eth

Breaking: Shanghai upgrade executed on testnet but not without issues

Ethereum validators are now one step away from being able to unstake their Ether from the Beacon Chain.

The Shapella hard fork has been executed on the Goerli testnet — the last test run before Ethereum validators will be able to withdraw their Ether (ETH) from the Beacon Chain.

There were, however, issues with the hard fork. Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko noted that while deposits were being processed, the process didn’t run as smoothly as it could have because several testnet validators didn’t upgrade their client software before the Goerli fork.

He blamed it on testnet validators having “less incentive” to make the upgrade given that the Goerli ETH “is worthless” but expects validators to make proper adjustments ahead of the fork on the Ethereum mainnet.

Ethereum researcher “terence.eth” explained that it took 15 epochs for Shapella to be forked onto the Goerli testnet because network participation was below the two-thirds threshold:

Through Ethereum Investment Proposal EIP-4895 staked ETH from the Beacon Chain will be “pushed” to the execution layer.

While the Shapella upgrade comprises five different EIPs, EIP-4895 has been by far the most anticipated as it moves Ethereum one step closer to a fully functional proof-of-stake system.

Shapella is expected to take effect on the Ethereum mainnet in early April following a few delays in preparing the Sepolia and Goerli testnets for the fork.

The hard fork will allow for partial and full withdrawals, and will theoretically unlock 17.6 million ETH when Shapella is forked, which equates to over $30 billion at current prices.

However several mechanisms are in place to prevent a flood of the ETH supply from hitting the market, according to the Ethereum Foundation.

The number of withdrawals allowed within a 24-hour period will only represent about 0.40% of the total staked ETH because only an approximate 2,200 withdrawals can be processed per day.

Related: Ethereum Shanghai upgrade could benefit liquid staking providers and cement ETH’s layer 1 dominance.

This is because, in most cases, a maximum of 10 validators can be assigned to an epoch and it takes approximately five or six minutes for an epoch to be processed.

If each of the 2,200 validators withdraws the full 32 ETH staked per day it would only account for about 70,000 ETH — a fraction of the 17.6 million staked.

The execution on Goerli was shared in a March 15 live stream by EthStaker on YouTube.


Ethereum core developers push Shanghai upgrade to early April

The final dress rehearsal for Shanghai has been slated for a March 14 launch, while the real thing will happen a few weeks later.

Ethereum developers have pushed back the highly-anticipated Shanghai hard fork by approximately two weeks.

Initially estimated for late March, the Shanghai upgrade will now likely be deployed sometime within the first two weeks of April. The delay was announced at an Ethereum developer meeting on March 2.

During the meeting, core developers came to the consensus that the hard fork would occur about a fortnight after the Goerli testnet launch, which has been slated for March 14. The Goerli testnet will be the final dress rehearsal for the Shanghai hard fork before it is rolled out on the mainnet.

Ethereum core developer and project coordinator Tim Beiko said, “For mainnet, we usually want to give people at least two weeks after the announcement,” before adding, “so imagine Goerli happens on the 14th, everything goes well, on the 16th, we agree to move forward with mainnet — I think the earliest that puts us is like the first week of April.”

Beiko noted in a Twitter thread on March 2 that they did not agree to a mainnet date explicitly, but they will “probably” set a date during the next developers meeting on March 16, “assuming things go well on Goerli.”

The Shanghai Capella (also dubbed Shapella) upgrade to Goerli will be the last chance for Ethereum clients and staking providers to ensure the Shanghai hard fork can go through smoothly when it launches on the mainnet.

The long-awaited Shanghai mainnet upgrade will allow the phased withdrawal of Ethereum staked on the Beacon Chain.

To maintain network stability and security, ETH withdrawals will be dynamic and dependent on how many validators there are exiting at the time. Validators must undergo a two-stage process involving an exit queue and a withdrawal period, so it will happen gradually over time.

There are currently 17.1 million ETH staked on the Beacon Chain, representing just over 14% of the entire supply. At current asset prices, it is valued at around $28 billion.

Related: Ethereum testnet successfully forks in Shanghai upgrade rehearsal

Furthermore, Shanghai has also been considered bullish for liquid staking providers. Currently, staked ETH is locked on the Beacon Chain and has been since December 2020, when the Ethereum consensus layer was launched.

