The price of leading crypto assets remains 50% down from the highs achieved earlier this year, but the NFT market is proving surprisingly resilient with OpenSea a new Crypto Unicorn.
Valuart, a startup that mints licensed NFTs derived from original artworks, has launched its first drop. The auction for ‘Spike,’ a digital artwork based on the iconic Banksy installation that first surfaced in Palestine, commenced on July 22. Fifty percent of the proceeds raised from the sale will go to charity.
Created by infamous street artist Banksy, ‘Spike’ is now in the possession of Vittorio Grigòlo. The world famous tenor and Valuart co-founder is auctioning a digital interpretation of the Bansky work, reimagined as a CGI artwork. In the NFT version, Spike is seen floating across the universe until it is eventually returned to its rightful place on earth, to emerge as a newly minted non-fungible token.
Vittorio Grigòlo said,
“After months of hard work, we can finally share our creation with the world. I’m convinced that Valuart’s model represents the future of how we perceive, admire and give value to art and artists. This first drop is a stepping stone that will pave the way towards a very exciting future for artists and their art, as well as art collectors and art lovers.”
Following the Spike drop, Valuart plans to launch digital originals (1:1 digital clones) of some of the world’s most iconic licensed artworks. This will include ‘Mantum and the Stole’ scheduled for October 22. This unique artwork by Stefano Zanella was first worn on December 24, 1999 by Pope John Paul II to mark the opening of the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica.
Valuart is intent on digitizing some of the most famous artworks ever created, breathing new life into a classic medium and giving NFT collectors a chance to acquire a piece of creative history. The company has on-boarded leading artists, institutions and celebrities for this purpose.
After certifying the authenticity of a given artwork on the blockchain in collaboration with the owner of the physical asset, Valuart creates a digital original (a perfect digital “clone”) and contextualizes it into unique stories through market-leading content creation. In doing so, it aims to foster a new standard for the NFT art market.
“I’m thrilled to participate in this project and use my voice to create a magical atmosphere for the rebirth of this extraordinary piece of art I discovered more than a decade ago,” said Vittorio Grigòlo. “I cannot wait to share this amazing creation with the public.”
Fifty percent of the revenues deriving from the auction of the ‘Spike’ NFT drop will be dedicated to supporting those suffering from conflicts throughout the world.
About Valuart
Valuart was founded by crypto enthusiasts Etan Genini, Vittorio Grigòlo, and Michele Fiscalini with the goal of helping artists realize the true value of their work. Valuart connects art collectors with creators, unlocking new opportunities for monetization through the medium of NFTs. By tokenizing classic artworks, Valuart is bringing the art world into the 21st century.
Learn more – www.valuart.com
Contact
Etan Genini
This content is sponsored and should be regarded as promotional material. Opinions and statements expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of The Daily Hodl. The Daily Hodl is not a subsidiary of or owned by any ICOs, blockchain startups or companies that advertise on our platform. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in any ICOs, blockchain startups or cryptocurrencies. Please be advised that your investments are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility.
Ethereum (ETH) is currently the leader when it comes to smart contract capabilities and the sheer number of projects operating on its network, but the push to build products on Bitcoin (BTC) is gaining traction with advocates like Square CEO Jack Dorsey spearheading the effort to bring decentralized finance (DeFi) to the Bitcoin network.
One project aiming to combine the features of DeFi with the security of the Bitcoin network is Stacks (STX), a layer-one blockchain protocol designed to bring smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) to the Bitcoin network.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since dropping to a low of $0.50 on June 22, STX price rallied 195% to $1.47 on July 11 and now that Bitcoin has shown some bullish momentum, STX price is moving higher again with a 10% gain on July 22.
STX/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:TradingView
Three reasons for the recent strength in STX include the release of the Clarity programming language which brought smart contracts to Stacks 2.0 and Bitcoin, the ability for STX holders to stake tokens for BTC rewards and the arrival of DeFi and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to the Bitcoin network.
Smart contracts come to Bitcoin
The introduction of the Clarity programming language on Stacks has been the main catalyst of growth for the Stacks ecosystem because it enabled the creation of smart contracts on the Bitcoin network.
I hear this smart contracts for Bitcoin thing might be, maybe, sort of a big deal.@Stacks
— muneeb.btc (@muneeb) July 8, 2021
Clarity claims to be a “decidable language” which means that “you can know, with certainty, from the code itself what the program will do.”
