Layer-one blockchain networks like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) form the foundation of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and enable smart contract functionality that has allowed the creation of new industries like decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFT). Avalanche (AVAX) is a relatively new layer-one solution that has recently seen a significant increase in price and adoption as the dominant smart-contract platform, Ethereum, continues to struggle with high transaction costs and slower processing times compared with its competitors. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $12.24 on Aug. 3, the price of AVAX rallied …

Cardano’s native token, ADA, ignored a serious price crash warning to rally to a new all-time high. The ADA/USD exchange rate reached $2.56 for the first time on Friday, following a 154.54% price boom that started on July 20. In doing so, the pair also ignored veteran trader Peter Brandt’s 60%–90% price crash warning, which was based on a classic bearish pattern called the head and shoulders. I remember being scoffed at unmercifully when I identified this top in $LTCUSD back in mid 2018 Hey Cardano trolls $ADAUSD , take aim... pic.twitter.com/3gytNHW4cR — Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) July 30, 2021 But …

Smart contracts have been a revolutionary force in the blockchain industry because they have enabled the creation of decentralized finance protocols, nonfungible tokens and a new form of carrying out transactions without the need for an intermediary. Cardano is one of the many projects that has been gaining momentum throughout 2021 and now that the project’s long-awaited smart contract capabilities are on the verge of becoming reality, the token is on the precipice of setting a new all-time high. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after bottoming at a low of $1.02 on July 20, the price …

Decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch has announced its deployment on the Optimistic Ethereum (OE) mainnet, highlighting a considerable reduction in user transaction fees and confirmation delays. Sergej Kunz, co-founder of the 1inch Network, stated that "The 1inch launch on Optimistic will facilitate a dramatic increase in transaction speed." While deposits utilizing the OE network are set to be credited almost instantly, withdrawals will require a waiting period of seven days. These wait times are expected to improve when fast withdrawal service is enabled sometime in the future. At the time of launch, the OE network will only be able to handle …

Automated market maker (AMM) and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Balancer announced Monday that it had partnered with DAO-based staking platform Lido to introduce a MetaStable Pool incentive program. MetaStable Pools are liquidity pools specifically designed to work with highly correlated (but not hard-pegged) tokens, like wrapped assets. Users will be able to create swaps between MetaStable pools and assets integrated with other liquidity pools while benefiting from cheaper swap prices and eliminating the need for individual swap-specific stable pools. They will also prevent the dilution of liquidity from existing pools and increase maximum trade amounts, according to the release. The …

The decentralized finance sector is growing at a breakneck pace. Three years ago, the total value locked in DeFi was a mere $800 million. By February 2021, the figure had grown to $40 billion; in April 2021, it attained a milestone of $80 billion; and now it stands at above $140 billion. Such rapid growth in a new market could not but attract the attention of all manner of hackers and fraudsters. According to a report by crypto research company, since 2019, the DeFi sector has lost about $284.9 million to hacks and other exploit attacks. Hacks of blockchain ecosystems …

Trading volumes on peer-to-peer nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea have surged by over 12,000% in 2021. DappRadar data shows that the total incoming value to OpenSea’s smart contracts increased to $56.07 million on Wednesday compared to $73,556 on Jan. 1. Meanwhile, the marketplace’s user count increased from 315 to 14,520 in the same period — a 4,423% increase. A major portion of OpenSea’s trading volume spike happened after June. At the start of the month, the capital entering the marketplace’s smart contracts was just $3.6 million. But by Sunday, it had surged above $71.238 million. What’s more, on the previous …

Cardano (ADA) has been in the spotlight lately partially because of its early 2021 price performance and the fact that its huge fan base has been anxiously awaiting the launch of the network’s smart contract capability in the upcoming Alonzo upgrade. While the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) took place and the total value locked in DeFi applications soared above $76 billion, Cardano investors have been waiting for nearly four years for the project to deliver on all its promises. Traders are now trying to determine whether the 50% rally since July 21 was backed by positive expectations or fundamentals. …

Spanish lawmakers are backing a new legal initiative to legitimize the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry by proposing a new bill on digital transformation. The new draft bill was introduced by Spanish political party the People’s Party (PP). It aims to drive innovation in multiple industries through regulating emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). As part of the draft bill, the PP proposed to legalize the usage of cryptocurrency and blockchain tech for mortgage and insurance purposes. Specifically, the proposal aims to allow property owners to pay mortgages with crypto and authorize the real …

The price of Ether (ETH) has been in a downward spiral ever since Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin presented at StartmeupHK Festival 2021. In a fireside chat session on May 27, Vitalik stated that several internal team conflicts caused the proof-of-stake migration to delay its launch. As reported by Cointelegraph, "Phase One," which introduces scalability through sharding, has been postponed to 2022. Furthermore, DeFi’s inherently decentralized nature might not be entirely beneficial because the sharding-style processing would need to run transactions through a relay chain. It’s impossible to pinpoint the reason behind Ether’s sharp fall from its all-time high, but the …

The Cardano network is in the watershed phase of its network development and upgrades. The ongoing phase of the protocol’s roadmap is the Goguen phase, bringing smart contracts to the network. This is the third phase of the roadmap after Byron and Shelley. The Goguen phase was split into three stages, Allegra, Mary and Alonzo. The Allegra update went live on December 16 last year, and the Mary update was deployed on the mainnet on March 1 earlier this year. This leaves the Alonzo upgrade, which was further split into three different phases, named Blue, White and Purple. While the …

For millennia, the world of art has remained unchanged for the most part. The tradition has always revolved around artists selling their work to museums, galleries, or individual collectors. In return, the artist would get a market value for their work which was often kept in private vaults and only displayed to the public ever so often. With the advent of NFTs, many artists are now able to take their work and offer it up for sale as a digital collectible. Through these blockchain-enabled digital assets, the artist cannot only maintain ownership of a piece of the art they produce …