Tezos

Google Cloud partners with Tezos blockchain to develop Web3 tech

The partnership will see Google Cloud becoming a validator on the Tezos network.

Google’s cloud computing arm has added another string to its Web3 bow, with a new partnership to see it becoming a network validator on the Tezos blockchain.

On Feb. 22, the Tezos Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit foundation supporting the Tezos blockchain, announced it had teamed up with Google Cloud to allow customers of the cloud computing business to deploy Tezos nodes and build Web3 applications on the blockchain.

Tezos is a blockchain-based smart contract platform used to power decentralized applications, similar to Ethereum, Cardano and others. Corporates that have used Tezos include gaming giant Ubisoft and the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Big news! @googlecloud is now an official Tezos baker, giving Google Cloud customers access to Tezos’ #blockchain technology. Looking forward to seeing how this partnership unfolds for the Tezos community https://t.co/uRs1xR0TnA

— Tezos (@tezos) February 22, 2023

This partnership also will make it possible for companies and developers to host and deploy RPC (Remote Procedure Call) nodes for Web3 applications using the Tezos blockchain and Google Cloud infrastructure. The announcement said:

“The Tezos Foundation will provide new and existing Google Cloud customers access to its corporate baking program. Through the program, Tezos will offer Google Cloud customers that are interested in building Web3 applications, easy deployment of nodes and indexers on the Tezos protocol.”

The partnership is also set to provide select Tezos incubator startups with Google Cloud credits and mentorship via the Google for Startups Cloud Program.

“At Google Cloud, we’re providing secure and reliable infrastructure for Web3 founders and developers to innovate and scale their applications,” said James Tromans, Engineering Director, Web3 at Google Cloud.

Meanwhile, Tezos Foundation Chief Commercial Officer Mason Edwards said the partnership was a step toward achieving institutional adoption and mass-market opportunities for Web3 technology.

In January 2022, Google Cloud established a dedicated team for digital assets, aimed at facilitating the growth and advancement of the blockchain ecosystem. The team’s primary objective was to assist Google Cloud clients in generating, exchanging, preserving value and introducing novel products on blockchain-powered platforms

In October, the Near Foundation unveiled a new collaboration between Near Protocol and Google Cloud. The partnership was set to offer infrastructural support for Near’s Web3 startup platform, Pagoda.

California DMV to digitize car title management system via Tezos

California DMV’s chief digital officer, Ajay Gupta, emphasized that the agency is looking to modernize its current systems and bring greater transparency to car title transfers.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is testing out the digitization of car titles and title transfers via a private Tezos blockchain.

The move is part of a collaboration between the California DMV, Tezos and blockchain software firm Oxhead Alpha, with the latter announcing a successful proof-of-concept on Jan. 25.

The California DMV has tapped Oxhead Alpha to build on a private Tezos testnet that it has dubbed a “shadow ledger.” It is essentially designed to become a blockchain-based replication of the agency’s current database.

The California DMV’s chief digital officer Ajay Gupta told Fortune on Jan. 26 that the agency wants to have the shadow ledger ironed out within the next three months.

Following on from that, it is looking to roll out applications such as digital wallets to hold and transfer nonfungible token car titles, with the DMV acting as a middleman to oversee such operations.

“The DMV’s perception of lagging behind should definitely change,” Gupta told Forbes.

Oxhead Alpha’s president, Andrew Smith, outlined that the California DMV’s blockchain initiative will serve a wide range of use cases for the agency, particularly concerning the modernization of its current paper-based systems.

Smith highlighted examples of transaction fraud, in which car sellers hide key information about the vehicle’s condition to offload a dud or “lemon” onto unsuspecting buyers.

While faulty vehicles have a special designation on their titles in California, Smith noted that sellers can move the car over to another state and hide the faulty designations with relative ease.

However, with blockchain-based record keeping and other DMVs potentially adopting the tech, Smith suggested it would be much easier to track the actual history of vehicles digitally.

“As far as the benefit for having a persistent digital title, this is a very obvious use case,” he said.

Commenting on why Tezos was a good fit for the DMV, Smith outlined in the firm’s Jan. 25 announcement that the blockchain “solves some of the really hard problems in blockchain in an elegant way.”

“The combination of responsible consensus, on-chain governance and institutional grade security makes Tezos a great platform for delivering production-ready solutions,” he said.

The move from the California DMV is likely to be followed by others in the state moving forward. In May 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to direct and explore opportunities for blockchain tech integrations with state government agencies.