The main difference between Clarity and other smart contract languages is its decidable language, which is not Turning complete, and the fact that the language is interpreted and broadcast on the blockchain as is, rather than being compiled, which “ensures that the executed code is human-readable and auditable.”
The collaboration between the two networks means popular sectors like DeFi and NFTs now have a way to operate and be recorded on the Bitcoin network without needing to worry about slow transaction times and increased costs.
STX holders can earn BTC by staking
Stacks recently rolled out STX staking for holders and this enables them to earn BTC as a reward.
The Stacks network uses a novel mining protocol called proof-of-transfer (PoX), which runs in parallel to Bitcoin and uses the BTC network as a reliable broadcast medium for its block headers.
While most proof-of-stake networks offer staking rewards paid out in the native token, members of the Stacks community can stake their STX tokens to earn BTC at an average rate of 10%.
This represents one of the few opportunities across the crypto space where a token holder can stake their tokens and earn BTC as a reward.
Related:Crypto staking rewards and their unfair taxation in the US
DeFi and NFTs come to Bitcoin
On July 10 STX created and sold the first-ever Bitcoin NFT from the Stacks blockchain.
Historic moment for #Bitcoin
Cara Delevingne’s “Mine”, the first ever Bitcoin #NFT to be minted and auctioned on the #Stacks blockchain has sold for 18000 STX. $21000 at current prices
Cost to mint and transfer “Mine” was just 0.0007 #STX or $0.001https://t.co/hjJRZwGPgR
— Jim.btc (@iCrypto_) July 10, 2021
The event was meant to mark the beginning of a new era of smart contracts on Bitcoin and additional bullish news revealed that USD Coin (USDC) will expand to the Stacks network. This prompted some pundits to cite the Bitcoin Law which states that “successful experiments in crypto will eventually come to Bitcoin.”
The arrival of NFT and DeFi capabilities have also introduced new ways to leverage these popular sectors to earn a yield in BTC and this has the potential to attract new participants.
As a result of these developments, momentum for STX has been on the rise in July as evidenced by an increase in price and 24-hour trading volume.
VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for STX on July 19, prior to the recent price rise.
The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.
VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. STX price. Source:Cointelegraph Markets Pro
As seen on the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for STX climbed into the green on July 19 and reached a high of 70 roughly 34 hours before the price rallied 42% over the next two days.
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.
Ethereum value has taken some hits in the past few months as the coin has since significant losses in the price after the digital asset had hit its all-time high back in May. The price of ethereum had gone as high a $4,300, but the price has since crashed over 50% since then and now sits at less than $2,000 at the time of this writing.
Notwithstanding, crypto analyst and trader Kaleo predicts that the price of ETH is set to grow immensely in the next 12 months. The crypto analyst looks through movements of ethereum from back in 2017 and predicts that based on this, the digital asset is poised to experience a parabolic rally in its price.
Related Reading | As Ethereum Price Suffers, Investors Wonder If ETH Can Become Deflationary
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The long-term price prediction from Kaleo puts the digital asset price at over $10k, following a major altcoins season. The analyst’s prediction puts the price of ethereum at well over an 860% increase in the second half of the year 2021.
Ethereum And Bitcoin Price Predictions For 2021
Taking to his Twitter, which remains his primary method of communication, Kaleo gave a couple of predictions regarding the prices of the top two digital assets in the space.
According to the crypto trader, the price of bitcoin was going to see another run-up that would put the digital asset in a six-figure discovery range. Joining the ranks of crypto analysts who have put the price of the number 1 crypto coin at $100,000 before the year runs out.
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ETH price down over 50% since all-time high | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com
In line with this, Kaleo put the price of ethereum at a whopping $10,000, not minding the current bearish sentiments that continue to rock the markets as digital assets have continuously lost value amid sell-offs from investors.
The tweet further went on to predict more adoption from institutions and governments. While simultaneously calling out that there will be continuous FUDs from institutions and governments surrounding cryptocurrencies.
My predictions for the second half of 2021:
– $BTC enters 6 figure price discovery
– $ETH breaks above $10K
– We see one more major alt season
– More institutional / government adoption
– More institutional / government FUD
– Cryptunez gets a girlfriend
– Bears remain bearish
— K A L E O (@CryptoKaleo) June 17, 2021
Long-Term Predictions For 2022 To 2023
Kaleo, who uses the handle @CryptoKaleo on Twitter, posted a follow-up tweet containing even more longer-term predictions for the top crypto coins. The tweet included price predictions for both bitcoin and ethereum, and predictions for major regulations to follow. But unlike the first predictions for the second half of 2021, these predictions were much more bearish, explaining that prices would crash in this time period.
