Investors and traders may be celebrating the apparent return of “alt season” as crypto values across the board exhibit positive movement, but Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin isn’t convinced.
The cryptocurrency market is currently exhibiting strong bullish signals, with a cumulative market cap of over $388 billion. While a large portion of this growth is attributed to high market cap cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple, the top 50 altcoins are almost all experiencing 7-day average positive movement of 5%.
Cryptocurrency traders may be enthused by the shift in market sentiment, but Vitalik Buterin has decried the recent surge in interest, stating that most altcoin valuations are “far ahead of accomplishments.”
Buterin is Sick of Altcoin Speculation
In a lengthy interview with the Financial Times published earlier this week, the Ethereum creator struck out against a number of blockchain projects including Tron, which Buterin cited as an example of “projects that never had a soul.”
“There’s projects that never had a soul, that are just like, ra-ra, price go up, Lambo, vrromm, buybuybuy now!”
Buterin proceeded to critique the Tron project which, in January, boasted an astronomical market cap of $17 billion USD with no demonstrable product. While Buterin has remained staunchly opposed to cryptocurrency speculators that maintain a position in the market solely with the intent to capitalize on the new asset class, the Ethereum founders’ qualms regarding the Tron project are valid.
Promoted as a blockchain-based protocol designed specifically for the entertainment industry, Tron captured a significant amount of investor capital with no MVP.
Justin Sun, Tron’s founder, gained infamy within the cryptocurrency community for posting a continuous series of “announcements of announcements,” goading investors with promises of partnerships that took an inordinate amount of time to actualize.
Tron’s current performance is far more in line with the real value of the platform — only having recently announced testnet implementation, Tron now possesses a far smaller market cap of $3.3 billion. Related Story: Justin Sun Announces Launch of the TRON Testnet
The criticism that Buterin levels at Tron can be applied to many high market cap projects present within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Outside of high-profile blockchain projects, the level of speculation and manipulation that occurs within the cryptocurrency market is highly evident.
Viewing the weekly and even daily chart patterns of low market cap cryptocurrencies reveals concerning levels of manipulation, with evidence of “pump and dump” groups rife.
Buterin Roasts HODLers
Buterin, who recently captured the attention of the cryptocurrency community for publicly denouncingBitcoin Cash proponent Craig Wright at the recent Deconomy conference, is widely known to hold enmity toward the Tron project.
Buterin challenging Wright at Deconomy 2018
The ongoing wrath of Vitalik Buterin, however, is not limited to blockchain developers and project founders. In his conversation with the Financial Times, Buterin ridiculed cryptocurrency millionaires that have profited by HODLing their investment through the wild vicissitudes of the crypto market:
“It’s the luck of the draw, where everyone who won the draw seems to feel like they deserved it for being smarter. I was loyal and I was virtuous and I held through and therefore I deserve to have my five mansions and 23 lambos!”
Buterin’s evident hostility toward cryptocurrency speculators and his perceived overvaluation of the altcoin market appears to step from a frustration with the lack of focus on the underlying technology behind cryptocurrencies in favor of short-term profits.
Speaking with Israeli financial newspaper, TheMarker, last year, Buterin outlined his perspective on innovation versus capitalization:
“I think that one of the reasons for this is that it is a social revolution wrapped in something speculative, that can make people rich. Sometimes a conflict is created between people that want to change the world and people that see this technology as an investment instrument.”
Buterin may hold a valid perspective, but it’s arguable that the extremely lucrative altcoin market is a key driver in attracting institutional investors to the blockchain sector which, in turn, drives further innovation.
Ultimately, Buterin makes a strong argument for blockchain technology as a disruptor of monolithic financial and societal structures, emphasizing his vision of the true impact of the blockchain revolution:
“Scrappy grocery stores, with five-year-old kids helping mommy and daddy rearrange the water bottles. These are the people you’re actually serving”
Aside from Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies will also need to undergo some major changes in the future. For Ethereum, a new improvement protocol has been submitted which could introduce some major changes. It is only normal that a lot of people will scrutinize the basic idea of this proposal, known as the Standardized Ethereum Recovery Proposals EIP.
