Commentary on notable movers

Updates on the Bitcoin Halving

Due to Bitcoin's price increase, more miners are allocating computing power to validating blocks. As a result of this, the anticipated date for the Bitcoin Halving has been moved forward. This can be followed closely via this link:
https://www.bitcoinblockhalf.com/

Some notable movers

Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin (LTC) has started 2020 with a near 100% increase in price, quickly approaching the key resistance levels that have not been seen since August 2019. Litecoin is a peer-to-peer internet currency forked from Bitcoin on the 7th of October 2011. It is a fully decentralized, open source, global payment network developed with the aim to improve on Bitcoin's shortcomings. After a slow start in 2019, LTC found plenty of volatility surrounding its halving of the block reward on the 5th of August 2019. With the Bitcoin Halving nearing, Litecoin is a Cryptocurrency that will likely be impacted by increased market volatility due to its historically close relationship with Bitcoin's price movements.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has historically been a very controversial Coin amongst the Cryptocurrency community. However, this aside, BCH has recently been a front runner in the market with returns of over 130% so far in 2020. The cryptocurrency was created on the 1st of August 2017, when a section of the Bitcoin community decided to fork away from the main protocol with the intent to create a 'cash' version of Bitcoin, hence the name 'Bitcoin Cash’. Alongside Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) will also be undergoing its own Halving event and the cryptocurrency's block rewards will be reduced by half. The Bitcoin Cash halving is currently predicted to occur on the 8th of April: https://coinsalad.com/bitcoincash/halving. BCH's upward trend could continue, however, the ‘Relative Strength Index' (RSI) is currently slightly overbought on the daily.

Reminder: Zilliqa Mainnet Swap

For all holders of the token Zilliqa (ZIL), please note that the deadline for the mainnet swap is February 15, 2020. If you need assistance here please contact us, we can do this swap for you if you need. To read more about this you can do so here: https://blog.zilliqa.com/mark-your-calendars-with-the-zilliqa-token-swap-deadline-15-february-2020-20e3ea5fc0b7

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum’s great start to 2020 has continued through February, up over 100% since the start of the year. Launched in 2015, Ethereum is an open-source, blockchain-based, decentralized software platform. It enables Smart Contracts and Distributed Applications (DApps) to be built and run without any downtime, fraud, control, or interference from a third party. USD locked in DeFi contracts is tipped to grow at an exponential rate throughout 2020. The highly anticipated Ethereum 2.0 upgrade that will allow ETH staking is expected to create a sharp scarcity in the market for ETH.

Tezos (XTZ)

Tezos has been one of the best performing coins of 2020, seeing prices skyrocket to highs of $3.61 with over $300 million USD in 24 hour trade volume. Tezos is a multi-purpose platform that supports DApps and smart contracts. Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum’s present protocol, Tezos uses a Proof of Work consensus model. This model encourages staking of Tezos, in turn reducing the incentive for holders of the coin to sell. However, this model (known as ‘baking’) has no lock up period, therefore staked Tezos can be pulled and sold at anytime. When Bitcoin fell back below $10,000 USD earlier in the week, Tezos continued to move up in price. A rare occurrence for Alt Coins that are typically impacted by downwards movements in Bitcoin.

Chainlink (LINK)

Similar to Tezos, Chainlink is a project which saw its rise after the late 2017 Bull Run. We have mentioned Chainlink in our newsletters before due to its tremendous returns over 2019. After correcting sharply in price, in line with the rest of the market late last year, Chainlink has climbed its way back up with prices now nearing its All Time High of $4.54 in June 2019. Chainlink is consistently regarded as one of the top blockchain technologies, with its highly secure oracles being used by major companies such as Google, Oracle and SWIFT. With tremendously positive sentiment towards Decentralised Finance, Chainlink is likely to continue to establish its place as one of the market's leading projects.

Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR)

Hashgraph has been one of the best performing Cryptocurrencies over the last week, up over 600% since the start of 2020. After a slow start after listing, HBAR has seen tremendous returns in 2020 following news that Google Cloud has announced joining the Hedera Hashgraph Governing Council. This addition to the Council amongst existing companies such as Boeing, Deutsche Bank, Telekom and IBM will likely strengthen the growth of the project. HBAR has used Google Cloud since its inception, however, Google’s endorsement and commitment to becoming a Council Member has dramatically improved sentiment surrounding the project.