Related Reading | Ethereum Whales Go On Buying Spree, Top 10 Addresses Now Own 20% Of All ETH
My predictions for 2022/2023:
– $BTC back down to ~$50K
– $ETH back down below $1K
– Alts die again
– Bears who were bearish the whole way up from here to the top call for infinite clout
– Major regulation comes against crypto. People call Bitcoin dead again (it isn’t)
— K A L E O (@CryptoKaleo) June 17, 2021
Kaleo sees the price of ethereum falling over 90% after it hits its predicted $10,000 in the second half of 2021. Calling the price crash to be under $1,000 when this happens. Altcoins were also predicted to crash at this point, putting the general market at this point in a bear stretch.
Featured image from Forbes, chart from TradingView.com
Thomas Peterffy – Founder and Chairman of Interactive Brokers – revealed he had personally purchased some cryptocurrencies for himself. In addition, the billionaire stated that the clients of his company have been showing a growing demand for digital assets services.
‘You Have to Play The Odds’
During a CNBC interview, the Hungarian-born businessman Thomas Peterffy admitted that he has invested in cryptocurrencies. Despite saying that he is still skeptical over the long-term future of the asset class, he noted that there is a possibility it would become a globally dominant currency:
“Even I myself have put a little bit of money into crypto, because even though chances are, I think, that this is not going to be a viable market, I think that there’s a small chance that this will be a dominant currency, so you have to play the odds.”
Peterffy’s words came as a change of heart since he previously said that Bitcoin needs to stay away from the “real economy.” On the other hand, the billionaire, known as the “father of high-speed trading,” opined that cryptocurrencies are a great idea but only if the governments and officials allow their free trade and usage.
The top executive, who did not specify which virtual currency or currencies he owns, revealed that the customers of Interactive Brokers are more and more interested in the asset class, and the company plans to launch such trading options:
“Several of our clients expressed interest. And I completely understand it.”
Thomas Peterffy, Source:Bloomberg.com
Interactive Brokers to Allow Crypto Trading
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As CryptoPotato recently reported, one of the leading brokerage companies – Interactive Brokers – will indeed start offering cryptocurrency trading services to its clients by the end of this summer.
Thomas Peterffy asserted that the firm with more than three million trades per day must deliver maximum security for its clients while operating with virtual assets:
“As for hurdles, the greatest hurdle is how do you keep your customers 100% safe. How do you make it 100% sure that no one will steal their coins in spite of the fact that they are untraceable. We will find more about this when we open for business at the end of the summer.”
Featured Image Courtesy of YourStory
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Running a Lightning Node has nuances but can be profitable and effective if done right.
10 weeks ago, I joined the Lightning Network barely knowing how to open a channel. Last week I became a profitable Lightning Network routing node.
Here’s some tips on the ultimate strategy game for LN node operators from one Bitcoin pleb to another.
Running a node is more of an art because each individual channel needs its own unique care and attention. It’s kind of like having a tamagotchi that needs to constantly be taken care of.
Between analyzing traffic flow, fees, which channels to open and close, and rebalancing, you really have to take the time to see how traffic moves and what it costs to move. You have to dig in at the individual route then look at a more macro view over time to set your fees and know where to put your sats. This is where the human touch comes in.
Sure you can program a script to automate fees for you, and there are some great ones out there, but I don’t think we’re at the point where it can analyze traffic patterns, overall flow, most strategic rebalancing routes, and the best channels to open to to minimize costs and maximize profits.
The Peer Is More Important Than The Channel Size
Most people say channel size (girth) is everything. The bigger, the better. This is true to an extent. Really channels under 2 million sats don’t see any flow, but I have 2 million sat channels that route more traffic than my 20 million sat channels.
It just depends on who they’re connected to, where that traffic is going, and what their fee structure is. A good way to analyze routes is during rebalancing. You can see who is connected to who, where things can cheaply move, or where there is room to open a channel to one of the connecting nodes to minimize fees and maximize routing potential.
Alex Bosworth’s Balance of Satoshis (BOS) has been super helpful in seeing rebalancing routes. So really I guess it’s not about the size, but what you do with it?
Rebalancing
I’ve heard a lot of people say rebalancing doesn’t help. I’ve heard people say you should have all balanced channels. I haven’t found either to be true.
I rebalance constantly. But I rebalance to “feed the traffic.” I don’t keep a channel perfectly balanced unless traffic flows both ways. If traffic flows one way, which a lot of channels do, then I constantly push or pull sats back to feed the traffic.