“California is a global hub of innovation, and we’re setting up the state for success with this emerging technology — spurring responsible innovation, protecting consumers and leveraging this technology for the public good,” said the governor.

Nifty News: Building bridges in the metaverse, elaborate Apes scam and more

A South Korean province is using the metaverse for closer economic ties with Vietnam and an elaborate phishing scam netted 14 Bored Apes.

South Korea’s Gyeongbuk Province has announced plans to use Web3 technology to expand its economic relations with Vietnam.

In a Dec. 19 announcement, the province’s governor Lee Cheol-woo said the metaverse project would focus on “growing economic, cultural, commercial, and people-centered contacts with Vietnam.”

Back in June, the province announced it would invest $13.8 million to establish itself as a hub for metaverse innovation in the hope of growing the local economy.

South Korea has been very active in metaverse development since the beginning of 2022 and it aims to become the fifth most metaverse-ready country in the world. It has allocated $186.7 million to create an all-encompassing metaverse platform known as the Expanded Virtual World.

14 Bored Apes stolen in phishing scam

A cybersecurity analyst using the name Serpent has detailed in a lengthy Dec. 17 post how a scammer allegedly stole 14 Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) nonfungible tokens (NFTs) through a month-long social engineering scam.

The analyst alleged the scam began when the victim was asked to license the intellectual property rights for the Apes, with the scammer claiming to be “a casting director working for ‘Forte Pictures’,” on an NFT-related film called The Return of Time. Serpent said the alias used by the alleged scammer was fake, although Forte Pictures is a real company (and not involved).

Using a fake website, fake pitches, legal contracts and other elaborate subterfuge including Twitter Spaces to build credibility, they offered a bid for the NFTs and directed the victim to a fake NFT platform where they were asked to “sign the contract,” which is where the wallet drain took place.

“The scam website displayed a gas-less Seaport signature, which they claimed he needed to sign for the license. However, the signature actually created a private bundle listing of all of the victim’s BAYCs to the scammer for 0.00000001 ETH,” Serpent said.

“The scammer’s wallet, funded by Secret Network, ran the match orders function to complete the private sale. The scammer then accepted the highest WETH offers on all of the NFTs, then converted the 852.86 WETH to 1.07m DAI,” the analyst added.

10/ A few notes to take:
– Understand what you’re signing, don’t blindly sign random signatures/transactions
– Don’t sign Seaport signatures outside of OpenSea
– Don’t trust new/random platforms
– Use multiple wallets (Hot, cold, hardware)
– Always confirm authenticity/identities

— Serpent (@Serpent) December 17, 2022

Manchester United launches NFT collection

Manchester United Football Club has launched its first collection of NFTs on the Tezos blockchain.

According to the collection’s website, the initial drop was free, and only required fans to sign in using their Tezos wallets to claim an NFT.

The wait is over!

Get United’s first digital collectible! Unlock now

Powered by @Tezos and brought to you by Tezos ecosystem companies. #MUFC || #CollectUnited

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 16, 2022

NFTs were divided into three groups based on their rarity — classic, rare and ultra rare — and were distributed to subscribed fans at random.

Each NFT acts as a key offering access to competitions, tickets, content on Discord and the chance to join the club’s new virtual world, which is set to launch at a later date.

Trump NFT collection right-clicked images?

Eagle-eyed social media sleuths are questioning whether Donald Trump’s NFT collectible project plagiarized images from other sources.

On Dec. 15, the former U.S. president unveiled a collection of 45,000 NFT trading cards, with the artwork depicting himself in outfits such as golf attire, hunting gear and a superhero costume.

In the days following the NFT drop, some Twitter users undertook reverse image searches on Google and uncovered similarities between the NFTs and images from a variety of other sources, including Amazon and Shutterstock.

In one example, Matthew Sheffield, who describes himself as a right-wing media operative, compared an NFT of Trump wearing waders and holding a rifle, to a very similar wader set from a hunting apparel company.

Trump’s NFT of him pretending to be a hunter (something he would not be caught dead doing in real life) seems to be derived from this wader set https://t.co/OepeYADNB6 pic.twitter.com/cJ8sxDu5m2

— Matthew Sheffield (@mattsheffield) December 16, 2022

More Nifty News:

Amazon’s new series NFTMe explores NFT culture and disruption worldwide as artists, collectors, and industry professionals across the world share their experiences with NFTs and how the merger between art and technology has positively affected their daily lives.

Artist and founder of the family-friendly NFT collection Lucky Ducky, Jeremy Fisher, told Cointelegraph that NFTs are great tools for general mass adoption and teaching newcomers about the space, including younger generations.

