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Jun 26 2021

3 reasons why Quant (QNT) price rallied 125% this week

Real-world use cases and delivered value are important when evaluating the long-term prospects of a cryptocurrency project, and this is especially true in down markets when sentiment is low and the possibility of an extended bear market is a reality.

One project that has been gaining momentum over the past month despite the market-wide downturn is Quant (QNT), an interoperability-focused project designed to help enterprises integrate and operate distributed ledger technology (DLT).

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

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that following a brief dip to $44 on June 22 as the entire crypto market faced a sell-off, the price of QNT surged more than 125% to establish a new record high at $99.11 on June 25.

Coinbase bump in full effect

The rapid turnaround in the price for QNT following the pullback was due in large part to its listing on Coinbase Pro, which began accepting deposits on June 23.

Inbound transfers for BOND, LPT & QNT are now available in the regions where trading is supported. Traders cannot place orders and no orders will be filled. Trading will begin on or after 9AM PT on Wed 6/24, if liquidity conditions are met. https://t.co/ozmX17nhsz

— Coinbase Pro (@CoinbasePro) June 23, 2021

Price action for QNT began to pick up on June 24 as trading via limit orders opened up on Coinbase Pro, and its addition to the front-side of Coinbase which includes the Andriod and iOS apps on June 25 saw another boost in trading volume and token price.

As a result of the momentum brought by the new listing, the average 24-hour trading volume for QNT soared on June 25.

Protocol upgrades attract attention

Prior to the Coinbase listing and market sell-off, QNT price began to gain traction around June 14 following the release of a mid-year technology update called Overledger 2.0. This is the project’s hallmark “DLT gateway that delivers interoperability across different systems, networks and DLTs,” according to the project’s website.

Excitement for the update had been building since early June as evidenced by the recognition Quant has received from several reputable sources including cloud infrastructure provider Oracle and the professional services network Deloitte, which included the project in its nominations for the Most Disruptive Fintech Award for 2021.

VORTECS™ data turned bullish ahead of Quant’s most recent rally

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for QNT on June 22, 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. QNT price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for Quant actually reached a high score of 71 on June 22 as the market was selling off and was subsequently followed by a 125% rally in price over the next three days.

The NewsQuake™ service from Cointelegraph Markets Pro also highlighted the Coinbase listing announcement on June 24, which was followed by a 50% increase in the price of QNT 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.

3 reasons why Quant (QNT) price rallied 125% this week

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Jun 20 2021

Crypto-finance company Amber Group valued at $1B following $100M raise

Cryptocurrency investment platform Amber Group has added $100 million to its coffers following a successful Series B fundraiser, bringing its total pre-money valuation to $1 billion — a major milestone for the firm as it enters its fourth year of operations.

The cash injection will be used to “expand global operations to meet client demand and develop market solutions for the world’s leading crypto investors and companies,” co-founder and CEO Michael Wu said.

Measures of trade volume and total assets under management showcase Amber Group’s significant growth over the past four years. The company now has over $1 billion in assets under management, with more than $500 billion worth of cumulative trade volumes.

“We’ve had record months over the past quarter across both client flow and on-exchange market-making volumes,” Wu said, adding:

“Since stepping up our on-screen presence, we now account for 2-3% of total trading volumes in major spot and derivative markets and are continuing to see growth. Our cumulative trading volumes have doubled from $250 billion since the beginning of the year to over $500 billion.”

In terms of notional trade volume, Amber Group ranks 21st among global exchanges, according to BitMEX data.

Amber’s assets topped $530 million in 2020, representing a 275% increase from the prior year. At the time, Wu told Cointelegraph that his company has “already proven we can provide institutional-grade integrated crypto financial services.”

In addition to its Series B backers, Amber Group has received direct funding from some of blockchain’s biggest venture funds, including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Blockchain.com.

Venture funds have poured billions of dollars into the crypto economy over the past six months, highlighting their conviction in the new asset class. Just this month, Solana Labs finalized a $314 million private token sale, PayPal and Salesforce contributed $14 million to TRM Labs and DeFi exchange dYdX raised $65 million through a Series C fundraiser.

Crypto-finance company Amber Group valued at $1B following $100M raise

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Jun 14 2021

Bitcoin derivatives data shows pro traders ignored today’s $41K pump

Sometimes all Bitcoin (BTC) needs to pump 10% is a positive remark from someone like Elon Musk.

