Cardano’s not a ghost

Good morning! Welcome to The Daily Moon. We can’t track all the skeletons tumbling out of Celsius’ closet. We just can’t. Here’s one. Over the weekend, news broke that two senior Celsius executives withdrew crypto worth $40 million from the company just before the company declared bankruptcy. Remember, there are investors who haven’t been able to get their own capital back. 

Markets were in the red on Monday. Bitcoin traded in the $19,000 territory, Ethereum too, continued its run at $1,300 levels. Back home, markets ended lower after a volatile day of trading. Nasdaq opened in the green, up 0.12%.

ADA’s Getting The Vasil Kick

Cardano’s Vasil hard fork has had a tangible impact on the credibility of the blockchain. Two weeks after the upgrade, it added 100 new smart contracts. This means that Cardano is no longer the “ghost chain” of the crypto world.  

FYI Smart contracts are a blockchain version of real contracts. Instead of paper, these exist on a decentralised network. 

The ghost vanishes?

Cardano was called a “ghost” because it was not the favourite among developers. The network was slower than Ethereum, so it lost out on several blockchain projects. This has now changed. Over 3,400 contracts run on the network. 

Cardano’s smart contract language Plutus (a crypto-world alternative to C++) has been upgraded. This has helped cut costs by almost 75%. Lower costs mean more dApps and NFT projects can be built on the blockchain. 

After a lull, there’s also a spurt in the number of new ADA wallets. The Vasil hard fork has also helped make multiple payments over a single transaction. More transactions in one go = affordable network.  

Record transactions tooClose to 25% of all Cardano transactions done since its launch in 2017 happened this year. The network has 44 dApps, with DeFi platforms taking the lead. NFTs have also picked up. 

What’s next?Some issues need to be fixed. Cardano’s TVL is on the decline. TVL or total value locked is the number of crypto funds deposited in a DeFi protocol. A TVL decline indicates that investors aren’t confident enough. Let’s hope that the Vasil after-effects will help correct this aberration.

Back To The Altcoins?

Bitcoin is suffering. Fears of another interest rate hike in the US have pushed the crypto below $20,000. BTC traders have switched to altcoins to weather the volatility.  

Fear kicks in

The focus has shifted to altcoins. Uniswap, Quant, and Litecoin are among those considered. Crypto trading pairs such as XRP/USDT and BTC/USDT have also found favour as Bitcoin replacements for the time being. LTC’s big moment?

Litecoin is a trading pair with Bitcoin. With the MimbleWimble upgrade, Litecoin can scale over 10 times. It’s now the third largest in terms of daily active addresses after Bitcoin and Ethereum. With BTC on the back foot, Litecoin could regain its “digital silver” status. 

QNT On A High

Quant Network has been trending upwards since September. What’s pushing it high?

CBDC positive

QNT’s rise is its design. Many believe that it is an ideal candidate for the UK's plans to introduce a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Quant has spoken about supporting a CBDC rollout. Its co-founders have worked at financial institutions and the UK government, adding to the trust in the network. Over the past few weeks, investors have realised the potential of QNT as being central to the global adoption of digital currencies. 

But, there’s always a but

QNT was ranked 32nd in cryptocurrency market cap rankings. Analysis of its trading pattern shows the next turn in its price is likely to occur at the $180 level. But analysts suggest it may also have been overbought and there may come pressure to sell soon enough. How soon? Now, that’s the one we need to figure out. 

Dude, Where Is My GPU?

Now that the Merge has been implemented successfully, have GPU prices crashed? The answer is, well, not as straightforward as you’d have thought. 

It’s never simple

Ethereum moved to a PoS model, which meant mining trended downward. Therefore, GPU consumption went down and in China, for instance, prices fell drastically last month. 

But Ethereum isn’t the only thing that desires GPUs. Be it gaming, or the metaverse, all need high-powered GPUs. Obviously, Litecoin and BTC still exist and are the favourite of many investors. 

What comes next?

GPU prices had inflated. While they are trending downwards, they will not become “cheap”. Correction. We may have to get used to this word.

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Who are we? This newsletter’s ambition is to educate (and to entertain). The world of money is changing everyday and we want to help you decode what’s happening in the world of crypto, public markets in the US and India.