Shopify users get their hands on Tezos NFTs with new partnership

The Tezos NFT ecosystem gained a lot of traction over the past year due to its low cost of minting and energy efficiency.

The Tezos blockchain partnered with Web3 automation platform Taco to allow Shopify users to access Tezos nonfungible tokens (NFTs) via Taco’s NFT loyalty program. The e-commerce giant has established itself as a growing destination for brands looking for Web3 engagements.

TheTaco app allows brands to integrate Web3 solutions such as NFTs to increase engagement with customers and e-commerce platforms such as Shopify use Taco app plugins to offer these services to their merchants.

The NFT loyalty programs aid brands in strengthening their bonds with consumers, boosting customer engagement and retention. The latest integration of Tezos NFTs would help the blockchain utilize its NFTs to reward devoted customers with special offers, discounts and experiences.

With the latest integration of Tezos into the Taco app, Shopify merchants everywhere now have a new method to interact with customers and connect to the expanding Tezos NFT community.

Earlier in June, Shopify announced a new reward system called Tokengate under its connect-to-consumer initiative. Token gate allowed select merchant partners to roll out exclusive goods for NFT stakeholders. The e-commerce giant was among the first to integrate Bitcoin and Lightning payments on its platform.

Tezos’ energy-efficient architecture, added to its affordable NFT minting and low transaction fees, has drawn a diverse NFT community of artists, collectors and builders from all around the world. The high energy efficiency of Tezos has made it the go-to platform for NFT integration, for example, gaming giant Ubisoft integrated Tezos NFTs for its gaming rewards toward the end of 2021.

Tezos, a proof-of-stake blockchain registered a significant bump in on-chain activity and smart contract transactions thanks to a rising NFT market. The platform registered 50,000 transactions per day in the first quarter of 2022 from less than 10,000 per day in January 2021.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

All ‘Ethereum killers’ will fail: Blockdaemon’s Freddy Zwanzger

“All the Ethereum killers from back in the day didn’t succeed, and I don’t expect them to succeed at all,” Blockdaemon’s Ethereum lead told Cointelegraph.

Blockdaemon’s ETH ecosystem lead Freddy Zwanzger believes Ethereum will retain its leadership position in the crypto ecosystem over the coming years due to its utility as a smart contract platform and upgrades to the network following the Merge.

Speaking to Cointelegraph during the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) this week, Zwanzger said:

“It’ll continue to be a leader. I mean, obviously, the first and most important smart contract platform, and that’s not going to change.”

Blockdaemon is an institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure platform that offers node operations and infrastructure tooling for blockchain projects.

The Blockdaemon employee also took aim at so-called “Ethereum killers” — competing Layer 1 blockchains — which have tried to topple Ethereum from its leadership position but failed.

“All the Ethereum killers from back in the day didn’t succeed, and I don’t expect them to succeed at all.”

Crypto projects that have been touted as “Ethereum killers,” include Solana, Cardano, Tezos, and Polkadot, among others. Many of these blockchains tout lower fees and faster transactions but have fewer active developers and certain blockchains place h less emphasis on decentralization.

To date, none have managed to displace Ethereum from its number two spot in terms of market cap. Cardano and Solana currently sit in the eighth and ninth positions, Polkadot is ranked 11 while Tezos is ranked 37, according to Coinmarketcap.

Zwanzger believes that the upcoming Merge will further propel Ethereum onwards and upwards in terms of technology and price.

“There are so many good things in there, like environmentally-friendliness, [and] all sorts of things that are beneficial to a lot of people. Staking will become more attractive,” he said.

“It’s a show of strength and commitment that the roadmap is materializing.”

The Ethereum Merge involves transitioning it from the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mining consensus to a proof-of-stake (PoS) model, and has been tentatively scheduled to be rolled out around September 19.

However, Zwanzger admitted the big future challenge for Ethereum will continue to be scalability.

“The original Ethereum roadmap was focused on sharding, but that’s not so much the case anymore. Now we have a roll-up-centric roadmap, so scaling via layer 2 solutions.”

Currently, the “proof-of-work” consensus model allows the blockchain to process 15 to 20 transactions per second (TPS) according to data from Blockchair.

A quantum leap in the number of transactions per second is expected sometime in 2023 when the Ethereum network introduces sharding.

Sharding is a multi-phase upgrade to improve Ethereum’s scalability and capacity by splitting the entire network into multiple portions in order to increase the network capacity.

Sharding will work hand in hand with layer 2 solutions to further “supercharge” the scalability of the network.

