 in May. Notably, the Chainlink token’s recovery rally has coincided with a persistent increase in the supply held by its whales (entities that hold at least 1,000 LINK).

The LINK supply percentage held by addresses with a balance between 1,000 LINK and 1 million LINK has risen to nearly 23% in November from 18.2% in May, according to Santiment data. This indicates that rich investors may have been the key players behind the LINK price recovery.

LINK supply distribution among addresses holding 1,000–1 million tokens. Source: Santiment

Interestingly, the LINK accumulation trend is rising in the days leading up to the launch of “Chainlink Staking.”

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov announced at SmartCon 2022 that the long-awaited LINK staking reward function would go live in December. In addition, the project’s official website confirms that it will enable “eligible community members” to stake LINK into its pool in December.

The LINK staking service will be opened for the public in the same month, with the initial annual percentage yield set at 5%. The event has started drawing speculations about increased demand for the Chainlink tokens by the end of 2022.

LINK appears to have benefited in the short term due to the euphoria around the Chainlink Staking function, given that other coins have tumbled in unison in response to the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research’s insolvency rumors.

A 25% correction setup is still in play

From a technical perspective, LINK’s recovery rally since May has been confined inside an ascending triangle range.

Related: Bitcoin heads to US midterms as research says dollar ‘closing in’ on a market top

Ascending triangles are continuation patterns, meaning they typically send the price in the direction of its previous trend after a consolidation period. LINK was trending downward before it formed its ascending triangle.

The likelihood of the token continuing its downtrend and reaching its profit target stands at 44%, per the observation of ascending triangles by veteran investor Thomas Bulkowski. The profit target is measured after adding the maximum triangle height to its breakdown point, as illustrated below.

LINK/USD three-day price chart featuring ascending triangle breakdown setup. Source: TradingView

That puts LINK en route to around $4.15 by December 2022, down about 50% from Nov. 8’s price.

Conversely, independent market analyst Pentoshi anticipates LINK to reach $12 in the same period, given that the token has been floating above the same support that was instrumental in sending its price to a record high in May 2021.

LINK/USDT three-day price chart. Source: TradingView/Pentoshi

“While people are quiet on it now. I don’t think that will be the case 3-4 weeks from now,” Pentoshi said.

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.

SWIFT partners with Chainlink for cross-chain crypto transfer project

The project will connect SWIFT’s network to nearly every blockchain to allow traditional finance players access to digital and traditional assets on one network.

Interbank messaging system SWIFT has partnered with price oracle provider Chainlink to work on a proof-of-concept (PoC) project which would allow traditional finance firms the ability to transact across blockchain networks.

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov announced the project at its SmartCon 2022 Conference in New York on Sept. 28 alongside SWIFT strategy director Jonathan Ehrenfeld Solé.

At the conference, Solé said there is “undeniable interest from institutional investors into digital assets,” adding these traditional finance players want access to digital and traditional assets on one platform.

The PoC utilizes Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability protocol (CCIP), allowing SWIFT messages to instruct token transfers across nearly every blockchain network, which, according to Nazarov, will accelerate the adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT) blockchains across capital markets and traditional finance.

The SWIFT interbank messaging system is the most widely used platform for traditional cross-border fiat transactions, connecting over 11,000 banks around the world. In August the system recorded an average of 44.8 million messages per day.

However, transactions on SWIFT’s network can take several days to complete. The company has been exploring blockchain and DLT technology and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to facilitate faster payments.

Chainlink added this collaboration with SWIFT allows financial institutions to gain blockchain capability without replacing, developing and integrating new connectivity into legacy systems, something it said would require substantial modifications with an “exceptionally high” cost.

Related: Why interoperability is the key to blockchain technology’s mass adoption

Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said at a panel session in May on CBDCs that he doesn’t expect SWIFT to exist in five years, likely due to the rising competition from CBDCs for cross-border payments and settlements.

Mastercard later clawed back the statement, noting that Miebach simply meant that SWIFT’s operations will continue to evolve from its current form. 

Here is why a 0.75% Fed rate hike could be bullish for Bitcoin and altcoins

The Federal Reserve is set to raise interest rates this week. Here’s why traders expect a 0.75% hike to trigger a crypto market rally.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite index suffered their worst weekly performance since June as investors remain concerned that the Federal Reserve will have to continue with its aggressive monetary policy to curb inflation and that could lead to a recession in the United States.

Bitcoin (BTC) remains closely correlated to the S&P 500 and is on track to fall more than 9% this week. If this correlation continues, it could bring more pain to the cryptocurrency markets because Goldman Sachs strategist Sharon Bell cautioned that aggressive rate hikes could trigger a 26% fall in the S&P 500.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

The majority expect the Fed to hike rates by 75 basis points in the next meeting on Sept. 20 to Sept. 21, but the FedWatch Tool shows an 18% probability of a 100 basis point rate hike. This uncertainty could keep traders on edge, resulting in heightened short-term volatility.

If the Fed’s rate hike is in line with market expectations, select cryptocurrencies could attract buyers. Let’s study the charts of five cryptocurrencies that are positive in the near term.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin recovered from $19,320 on Sept. 16 and rallied above $20,000 on Sept. 17, but the bulls are struggling to sustain the higher levels. This suggests that the bears are active at higher levels.

BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) of $20,432 has turned down gradually and the relative strength index (RSI) is in the negative zone, suggesting that the sentiment remains negative and traders are selling near overhead resistance levels.