More feeding, more sats. If it’s not profitable to rebalance certain channels, then up your fees.
How Did I Calculate My Break Even?
I took all routing fees and subtracted: rebalancing fees, on-chain transactions (opening/closing channels fees, moving sats to my node, and any Loop Outs).
If you don’t run a Lightning node yet, now is the time to experiment. The mempool is empty so you can open channels at 1 sat/vb, while bitcoin is only around $30,000. When Lighting adoption really takes off and bitcoin multiplies in value, you’re going to thank yourself that you got in early and your relatively “small” channel sizes will be massive in the future.
Also, join Plebnet (plebnet on Telegram) and we’ll help you get started! I’ve learned more in the last two months than I have in years. The learning is addicting.
It’s More Of An Art Than A Science.
I’m sure having a technical coding or software background has its advantages, but as someone that never used a command line prior to running a node, I don’t think it’s really needed at this stage in the game.
Between Umbrel, myNode, RaspiBlitz, and communities like Plebnet, it’s never been easier to build a node, find information, or ask questions.
Crypto trader and market analyst Lark Davis is looking to the past to see if Bitcoin (BTC) could hit six figures this year.
Davis says that Bitcoin’s current price action is reminiscent of Ethereum’s 2017 bull run.
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“Is there precedent for an asset having a massive run up, then a long brutal corrective period followed by a spectacular blow off top later that year? Yes, of course.
Ethereum did almost [exactly] that in 2017, ended the year 237% higher than the ‘top’.”
Davis is also sharing a chart from analyst Benjamin Cowen that compares return on investment (ROI) in previous crypto cycles.
“I also like this chart from Ben Cowen about Bitcoin cycle ROI. Either this was the shortest cycle with the lowest ROI or we are going to get a pretty spectacular second act.”
Using the Fear and Greed Index as a reference, Davis says that sentiment among crypto traders has been decidedly negative for the past two months.
“Sentiment wise we are very bearish. I can give ample anecdotal evidence from my comment section here and on [YouTube], many are feeling very very pessimistic.
BTC fear and greed index has basically been below 25 for over two months!”
The creators of the index say “extreme fear” in the market could indicate traders are overly pessimistic.
Davis says BTC and other crypto markets still need a catalyst to spark a new and sustainable rally.
“BUT what we really need is new fuel for the bull engine.
Defi summer 2020 was bull fuel.
Institutions buying was bull fuel in Q4 2020, and Q1 2021.”
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VET has seen a 5.7% profit in the daily chart after the VeChain Foundation (VF) published the roadmap for the Proof-of-Authority (PoA) 2.0. At the time of writing, VET trades at $0,068.
VET closing in on important resistance levels in the daily chart. Source: VETUSDT Tradingview
A major milestone for the project, the foundation expects to eliminate the tradeoffs from the Nakamoto Consensus and Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The new PoA 2.0 consensus will enable the blockchain VeChainThor to leverage a high throughput capability with guaranteed data finality.
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Thus, the users and companies building on this platform can apply high volume use cases with “the highest level of data security”, according to the VeChain Foundation.
The update has been dubbed SURFACE, meaning Secure, Use-case-adaptative, Relatively Fork-free Approach of Chain Extension. Peter Zhou, Chief Scientist at the VF, said the following about the update:
The consensus algorithm is the most important part of a public blockchain. Its major upgrade on mainnet has to be done with max cautiousness. It’ll be done on VeChainThor step by step. Never expect it to be a one-off thing or you are doing it in a wrong way.
Thus, the update was roll-out to a new public testnet that implements VIP-193 and VIP-200, part of the PoA2.0 consensus, according to the project’s GitHub repository.
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The proposal focuses on 3 aspects, the VRF-based source of randomness and the Committee-endorsing block producing process.
The former will improve VeChain security and the ledger’s selection mechanism, the latter will reduce the blockchain’s probability of forking, and a passive block finality confirmation process.
A Roadmap For One Of VeChain Most Important Milestones
This new update will bring what the VeChain Foundation has called the Economic Digitization, and a “clear” path to large-scale adoption. The VF added:
PoA 2.0 was developed to meet the increasing demand for better performance and greater security from the enterprise and business-tier clients developing solutions with our toolsets. With the involvement of blockchain experts from top tier VeResearch partners contributing, PoA 2.0 is a significant milestone in the entire blockchain industry.