Liquid staking platforms such as Lido offer more flexibility and better yield opportunities on staked ETH so may see an influx of collateral in the months following Shanghai.

Ethereum testnet successfully forks in Shanghai upgrade rehearsal

As Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade approaches next month, the network’s Sepolia testnet has successfully upgraded, simulating the scheduled hard fork.

The Ethereum blockchain’s Sepolia testnet has undergone a successful upgrade that simulates the upcoming Shanghai hard fork expected to take place on mainnet in March.

The “Shapella” upgrade, which combines the names of the upcoming Shanghai and Capella hard forks, was successfully implemented on the testnet on Feb. 28.

Shanghai is the fork’s name on the execution layer client side and Capella is the upgrade name on the consensus layer client side. One of the major changes enables validators to withdraw their staked Ether (stETH) from the Beacon Chain back to the execution layer.

Related: Lido Finance activates staking rate limit after more than 150,000 ETH staked

Validators needed to stake 32 Ether (ETH) to validate on the Ethereum blockchain. They will now be able to withdraw rewards in excess of 32 ETH and be permitted to keep validating while those who wish to fully withdraw can take all 32 ETH plus rewards and cease validating.

The next step before the Shanghai fork goes live on the mainnet will be to release the upgrade on the Ethereum Goerli testnet, which is expected to commence in March.

Reddit co-founder bought 50,000 Ether during presale for $15K

Alexis Ohanian is extremely bullish on cryptocurrency, using the proceeds from his early Ether investment to start a crypto-focused venture capitalist firm.

The co-founder of the social media website Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, reportedly bought 50,000 Ether (ETH) for just $15,000 during the cryptocurrency’s presale in 2014, costing just 30 cents per coin.

Ohanian, who left the social media giant in 2020, told Forbes on Feb. 21 that he found the idea of a decentralized store of value very attractive, partly due to his Armenian heritage, prompting him to take an early gamble on Ethereum.

“Any group of people who have in their consciousness, or in their collective history, some idea of persecution, especially by a state, makes the idea of a store of value that is not controlled by any single state very attractive. And so, in some ways it was hardwired in me then, and made me in a way receptive to the idea of a decentralized currency.”

At current prices, this investment is worth a whopping $82.5 million, according to CoinMarketCap, representing an increase of 549,589%.

He continued to explain how Turkish soldiers seized his family’s inheritance of heirloom rugs during the Armenian genocide in World War I, which led to his interest in “unseizable property.”

Due to his aversion to seizable property, Ohanian is a big proponent of self-custody. He manages the private keys to some of his most valuable crypto-related investments, keeping them off exchanges that are more vulnerable to the prying arms of governments.

When he heard about Ethereum in a meeting with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Ohanian claimed he saw the potential for developers to build a wide range of potentially unseizable assets on top of it, such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

As a result, he made his initial investment in Ether but noted in the interview that “in hindsight, I didn’t invest nearly as much as I should have.”

Related: Ethereum derivatives data suggests $1,700 might not remain a resistance level for long

Ohanian founded venture capitalist firm 776 in 2020 using the proceeds from his early investments in Ether and Coinbase. The firm has invested in 29 crypto-related startups and raised $500 million in February 2022 to finance similar investments.

In line with Ohanian’s views that bear markets allow investors to buy assets at discounted prices, the firm has regarded the latest market downturn as the perfect time to make long-term bets on the crypto industry.

The firm currently boasts over $750 million in assets under management.

Ohanian noted that although crypto is extremely volatile, “there are plenty of people who have that generational consciousness of seeing massive inflation,” which makes crypto’s volatility much more palatable.

Coinbase staking ‘fundamentally different’ to Kraken’s — chief lawyer

After the SEC’s crack-down on Kraken, Coinbase’s legal head outlined the differences between Kraken’s staking product and its own.

The staking services offered by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase are “fundamentally different” to what was offered by its peer exchange Kraken — which recently came under fire from the United States securities regulator — according to Coinbase’s head lawyer.

Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, made the comments in his response to a shareholder question regarding its staking services during a Q&A session on the exchange’s fourth-quarter results, noting:

“The staking products that we offer on Coinbase are fundamentally different from the yield products that were described in the reinforcement action against Kraken. The differences matter.”