If the price continues lower and breaks below $19,320, the BTC/Tether (USDT) pair could decline to $18,510. Buyers are expected to defend this level with vigor.

On the upside, the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) of $21,605 is the key level to keep an eye on. If the bulls push the price above it, the pair could rally to $25,211. A break and close above this resistance could indicate the start of a new uptrend.

BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The 4-hour chart shows that the sellers are trying to stall the recovery at the 20-EMA. This indicates that the bears are in no mood to surrender their advantage. If the weakness persists and the price breaks below $19,320, the pair could slide to $18,510.

Conversely, if the price turns up from the current level and breaks above the 20-EMA, the recovery could extend to the 50-SMA. This level may again act as a resistance but if this obstacle is cleared, the next stop could be the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level of $21,470.

XRP/USDT

Ripple (XRP) has been stuck inside a range between $0.30 and $0.39 for many days. The price has reached the resistance of the range, and if the bulls clear this hurdle, it could signal the start of a new uptrend.

XRP/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

In a range, traders usually buy near the support and sell close to the resistance. If the price turns down sharply from the current level and breaks below the moving averages, it will indicate that the XRP/USDT pair may extend its consolidation for a few more days.

Although the moving averages are crisscrossing each other, the RSI has jumped into positive territory, indicating that the bulls have a slight edge. If buyers drive and sustain the price above $0.39, the pair could rally to $0.48.

XRP/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The pair rallied sharply from $0.32 to $0.39, indicating strong buying by the bulls. The 20-EMA has turned up and the RSI is in the positive zone, suggesting that the path of least resistance is to the upside.

If the price continues higher and breaks above $0.39, the bullish momentum could pick up and the pair could rally to $0.41. This level may act as a resistance but if buyers flip the $0.39 level into support, the up-move could resume.

LINK/USDT

Chainlink (LINK) has been stuck inside a large range between $5.50 and $9.50 for the past several weeks, indicating that buyers are attempting to form a bottom. The bulls pushed the price above the moving averages and the RSI jumped into positive territory, indicating that the positive momentum could be improving.

LINK/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

There is a minor resistance at $8.30 and if the bulls push the price above it, the LINK/USDT pair could rally to the stiff resistance at $9.50. This level is likely to attract aggressive selling by the bears, but if the bulls pierce through the barrier, it could indicate the start of a new uptrend.

The moving averages are the important support to watch for on the downside because if they give way, the selling pressure may pick up. That could start a decline to $7.00 and thereafter to $6.20.

LINK/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Buyers are attempting to defend the moving averages on the 4-hour chart. That could start a recovery toward the overhead resistance at $8.20. If the price rises above this overhead resistance, the pair could rally to $9.00.

If bulls fail to push the price above $8.20, the bears may fancy their chances and try to sink the pair below the moving averages. That may tilt the advantage in favor of the bears. The pair could first decline to $7.50 and then to $7.00.

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EOS/USDT

The bears pulled EOS below the 50-day SMA of $1.44 on Sept. 15, but they could not break the support at $1.34. This suggests that the bulls are buying on dips and are attempting to form a low near $1.34.

A minor negative is that the bulls are facing strong resistance at the 20-day EMA of $1.50. This indicates that the bears have not given up and are attempting to wrest control. This tussle between the bulls and the bears is likely to resolve with a strong breakout.

If the price breaks above the 20-day EMA, the bullish momentum could pick up and the EOS/USDT pair could rally to $1.86. Alternatively, if the price turns down and breaks below $1.34, the pair could decline to $1.24. A break below this support could sink the pair to $1.00.

EOS/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The recovery faltered near $1.50, indicating that the bears continue to sell on rallies. The bears will try to further cement their edge by pulling the price below the strong support of $1.34, but that may not be that easy.

Buyers have defended the $1.34 level on three occasions and will again try to do so. If the price rebounds off $1.34, the bulls may again attempt a rally above the overhead resistance of $1.50. If they manage to do that, a rally to $1.70 and later to $1.86 is possible.

XTZ/USDT

Tezos (XTZ) broke below the 20-day EMA of $1.57 on Sept. 13, but the bears could not pull the price to the support line of the symmetrical triangle. This indicates that buyers are accumulating on dips and not waiting for a deeper correction to make an entry. This increases the likelihood of a recovery in the near term.

XTZ/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

If the price breaks above the 20-day EMA, the XTZ/USDT pair could rise to the 50-day SMA of $1.66. This level has acted as a strong resistance on two previous occasions; hence it is an important level to keep an eye on. If the bulls overcome this barrier, the pair could attempt a rally to the resistance line of the triangle.

A break above the triangle will signal a potential trend change. The pair could then rise to $2.00 and later to $2.36.

Meanwhile, the bears are likely to have other plans. They will try to stall the recovery at the moving averages. If the price turns down from the current level and slips below the $1.50 to $1.40 support zone, the June low at $1.20 may be revisited.

XTZ/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The 4-hour chart shows that the bulls defended the support at $1.50 and pushed the price above the downtrend line, but they could not sustain the higher levels. If the bears sink the price below $1.50, the pair could decline to $1.40.

On the other hand, if the price rebounds off the $1.50 support once again, it will suggest that lower levels continue to attract buyers. The bulls will then try to push the price above the moving averages and challenge the resistance at $1.62. If this level gives way, the up-move could reach $1.70.

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