Users can go into the testnet and deploy or build decentralized applications. The VF has enabled a faucet app that was created by the project’s core team of developers.
In the future, the VET community and stakeholders will go through a voting process to make an official implementation on the mainnet.
This update has generated great hype in the VET community. On July 13, core developers completed a stress and security test before deploying the public testnet.
Many argued that the increase in adoption and potential for massive use cases will have a positive impact on VET’s price.
In the short term, VeChain has followed the general market sentiment to the downside and must reclaim the $0.069 area if it wants to open the door of a strong rebound to previous highs.
The Texas State Securities Board has filed for a cease and desist order against crypto lending firm BlockFi for not offering a security licensed at the state or federal level.
According to a Thursday filing, the state regulator will be holding a hearing related to allegations BlockFi is illegally funding its crypto lending operations and proprietary trading through the sale of unregistered securities. Should the judge accept that the platform’s accounts earning interest on crypto represent unlicensed securities, BlockFi may be subject to a cease and desist order.
Should the judge grant the order at the Oct. 13 virtual hearing, BlockFi and its affiliates BlockFi Lending and BlockFi Trading would likely be required to stop offering BlockFi Interest Accounts in the state without registering with a local regulator or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing claims that BlockFi has more than $691 million assets under management from roughly 25,000 Texas residents as of June 9.
Related: Texas wants to protect privacy elements of blockchain companies, says Blockcap
Texas’ Enforcement Division of the State Securities Board notified BlockFi on April 20 that it may not have been in compliance with the state’s Securities Act with its interest accounts. It alleged in today’s filing that the BlockFi Interest Accounts were in violation of Section 4.A of the Securities Act, saying:
“The mere fact an investment is tied to a cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, or some type of digital asset does not remove it from securities regulation if it constitutes an investment contract, note, evidence of indebtedness, or other type of security.”
BlockFi is already facing a cease and desist order from the New Jersey Bureau of Securities preventing it from onboarding new interest account clients. Today the Alabama Securities Commission also issued an order giving the platform 28 days to show cause why it should not be subject to similar regulatory penalties for allegedly selling unregistered securities in Alabama. The lending platform has claimed the BlockFI Interest Account is not a security.
Related:Texas regulator allows state-chartered banks to hold Bitcoin
With the exception of BlockFi, Texas has generally been a state welcoming to crypto and blockchain firms. Governor Greg Abbott has spoken openly about his support of local laws concerning crypto and blockchain, with lawmakers passing a bill to recognize cryptocurrencies under commercial law in the state in June.
In addition, the state is already home to some major crypto mining firms including Riot Blockchain, Argo Blockchain, and Blockcap. Cointelegraph reported last month that miners displaced by regulatory crackdowns in China might be looking at Texas given the state’s cheap electrical costs.
The largest Bitcoin ATM operator in the world has said it will be expanding into Circle K locations in the United States and Canada.
Bitcoin Depot announced today that more than 700 of its Bitcoin ATM machines had already been installed at Circle K convenience stores in 30 U.S. states as part of the new partnership. The crypto ATM distributer said the expansion could provide underserved communities with financial access tools and attract more people to the crypto space.
“Over the last year, we have watched cryptocurrency gain mainstream adoption by wealth managers and investment firms, but what about the people that don’t have access to those services?” Bitcoin Depot’s director of product Alona Lubovnaya told Cointelegraph. “ATMs being located in Circle K’s provide an easy onramp for the underbanked and less affluent, not just someone with a wealth manager.”
The company claims to have more than 3,500 crypto ATMs in operation across the U.S. and Canada allowing customers to purchase more than 30 different types of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), and Ether (ETH). Alimentation Couche-Tard, the Canada-based operator of Circle K, reports that its brand operates roughly 7,150 stores in the U.S. and 2,111 in Canada.
Bitcoin Depot announced last year that it was suspending service to certain machines in areas at high risk during the ongoing pandemic. The company has since reported that it has restored service to all locations, despite the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States.
Related:The number of Bitcoin ATMs in the US rose 177% over the past year
The number of crypto ATMs across the globe allowing customers to exchange fiat for crypto has grown significantly in recent years. At the time of publication, data from CoinATMRadar shows there are roughly 24,000 crypto ATMs in 75 countries, from Kazakhstan to Australia. The majority — more than 20,000 — are in the United States.
“Our mission is to Bring Crypto to the Masses,” said Lubovnaya. “We will continue to do this with significant partner expansions going forward.”
July 22, 2021 – Lugano, Switzerland