Post-sharding, cofounder Vitalik Buterin has claimed the network will be capable of transaction speeds up to 100,000 TPS.

All ‘Ethereum killers’ will fail: Blockdaemon’s Freddy Zwanzger

“All the Ethereum killers from back in the day didn’t succeed, and I don’t expect them to succeed at all,” Blockdaemon’s Ethereum lead told Cointelegraph.

Blockdaemon’s Ethereum ecosystem lead Freddy Zwanzger believes Ethereum will retain its leadership position in the crypto ecosystem over the coming years due to its utility as a smart contract platform and upgrades to the network following the Merge.

Speaking to Cointelegraph during the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) this week, Zwanzger said:

“It’ll continue to be a leader. I mean, obviously, the first and most important smart contract platform, and that’s not going to change.”

Blockdaemon is an institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure platform that offers node operations and infrastructure tooling for blockchain projects.

The Blockdaemon employee also took aim at so-called Ethereum killers — competing layer-1 blockchains — which have tried to topple Ethereum from its leadership position but failed:

“All the Ethereum killers from back in the day didn’t succeed, and I don’t expect them to succeed at all.”

Crypto projects that have been touted as Ethereum killers include Solana, Cardano, Tezos and Polkadot, among others. Many of these blockchains tout lower fees and faster transactions but have fewer active developers and certain blockchains place h less emphasis on decentralization.

Zwanzger believes that the upcoming Merge will further propel Ethereum onward and upward in terms of technology and price.

“There are so many good things in there, like environmentally-friendliness, [and] all sorts of things that are beneficial to a lot of people. Staking will become more attractive,” he said:

“It’s a show of strength and commitment that the roadmap is materializing.”

However, Zwanzger admitted the big future challenge for Ethereum will continue to be scalability:

“The original Ethereum roadmap was focused on sharding, but that’s not so much the case anymore. Now we have a roll-up-centric roadmap, so scaling via layer-2 solutions.”

Currently, the proof-of-work consensus model allows the blockchain to process 15 to 20 transactions per second (TPS), according to data from Blockchair.

A quantum leap in the number of transactions per second is expected sometime in 2023 when the Ethereum network introduces sharding.

Sharding is a multi-phase upgrade to improve Ethereum’s scalability and capacity by splitting the entire network into multiple portions in order to increase the network capacity.

Sharding will work hand in hand with layer-2 solutions to further “supercharge” the scalability of the network.

Post-sharding, cofounder Vitalik Buterin has claimed the network will be capable of transaction speeds up to 100,000 TPS.

Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, FTT, XTZ, KCS, HNT

Bitcoin managed to bounce off a critical support and if the higher levels sustain, FTT, XTZ, KCS and HNT could attract buyers.

Bitcoin (BTC) is threatening to drop to its worst weekly close since December of 2020. The crypto markets are in are held firmly in a vice grip, and the selling accelerated following a higher-than-expected inflation report from the United States on June 10.

It is not only the crypto markets that are facing the brunt, even United States equities markets finished the week ending June 10 with sharp losses. Risky assets may remain volatile in the near term as traders await the outcome of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting on June 14 and June 15.

Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodities strategist Mike McGlone warned that if the stock markets continue to drop, then it will signal that most assets may have seen their peak exuberance in the past two years.

Could Bitcoin find support at lower levels and will that attract buying in select altcoins? Let’s study the charts of the top-5 cryptocurrencies that are likely to move up if the sentiment improves.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin broke below the trendline on June 10, which negated the developing ascending triangle pattern. The bears maintained their selling pressure and pulled the price below the strong support of $28,630 on June 11.

The long tail on the June 12 candlestick shows that bulls are attempting to defend the support at $26,700. If buyers propel the price back above the breakdown level of $28,630, it will suggest that the BTC/Tether (USDT) pair may remain range-bound between $32,659 and $26,700 for some time.

On the other hand, if the price turns down from $28,630, it will suggest that bears have flipped the level into resistance. That could increase the possibility of a break below $26,700. If that happens, the selling could intensify, and the pair may drop to $22,000 and later to $20,000.

The pair rebounded sharply from $26,890, indicating aggressive buying near the crucial level of $26,700. The bulls will attempt to push the price back above the breakdown level of $28,630. If that happens, the next stop could be the 50-simple moving average (SMA). A break and close above this level could clear the path for a possible rally to $32,000.

The downsloping 20-exponential moving average (EMA) and the RSI in the negative zone indicate that bears have the upper hand. If the price turns down from $28,630, the bears will make one more attempt to sink the pair below $26,700 and resume the downtrend.