The first point of difference Grewal highlighted was that Coinbase users retain ownership of their cryptocurrencies at all times.

In its user agreement last updated Dec. 15, 2022, Coinbase states that it merely “facilitate[s] the staking of those assets on your behalf,” but may not replace any Ether (ETH) lost to slashing — which refers to the blockchain’s mechanism for punishing bad behavior by reducing a validator’s tokens.

Grewal also suggested that another difference was its customers have a “right to the return,” with the firm unable to “simply just decide not to pay any returns at all.”

He pointed to the exchange’s registration as a publicly-traded company as another critical point of difference, which enables customers to have “deep transparent insight into our financials.”

In comparison, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) complaint against Kraken alleged its users lost control of their tokens by offering them to Kraken’s staking program and investors were offered “outsized returns untethered to any economic realities” with Kraken also able to pay “no returns at all.”

Grewal however reiterated calls for regulatory clarity on staking services in the U.S. suggesting the SEC was outlining their expectations in court complaints rather than through clear regulations, noting:

“Rules making clear these distinctions would provide very real clarity and we think the public shouldn’t have to parse complaints in federal court in order to understand what a regulator expects.”

Related: Coinbase beats Q4 earnings estimates amid falling transaction volume

In a Feb. 13 tweet, Grewal had opined that staking in itself was not a security transaction, using an analogy of harvesting oranges to elaborate on his position.

On the back of SEC Chair Gary Gensler calling on firms to register products with the regulator, Grewal indicated that Coinbase has no issues registering products with the SEC where “appropriate,” but added:

“I think it’s fair to say that at this point in time, the path to registration for products and services that may qualify as securities has not been open, or at least readily or easily open.”

Coinbase is currently facing an SEC investigation into its products similar to the one that resulted in Kraken settling with the regulator for $30 million and being prohibited from offering staking services to its U.S. clients.

Coinbase intends to put up a fight, however, with CEO and co-founder, Brian Armstrong, suggesting the company would be willing to challenge the regulator and take the matter to court.


Coinbase staking ‘fundamentally different’ to Kraken’s — chief lawyer

After the Securities and Exchange Commission’s crackdown on Kraken, Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal outlined the differences between that exchange’s staking product and its own.

The staking services offered by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase are “fundamentally different” to what was offered by its peer exchange Kraken — which recently came under fire from the United States securities regulator — according to Coinbase’s head lawyer.

Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, made the comments Feb. 21 in his response to a shareholder question regarding its staking services during a Q&A session on the exchange’s fourth-quarter results, noting:

“The staking products that we offer on Coinbase are fundamentally different from the yield products that were described in the reinforcement action against Kraken. The differences matter.”

The first point of difference Grewal highlighted was that Coinbase users retain ownership of their cryptocurrencies at all times.

In its user agreement, last updated Dec. 15, Coinbase states that it merely “facilitate[s] the staking of those assets on your behalf” but may not replace any Ether (ETH) lost to slashing, referring to the blockchain’s mechanism for punishing bad behavior by reducing a validator’s tokens.

Grewal also suggested that another difference was its customers have a “right to the return,” with the firm unable to “simply just decide not to pay any returns at all.”

He pointed to the exchange’s registration as a publicly-traded company as another critical point of difference, which enables customers to have “deep transparent insight into our financials.”

In comparison, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s complaint against Kraken alleged its users lost control of their tokens by offering them to Kraken’s staking program, and investors were offered “outsized returns untethered to any economic realities” with Kraken also able to pay “no returns at all.”

Grewal however reiterated calls for regulatory clarity on staking services in the U.S. suggesting the SEC was outlining their expectations in court complaints rather than through clear regulations, noting:

“Rules making clear these distinctions would provide very real clarity and we think the public shouldn’t have to parse complaints in federal court in order to understand what a regulator expects.”

Related: Coinbase beats Q4 earnings estimates amid falling transaction volume

In a Feb. 13 tweet, Grewal had opined that staking in itself was not a security transaction, using an analogy of harvesting oranges to elaborate on his position.

On the back of SEC Chair Gary Gensler calling on firms to register products with the regulator, Grewal indicated that Coinbase has no issues registering products with the SEC where “appropriate,” but added:

“I think it’s fair to say that at this point in time, the path to registration for products and services that may qualify as securities has not been open, or at least readily or easily open.”