The Tesla CEO has been pointed to as the culprit for the recent downturn after the company’s May 12 announcement explaining that it would no longer accept Bitcoin payments due to environmental concerns. Musk followed up by saying that he was looking into other cryptocurrencies that required 99% less energy consumption.

However, on June 13, the situation reversed as Musk reassured the public that Tesla did not sell any additional Bitcoin. The post also said that the electric-car producer would resume taking BTC payments as soon as its Bitcoin mining relied on a minimum of 50% clean energy.

In bear markets, top traders act with caution

While retail investors and algorithmic trading bots jump into action as soon as bullish or bearish signals and news flash, top traders tend to act more with more caution. Those who have been around the crypto markets long enough know that positive news might end up being ignored or severely downplayed in bear markets.

On the other hand, even potentially negative news seems to have little to no impact during bull runs. For example, on Sept. 26, 2020, Kucoin was hacked for $150 million. The following week, on Oct. 1, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged BitMEX for operating an unregistered trading platform and violating Anti-Money Laundering regulations.

Two weeks later, police reportedly questioned the founder of OKEx, forcing the exchange to suspend crypto withdrawals. Had this series of negative news happened while Bitcoin was flat or in a bearish phase, the price would have undoubtedly have stalled during a bear market.

*Bitcoin price at Coinbase in USD, Sept. 2020. Source: TradingView*

As shown above, Bitcoin barely had any negative impact in late September and October 2020. In fact, by the end of November 2020, Bitcoin was up 74% in two months. This is the main reason why top traders tend to ignore positive news during bear markets and vice-versa.

The 3-month futures premium is neutral

A futures contract seller will usually demand a price premium to regular spot exchanges. This situation is not exclusive to crypto markets and happens in every derivatives market because in addition to the exchange liquidity risk, the seller is postponing settlement and this results in a higher price.

The 3-month futures premium (basis rate) usually trades at a 5% to 15% annualized premium in healthy markets. When futures are trading below the regular spot exchange price, it signals a short-term bearish sentiment.

*Huobi 3-month Bitcoin futures basis. Source: Skew*

As shown above, the future basis has been below 11% since May 20 and flirting with bearish territory on multiple occasions as it tested 5%. The current level indicates a neutral position from top traders.

The options skew is no longer signaling fear

The 25% delta skew compares similar call (buy) and put (sell) options side-by-side. It will turn positive when the protective put options premium is higher than similar risk call options.

The opposite holds when market makers are bullish and this causes the 25% delta skew indicator to enter the negative range.

*Deribit Bitcoin options 25% delta skew. Source: laevitas.ch*

The above chart confirms that top traders, including arbitrage desks and market markers, are currently uncomfortable with Bitcoin price as the neutral-to-bearish put options premium is higher. However, the current 7% positive skew is far from the 20% exaggerated fear seen in late May.

Derivatives markets show no evidence of top traders getting excited about the recent $40,000 hike. On the bright side, there is room for leverage buyers to mount positions. Stronger upswings usually occur when investors are least expecting, and the current scenario seems to be a perfect example.

Bitcoin derivatives data shows pro traders ignored today’s $41K pump

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Jun 11 2021

Solana (SOL) and Enzyme (MLN) rally while the wider market remains flat

Significant price corrections like the one see in May inflict widespread pain for a majority of market participants and can be a death sentence for struggling projects as token holders capitulate and dump their holdings for any price offered.

While these periods are useful to help shakeout the weak hands and weed out unnecessary projects, they also offer strong performers the opportunity to stand out from the crowd and attract the attention of eager investors looking for a safe haven during choppy markets.

Two projects that have been more resilient than crypto majors and are down less than 20% from their highs established prior to the May 18 market sell-off are Solana (SOL) and Enzyme (MLN).

Enzyme benefits from the Coinbase bump

Out of the top 200 coins, Enzyme has outperformed the field in terms of bouncing back following the sell-off as the MLN token surged 150% from a low of $75.50 on June 4 to a high at $185 on June 7, propelled by a record $45 million in 24-hour trade volume.

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

Enzyme is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol designed for on-chain asset management and meant to empower investors to build, scale and monetize investment strategies that can be utilized by other members of the Enzyme community.