FTT/USDT

FTX Token (FTT) has been in a downtrend for the past several months, but the RSI has formed a positive divergence, indicating that the bearish momentum may be weakening.

The bulls pushed the price above the 20-day EMA of $29 on June 9 but could not sustain the higher levels. The bears pulled the price back below the 20-day EMA, but the bulls did not give up much ground. Sustained buying by the bulls has pushed the price above the resistance on June 12.

The FTT/USDT pair could rally to the 50-day SMA of $32 and if this level is crossed, the up-move may reach $35. This positive view could invalidate if the price turns down and breaks below $25. Such a move will suggest the start of the next leg of the downtrend.

*FTT/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows the formation of an inverse head and shoulders pattern that will complete on a break and close above the neckline. If that happens, the pair could start a new up-move toward the pattern target of $34.

On the contrary, if the price fails to sustain above the neckline, it will suggest that bears are not willing to let go of their advantage. The sellers will then try to pull the price below $26. If they succeed, the pair could slide to $25.

XTZ/USDT

Tezos (XTZ) rose above the 50-day SMA of $2.14 on June 9, but the bulls could not build upon this strength. This suggests that the bears are active at higher levels.

Strong selling by the bears pulled the price below the moving averages and the XTZ/USDT pair dropped to the crucial support zone of $1.61 to $1.45. If the price rebounds off this zone, the bulls will again try to push the pair above the 50-day SMA and challenge the overhead resistance at $2.36.

This positive view could invalidate if the price continues lower and slips below the support zone. If that happens, the pair could resume its downtrend and drop toward the psychological level of $1.00.

The 4-hour chart shows the price is stuck inside the range between $2.30 and $1.61. Usually, when the price consolidates in a range, traders buy near the support and sell close to the resistance. That is what happened, as seen from the rebound off $1.61.

The bears may try to sell on rallies to the 20-EMA, but if bulls clear this hurdle, the likelihood of the pair rising to $2.30 increases. To invalidate this view, bears will have to sink and sustain the price below $1.61. If that happens, the pair may drop to $1.45.

KCS/USDT

KuCoin Token (KCS) rallied sharply from its May 12 intraday low of $9.50 and reached $18 on May 31. This sharp up-move may have tempted short-term traders to book profits, which started the current correction.

The buyers will try to defend the zone between the 50% Fibonacci retracement level of $13.75 and the 61.8% retracement level of $12.75. If the price rebounds off this zone, the bulls will attempt to push the KCS/USDT pair above the moving averages.

If they manage to do that, it will suggest that the correction may be over. The pair could then retest the critical resistance at $18.

Alternatively, if the price continues lower and breaks below $12.75, it will suggest that traders may be rushing to the exit. That could increase the possibility of a 100% retracement to $9.50.

*KCS/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The bulls attempted to stall the decline near $15 but the bears continued their selling and pulled the price below the support. Although the price is trading below $15, a minor positive is that the bulls have not allowed the bears to extend the decline.

The buyers will attempt to push the price back above $15 and the 20-EMA. If they succeed, it will suggest that lower levels continue to attract strong buying. That could push the price to $16.30 and next to $17.

Conversely, if the price turns down from $15, it will suggest that bears have flipped the level into resistance. That could open the doors for a further decline to the $14 to $13.50 zone.

HNT/USDT

Helium (HNT) has been in a downtrend for the past several months. The buyers attempted a recovery and pushed the price above the 50-day SMA of $10.86 on June 9, but the bears had other plans.

The bears sold aggressively at $12.50 on June 10 and trapped the aggressive bulls. That led to long liquidation, which pulled the price back below the 20-day EMA of $9.69 on June 11. The bulls will attempt to stall the decline at the strong support at $8 and form a higher low.

If they manage to do that, the HNT/USDT pair will again attempt to rise above the moving averages and challenge the resistance at $12.50.

This positive view could invalidate in the near term if the price breaks below $8.00. If that happens, the pair could slide to the May 12 intraday low of $6.54. A break below this level will suggest the resumption of the downtrend.

*HNT/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The break and close below $11 intensified selling and resulted in a waterfall decline. The moving averages have completed a bearish crossover, and the RSI is in the negative territory, indicating an advantage to bears.

The attempt to start a recovery is facing strong resistance near $9.50. If this level is crossed, the next hurdle may be the 20-EMA. A break above this resistance will be the first sign that the selling pressure may be reducing.

Alternatively, if the price turns down from the overhead resistance and breaks below $8.50, the pair could drop to the strong support at $8.00