For years, cryptocurrency advocates have touted the world-changing capability of digital currency and blockchain technology. Yet with the passing of each market cycle, new projects come and go, and the promised utility of these “real-world use case” projects fails to satisfy. While a majority of tokens promise to solve real-world problems, only a few achieve this, and the others are mere speculative investments. Here’s a look at the three things cryptocurrency investors can actually “do” with their coins. Lending Perhaps the simplest use case offered to cryptocurrency holders is also one of the oldest monetary applications in finance: lending. Ever …

Neutrino Dollar (USDN), a stablecoin issued through Waves-backed Neutrino protocol, lost its U.S. dollar-peg on April 4 amid speculations that it could become "insolvent" in the future. USDN plunges 15% despite WAVES backing USDN dropped to as low as $0.822 on Monday with its market capitalization also diving to $824.25 million, down 14% from its year-to-date high of $960.25 million. Interestingly, the stablecoin's plunge occurred despite Neutrino's claims of backing its $1-peg via what's called "over collateral," i.e., when the total value of Waves (WAVES) tokens locked inside its smart contract is higher than the total USDN minted, also called …

The decentralized finance (DeFi) market has been undergoing a period of maturation over the past year and many of last year's fast risers have faded into obscurity but this does not mean the formerly "famous" protocols have not continued to build. One blue-chip project that is regaining momentum is Aave (AAVE), a non-custodial liquidity protocol that allows users to lend, borrow or stake their assets to earn yield from their holdings. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of AAVE has rallied 110% from a low of $114 on March 15 to a daily high at …

Anchor Protocol (ANC), a DeFi platform built on Terra blockchain protocol, rebounded nearly 300% in over a month after bottoming out near $1.26. ANC price went as high as $4.97 on the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange on March 3, 2022, breaking above the previous record peak near $4.50 established on Dec. 3 last year. In doing so, the Anchor Protocol also erased all the losses it had incurred during what some called "crypto winter" that started in Q4/2021 — against the prospects of the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes. ANC is the governance token of the Anchor Protocol's decentralized money market …

As 2022 gets underway, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector of the cryptocurrency ecosystem appears to be gaining momentum in what could be an echo of the bullish market seen in seen in early 2021. Data from crypto market intelligence firm Messari shows that over the past 30 days, 5 out of the top 10 DeFi protocols have seen their tokens post double-digit gains. This is in spite of the struggles that Bitcoin has faced, a dynamic which usually places bearish pressure on the wider crypto market. A deeper dive into the data shows that AAVE, Curve (CRV) and Spell Token …

2021 was a breakout year for the cryptocurrency market in many respects and most investors are absolutely thrilled that Bitcoin (BTC) price established a new all-time high of $68,789. In the same timeframe, Ether (ETH) went on a parabolic rally which saw its price gain 565% from Jan. 1 to hit a record high at $4,859 on Nov. 10. While it was a banner year for large cap cryptocurrencies, some of the biggest gains and most impactful developments came from the altcoin market where decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) rallied by thousands of percent and helped to usher …

Sentiment in the cryptocurrency market is back on the rise on Nov. 29 as the recent dip down into the “extreme fear” zone on the Crypto Fear and Greed Index slightly improved after Bitcoin (BTC) recovered above the $57,000 support, lifting the index higher into the “fear" zone. Despite the overall “fear” and “extreme fear” sentiments that have been dominating the market since the index began to decrease on Nov. 16, several sub-sectors of the cryptocurrency market including Metaverse-related projects and gaming protocols have seen breakouts to new all-time highs. The rapid gains seen in these projects has led to …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have gained significant traction in the cryptocurrency sector, with a total value locked surpassing $271 billion, based on data from DefiLlama. One exceptionally popular category of DeFi services is that of decentralized borrowing and lending, where users can pledge their crypto as collateral and take out stablecoin loans (or vice versa) to pay for everyday expenses while their investment continues to grow. Such protocols typically charge a spread or difference between deposit and lending rates as a service fee. But then there are protocols like Minterest that seek to distribute a vast majority, if not all, …

In a presentation made during the Singapore Fintech Festival, Annerie Vreugdenhil, chief innovation officer of ING, announced the firm is working on a trial of its decentralized finance, or DeFi, peer-to-peer lending protocol with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. Vreugdenhil said the following in regards to the development, as reported by Ledger Insights: We are looking into peer-to-peer lending in a DeFi kind of setup. But then not on Bitcoins. What is interesting to us is how you can probably create peer-to-peer lending or open up lending capabilities with different kinds of collateral. So with different ways of …

Demand for Aave has boomed dramatically in the previous 24 hours as traders assessed its involvement in Bitwise Investment’s upcoming institutionally focused investment vehicle. The San Francisco-based asset management firm announced Wednesday that it would invest directly in Aave to back its “Bitwise Aave Fund,” a fund created to build a bridge between accredited investors and the emerging decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. “There is growing demand from financial advisors, hedge funds, institutions, and other professional investors for exposure to the fast-growing DeFi markets,” Matt Hougan, chief information officer of Bitwise, said in a press release, adding that the investment products …

Aave hovered near its three-week high on Tuesday, helped by the prospects of its foray into the mainstream through the launch of an institutional lending platform. Fundamentals Dubbed as Aave Pro, the platform expects to become a “permissioned liquidity protocol” by offering institutions, corporates and fintech clients access to decentralized finance (DeFi). That said, it would follow strict regulations while onboarding participants, ensuring that their Ethereum addresses are safe-listed following a thorough Know Your Customer process. “We will have different kinds of permissioned markets so that DeFi will be more layered and tailored to specific needs,” Stani Kulechov, founder and …

Analyzing the activity on lending platforms can sometimes be used as a barometer for measuring the sentiment of the cryptocurrency market as a higher number of collateral-backed loans may signal that traders are eager to trade a rising market. The month of April saw the total value locked on Maker (MKR), Aave (AAVE) and Compound (COMP) climb to new highs alongside rising token values and trading volumes. All three of the projects are based on the Ethereum (ETH) network and have benefited from the rising price of ETH as well as a recent decline in the average gas fee that …