After a relatively quiet start to June, Enzyme began receiving more notice on Twitter beginning on June 6 with Messari analyst Jack Purdy pointing out that “even with prices down 40% from a few weeks ago Enzyme AUM are still close to all-time highs.”

While there was no major developments for the protocol as the price started to rise significantly beginning June 4, the June 8 revelation that MLN would be added to Coinbase Pro appears to be the driving force behind the tokens recent surging price demonstrating that the Coinbase bump still has the potential to move prices.

Starting today, inbound transfers for GTC, MLN & AMP are now available in the regions where trading is supported. Traders cannot place orders and no orders will be filled. Trading will begin on or after 9AM PT on Thurs 6/10 if liquidity conditions are met. https://t.co/wWYrUIXeRT

— Coinbase Pro (@CoinbasePro) June 8, 2021

Solana rebounds from its May 19 low

The second token that quickly rebounded from the May crash is Solana (SOL), a layer-one proof-of-stake protocol capable of processing 65,500 transactions per second (TPS).

Momentum for the project began picking up on June 2 following the announced launch of the Metaplex NFT platform which offers “a radically new approach to NFTs and NFT storefronts” on the Solana blockchain.

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

This announcement was followed up by a series of other project launches on Solana including the algorithmic decentralized lending and borrowing platform Solend and the decentralized, capital-efficient derivatives exchange Moët Finance.

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for Solana have been favorable for some time.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. SOL price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen on the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for SOL has been green for the most of May, with its score quickly recovering above 67 on May 24 to reach a high at 80 on June 4 as its price began to rally 30% over the next three days.

Solana (SOL) and Enzyme (MLN) rally while the wider market remains flat

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Jun 05 2021

Why Bitcoin’s next breakout may not be an altcoin season signal

On April 14, Bitcoin (BTC) reached a $64,900 all-time high after accumulating 124.5% gains in 2021. However, a 27.5% correction followed over the next eleven days, marking a $47,000 local bottom.

The popular Crypto Fear and Greed Index reached its lowest level in 12 months on April 25, signaling that investors were closer to “extreme fear,” which was a complete reversal from the “extreme greed” level seen during the Bitcoin rally above $60,000.

This downward move from April 14 to 25 wiped out $200 billion from the altcoin market capitalization. Still, the recovery that followed could serve as a guide on what to expect when Bitcoin finally manages to exit the sub-$40,000 level.

*Bitcoin price in USD, Coinbase. Source: TradingView*

Altcoins posted a similar trend, bottoming at $850 billion on April 22 but fully recovering to a record $1.34 trillion high on May 10. There is no guarantee that this pattern will repeat, but there is no better source of information than the recent market itself.

*Altcoin market capitalization, USD billion. Source: TradingView*

Cheaper is not always better

Many investors believe that altcoins consistently outperform when Bitcoin price takes off, but is that an absolute truth?

Although that has been the case in 2021, Bitcoin was the clear winner in the last quarter of 2020 as it surpassed the broader market by 110%. However, analyzing the winners from the late-April bull run could provide interesting insights on what to expect for the next rally.

*Top altcoin performances from April 22 to May 9. Source: CoinCodex*

Among the top-100 tokens, Ether Classic (ETC), Polygon (MATIC), Waves, and Fantom (FTM) were the clear winners. The winners were either scaling solutions or smart contract platforms, and the sector leader Ether (ETH) also outperformed the market.

80% of the worst performers were sub-$1 coins which is precisely the opposite of investors’ usual expectations. There’s a persistent myth that cheap, nominally-priced altcoins will excel during altcoin rallies, but that clearly was not the case.

*Worst performance from the top-100 altcoins between April 22 to May 9. Source: CoinCodex*

Timing the market is impossible

Unfortunately, there is no way to predict when the current correction will be over, and altcoins historically do not usually excel during bear trends. This means calling ‘alt season’ at the first sign of Bitcoin’s price recovery is an inaccurate strategy that can lead to financial ruin.

A general rule of thumb for an ‘alt season’ kick-off is two or three consecutive days of 30% or higher accumulated gains on cryptocurrencies with little-to-no development, including Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), and Ether Classic (ETC).

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.

Why Bitcoin\’s next breakout may not be an altcoin season signal

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