ETHEREUM RECOVERY PROPOSALS IN A NUTSHELL
It has become evident there are a fair few issues when it comes to funds on the Ethereum blockchain. Although growing pains are nothing out of the ordinary in this regard, fixing these problems won’t be easy. In the past, the Ethereum developers bailed out holders of the DAO’s token simply because the funds would have been unspendable otherwise.
While that set an intriguing precedent for the future of Ethereum bailouts, nothing significant has happened since. That may come to change in the near future thanks to EIP 867. This particular proposal aims to introduce a Standardized Ethereum Recovery mechanism which would allow for blockchain-based modifications to deal with funds being lost, stolen, or unspendable due to technical issues.
Such improvement protocols will always be met with a lot of scrutiny. Some people will undoubtedly claim this measure is designed to make it easier for the developers to recover stolen funds, although such an approach could lead to some abuse as well. Although the EIP itself doesn’t advocate for or against particular recovery proposals, it will be interesting to see how all of this plays out in the coming months and years.
The proposal itself aims to become a common solution to address certain “classes of lost funds” on the Ethereum blockchain. If there is no disagreement about the right course of action, such a recovery standard could introduce a lot of positive changes in the future. Since smart contract technology is still in the early stages of development, it is very likely that more funds will be either lost or stolen due to technical imperfections.
For one thing, this EIP could bring some relief to victims of the recent Parity contract issue. With those funds still stuck in limbo many months after the incident was reported, it has become apparent that a completely new solution will need to be developed at some point. A standardized proposal like this one could certainly make that possible, assuming the developers accept it.
Whether or not EIP 867 will become part of Ethereum remains to be determined. It is evident something needs to be done to recover the funds stuck in limbo right now, and this approach may be far more favorable compared to a traditional hard fork. Only time will tell how things play out in this regard, as this EIP is still subject to review.
Ethereum price has been recovering during the past couple of weeks after a bullish wave that had been controlling the market since the latter half of February. However, the market has been moving sideways during most of Tuesday’s trading sessions. A day high of $523.80 was recorded on Tuesday, before dropping down to a day low of $501.50. Earlier today (Wednesday), Ethereum price began to rise again along the upwards trend line that has been apparent on the ETHUSD charts since April 10th, as we will see later. The ETHUSD is about to test an important resistance level around $545.17 during the next 24-48 hours.
How can we expect Ethereum price to behave during the upcoming 24 hours?
NEW UPWARDS TREND LINE APPARENT ON THE 1 DAY ETHUSD CHART:
We will examine the 1 day ETHUSD chart from Bitfinex, while plotting the 50 period SMA, the Williams Alligator’s SMAs, and the MACD indicator, as shown on the below chart. We can note the following:
To mark basic resistance and support levels that will help us during our upcoming analyses, we will extend Fibonacci retracements that span from the low recorded on October 23rd, 2017 ($273.50), and the high recorded on January 13th, 2018 ($1,424.06). As shown on the above chart, we can note that ethereum price is heading towards a crucial resistance level around $545.17, which corresponds to the 76.4% Fibonacci retracement.
A new upwards trend line is now apparent on the chart (the blue trend line on the above chart) and proves that the bearish wave that was evident since the latter half of February, has been successfully reversed. A “bullish engulfing” candlestick pattern was completed on April 8th, and marked the beginning of a new bullish wave.
The Williams Alligator’s SMAs are realigning to exhibit a bullish signal, which confirms that the bullish wave is getting stronger. Now, the green SMA (lips) is on top, and the blue SMA (jaw) is on the bottom. The red SMA (teeth) is moving to lie between the lips and the jaw, which completes the bullish alignment. When this alignment is completed, we can say that the alligator’s mouth is “open and eating” in the bullish direction. As such, we can expect ethereum price to break through the resistance around the 76.4% Fib. retracement ($545.17) during the next 24-48 hours.
Even though the value of the MACD is still in the negative territory, it exhibits a bullish alignment, as the blue MACD line has crossed above the red signal line. The MACD is sloping in an upwards direction which boosts the significance of the bullish signal conveyed via the MACD.