Coinbase is currently facing an SEC investigation into its products similar to the one that resulted in Kraken settling with the regulator for $30 million and being prohibited from offering staking services to its U.S. clients.

Coinbase intends to put up a fight, however, with CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong suggesting the company would be willing to challenge the regulator and take the matter to court.


Wormhole hacker moves another $46M of stolen funds

The Wormhole exploiter appears to be seeking arbitrage opportunities with Ethereum-pegged assets.

The ill-gotten crypto from one of the industry’s largest exploits is on the move again, with on-chain data showing another $46 million of stolen funds has just shifted from the hacker’s wallet.

The Wormhole attack was the third-largest crypto hack in 2022, resulting from an exploit of Wormhole’s token bridge in February 2022. Around $321 million of Wrapped ETH (wETH) was stolen.

According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, the hacker’s associated wallet has become active once again, moving $46 million worth of crypto assets.

This was made up of around 24,400 Lido Finance-wrapped Ethereum staking token (wstETH), worth approximately $41.4 million, and 3,000 Rocket Pool Ethereum staking token (rETH), worth about $5 million, which was moved to MakerDAO.

The hacker appears to be seeking yield or arbitrage opportunities on their stolen loot as the assets were exchanged for 16.6 million DAI, PeckShield reported.

The MakerDAO stablecoin was then used to buy 9,750 ETH priced at around $1,537 and 1,000 stETH. These were then wrapped back into 9,700 wstETH.

On Feb. 10, an on-chain sleuth observed that the hacker was “buying the dip.”

However, the price of Ether (ETH) has since fallen below those levels over the past few hours. At the time of writing, ETH was down 2.6% on the day at $1,505, according to CoinGecko.

At the time of the transfers, stETH prices depegged from Ethereum and climbed as high as $1,570. At time of writing, they were trading 2.4% higher than ETH at $1,541. Furthermore, wstETH also had depegged and risen to $1,676, 11.3% higher than the underlying asset.

Related: Crypto exploit losses in January see nearly 93% year-on-year decline

The latest funds movement comes only a few weeks after the hacker moved another $155 million worth of Ethereum to a decentralized exchange.

On Jan. 24, 95,630 ETH was sent to the OpenOcean DEX and then subsequently converted into ETH-pegged assets, including Lido’s stETH and wstETH.

Ethereum price risks 20% correction amid SEC’s crackdown on crypto staking

Ethereum may experience a drop in user activity alongside ETH price, with crypto staking in the crosshairs of the SEC.

Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), saw its worst daily performance of the year as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stopped Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, from offering crypto staking services.

On Feb. 9, Kraken agreed to pay $30 million to settle the SEC’s allegation that it broke securities rules by offering crypto staking services to U.S. retail investors.

In particular, the news pushed down the prices of many proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain project tokens. Ethereum, which switched to a staking-based protocol in September 2022, also suffered.

On Feb. 9, ETH’s price plunged nearly 6.5% to around $1,525, the largest single-day decline since Dec. 16 of last year.

ETH/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView.com

Will Ethereum staking survive the SEC crackdown?

The SEC’s crackdown on crypto staking begins as Ethereum awaits the release of its key network upgrade, dubbed Shanghai, in March. 

The update will finally allow Ether validators — entities that have locked approximately $25.6 billion worth of ETH tokens in Ethereum’s PoS smart contract — to withdraw their assets alongside yield rewards.

As a result, multiple analysts, including Bitwise Asset Management’s chief investment officer, Matt Hougan, consider Shanghai a bullish event for Ether.

“Today, many investors who would like to stake ETH and earn yield are sitting on the sidelines. After all, most investment strategies can’t tolerate an indefinite lock-up,” wrote Hougan in his letter to investors in January, adding:

“So, most investors stay out of the market. But once that indefinite lock-up is removed, the percentage of investors willing to stake their ETH will explode.“

But doubts have been emerging about the future of crypto staking in the U.S., with Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase crypto exchange, fearing that the SEC would ban staking for retail investors in the future.

Moreover, some analysts argue that banning Ether-staking services will force users to move away from Ethereum.