THREE “BULLISH ENGULFING” CANDLESTICK PATTERNS APPARENT ON THE 4 HOUR ETHUSD CHART:
Now, let’s examine the 4 hour ETHUSD chart from Bitfinex, while plotting the Williams Alligator’s SMA and the Ichimoku Cloud, as shown on the below chart. We can note the following:
An upwards trend line (bluish trend line on the above chart) is evident on the chart and confirms the current bullish sentiment of the market.
Three bullish engulfing candlestick patterns have been formed since April 6th. These patterns represent evidence that March’s bearish wave has been broken down and that a new bullish wave is controlling the market.
The Williams Alligator’s SMAs are exhibiting a strong bullish alignment. The alligator’s mouth is “open and eating” in the bullish direction. As such, we can expect Ethereum price to rise towards the resistance around $545.17 during the next 24-48 hours.
The Ichimoku Cloud has turned green (bullish). Ethereum price has climbed above the cloud, and the candlesticks have moved above the Base Line (red line). Furthermore, the Conversion Line (blue line) has crossed above the Base Line (red line). All these four signals are strong bullish signs conveyed via the Ichimoku Cloud.
CONCLUSION:
Ethereum price has been somehow moving sideways during the past 24 hours after a week of powerful bullish market movement. Our technical analysis predicts that ethereum price will most probably rise to test the resistance around $545.17 during the next 24-48 hours.
Salesforce is working on a product based on blockchain technology, the cloud computing company's CEO has revealed.
Marc Benioff, who founded the company in 1999, revealed the news when speaking to Business Insider's Julie Bort at the TrailheaDX Salesforce Developer Conference on March 28 (check out the video below).
Benioff said he'd begun to hone in on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency after an encounter at a hotel bar in Davos, Switzerland, in January. The World Economic Forum he was attending coincided with a cryptocurrency conference, and a conversation with one of that event's attendees led Benioff to consider the ways his company could integrate the technology.
"I had been thinking a lot about what is Salesforce's strategy around blockchain, and what is Salesforce's strategies around cryptocurrencies and how we relate to all of these things," he said.
After the Davos conversation, Benioff told Bort, he came to the realization:
"You know if you do this, this and this, you could put blockchain and cryptocurrencies into Salesforce."
While not providing details on the upcoming product, Benioff said that he hopes to "have a blockchain and cryptocurrency solution for Salesforce and for all of our customers" before Dreamforce - a conference the company will host in San Francisco from Sept. 25 to 28.
Salesforce is best-known for its cloud computing software for customer relationship management. The company made $10.5 billion in revenue in the year ending Jan. 31.
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Spring Labs, a blockchain startup that aims to decentralize the records-sharing method within the credit score trade, has raised $14. 75 million in a seed funding round.
in keeping with an announcement Tuesday, the los angeles and Chicago-primarily based firm pointed out the round become led via August Capital, with different utility- and blockchain-focused capital companies additionally taking part.
The investment should be used to proceed construction of the company's blockchain platform within the coming months, as well as to grow its core development team, the company spoke of.
Spring Labs turned into first installation in 2017 through the founding and board participants of Avant, a personal personal loan platform in which August Capital also has a stake.
The company aims to use its proprietary blockchain known as Spring network to alternate id- and credit-related information using smart contracts in bid to deliver records effectivity and regulatory transparency to the process.
at first, the startup spoke of it is eyeing a collaboration with Avant to look at various the enterprise's existing workflow between its personal loan platform and banking partners over the estimated blockchain gadget.
Eric Carlborg, partner at August Capital, mentioned in the observation:
"We see an important possibility right here to increase the infrastructure of the world credit ecosystem in a greater decentralized and relaxed manner, with the appropriate incentives in area to power participation and tips sharing."
U.S. greenbacks photograph by means of Shutterstock
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the maximum journalistic requirements and abides by using a strict set of editorial guidelines. CoinDesk is an impartial working subsidiary of Digital foreign money neighborhood, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