Notably, Ethereum requires stakers to deposit 32 ETH (~$50,000) into its PoS smart contract to be a validator. As a result, retail investors often use third-party staking services that pool smaller amounts of ETH to enable validator status. 

“If the SEC bans crypto staking for the public, then a majority of Ethereum validators will have to come down,” argues independent analyst Ripple Van Winkle, adding:

“Because you need 32 ETH to stake. Which means the ETH network is going to experience issues.“

ETH price sees bearish rejection

From a technical perspective, Ether price is positioned for a potential 20% price correction in February.

Related: Bitcoin price hits 2-week low amid warning $22.5K loss means fresh dip

Notably, on the daily chart, ETH price has been undergoing a pullback move after testing its multimonth descending trendline as resistance. It now holds the 200-day exponential moving average (200-day EMA; the blue wave) near $1,525 as support.

ETH/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

Ether risks dropping below the 200-day EMA support wave owing to its negative market fundamentals. Such a scenario includes the next downside target at $1,200, which coincides with a multimonth ascending trendline support.

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.

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.

ConsenSys founder ‘bullish’ on Ethereum following crypto winter performance

Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin says ETH’s relatively stable value through crypto winter is reason to be bullish about Ethereum’s future.

With Ethereum showing resilience through the latest cryptocurrency winter, ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin says he’s ‘bullish’ over Ether’s (ETH) relative stability through compounding macro events. 

Cointelegraph Magazine editor Andrew Fenton spoke to Lubin at the Web3 event Building Blocks 23 in Tel Aviv, Israel, for an all-encompassing interview about the current state and future of the Ethereum ecosystem landscape.

Joseph Lubin in conversation with Cointelegraph at Building Blocks 23 in Tel Aviv, Israel in February 2023.

The co-founder of the preeminent smart contract blockchain protocol touched on several subjects, including ETH’s market performance over the past year. A myriad of macro events, including the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and the demise of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, played their role in what Lubin described as a “blow off top” for the ecosystem:

“We do this thing as you know, where we get irrationally exuberant, and then there’s a blow off top, higher highs, lower lows.”

Lubin likened the past 12 months to the early 2000s, where the dot-com boom and bust saw “crazy ideas” explored and driven by “exuberance” for geopolitical, economic and ecosystem reasons. He believes the same type of exuberance may not drive investors in the crypto space in the near future, but sees potential for more great projects and “tremendous innovation”:

“I think we’re in a phase where we have built enough enabling infrastructure. We built scalability, usability, and now we can build more useful use cases.”

Despite a tough year for the cryptocurrency markets, Lubin takes positives out of the resilience of the Ethereum ecosystem and the value being realized by “high profile companies” exploring what can be built within the nonfungible token (NFT) space in particular.

Related: What’s in and what’s out for Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade

The ConsenSys founder added that ETH’s ability to hold its value around $1200 for an extended period while certain “CeFi” players imploded was reason to be positive for the future of the ecosystem:

“It feels like there just weren’t people who would sell the token at lower prices. And that’s a good thing. I’m bullish from here.”

The Ethereum Merge also played an important role in the market value of ETH in recent months. Part of Ethereum’s move to proof-of-stake consensus was the introduction of its fee-burning mechanism, which saw Ethereum become deflationary for the first time in November 2022.

Lubin also touched on this subject, highlighting his belief that making Ether deflationary was important to ensure the underlying asset increases in value over time:

“There’s money that you spend to buy a coffee. There’s money that you invest. There’s money you can lend and borrow. You want sort of your high economic bandwidth money, like Ether, to be very fresh and to appreciate in value.”

The Ethereum co-founder also said he was confident that the Ethereum ecosystem would not see any further changes in its monetary supply and that a continual contraction of the monetary base was likely to continue.

“I think a slow contraction is reasonable, or at least if you smooth that we’ll certainly have Ether locked in the protocol and we’ll have Ether locked in other kinds of DAO voting systems, DeFi, etcetera. I do think that’s valuable for the ecosystem.”

Ethereum is now gearing up for the Shanghai hard fork, in which an important feature will be enabling staked ETH in the Beacon Chain, with user awards available for withdrawal. Ethereum Foundation developers have been aiming for March 2023 as a tentative deployment date.