Category: Crypto News

After four years of development and millions in funding, the layer-1 blockchain Aptos (APT) finally launched its mainnet on Oct. 17, albeit to somewhat mixed reception.

The proof-of-stake blockchain has seen millions invested in it from venture capital firms and has previously claimed the ability to process 160,000 transactions per second (TPS).

However, some members of the community have pointed out that the claimed TPS is falling far short of expectations on the mainnet.

According to Aptos’ blockchain explorer the network is seeing around 4 TPS at the time of writing, while some users on Twitter have reported not being able to send transactions.

Others on Twitter noticed the Aptos Discord was closed for a few hours after the launch of the mainnet, accusing the team was attempting to stop discussion around potential launch issues.

Cointelegraph reached out to Aptos for comment and was directed to a “Day one update” tweet by Aptos on Oct. 18. 

In the tweet, Aptos said the network is “performing as expected” with activity increasing as more ecosystem participants join. Cointelegraph was able to view a variety of transactions from users using its blockchain explorer.

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Day one update:
Today has been exciting. Thank you for all the support!

The Aptos network has been performing as expected and will see increased activity as ecosystem projects onboard and get going.

— Aptos (@AptosLabs) October 18, 2022

Aptos also said it closed comments on its Discord and Telegram channels to “protect the community from scams” and they will “return to normal when appropriate.”

The tokenomics of Aptos is not yet publicly available, leading some to cite concerns that cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance and FTX are listing its token without such information available to their customers.

Related: Court partially denies Aptos Labs’ motion to dismiss Glazer’s $1 billion lawsuit

Aptos has seen millions invested from venture capital firms with the most recent round of funding in July netting Aptos Labs $150 million, a prior round in March raised $200 million with participants including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), FTX Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures.

Aptos Labs was created by former Meta employees Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching who were involved in the failed Diem blockchain project which wound down ​​in February of this year and sold its intellectual property and other assets.

The blockchain is built on a programming language originally developed for the defunct Meta-built Diem blockchain.

The Texas State Securities Board (SSB) and the Texas Department of Banking (DOB) filed a supplemental declaration Oct. 14 in the Voyager Digital case in which it stated that the SSB is investigating FTX Trading, FTX US and their principals, including co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, for allegedly offering unregistered securities in the United States. FTX US won the auction for the remaining Voyager Digital assets on Sept. 26. 

The supplemental declaration from the Texas regulators is attached to an objection to the sale of Voyager Digital assets to FTX filed by the Texas Attorney General’s office also on Oct. 14. In that objection, the state claim that Voyager Digital and FTX are not in compliance with Texas law and “the proposed sale, or order approving the sale, attempts to limit the Debtors’ liability for unlawful […] conduct for which state-regulatory fines and penalties may apply.” Specifically, according to the objection, Voyager Digital conducted unlicensed money transmissions, as it was not registered as a securities dealer in Texas.

Director of the SSB enforcement division Joseph Rotunda stated in the declaration that he was able to download the FTX trading app to his smartphone and create a yield-bearing account using his own name and Austin, TX address. That app is linked to FTX Trading, which does not conduct business in the United States. Nonetheless, Rotunda stated:

“The FTX Trading App now shows that I am earning yield on the ETH. The yield is valued at 8 percent APR. Based upon my earning of yield and an ongoing investigation by the Enforcement Division of the Texas State Securities Board, the yield program appears to be an investment contract.”

Rotunda concluded, “FTX US should not be permitted to purchase the assets of the debtor unless or until the Securities Commissioner has an opportunity to determine whether FTX US is complying with the law.”

Voyager Digital declared bankruptcy in July. Its case is now being heard in the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York. FTX co-found and chief technology officer Gary Wang and FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh are also mentioned in the declaration.

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FTX is excited to be regulated in Dubai by VARA! We’re excited to expand out our presence in the city, and to work with regulators who have taken the lead in establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets, protecting customers and allowing for innovation.

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) October 17, 2022

In happier news for the crypto exchange, Bankman-Fried announced on Twitter Oct. 17 that the company has been registered by Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority. Its FZE subsidiary had received a Minimal Viable Product license in July.

Ether (ETH) price has been unable to close above $1,400 for the past 29 days and it has been trading in a relatively tight $150 range. At the moment, the $1,250 support and the $1,400 resistance seem difficult to break, but two months ago, Ether was trading at $2,000. The current price range for Ether simply reflects how volatile cryptocurrencies can be.

From one side, investors are calm as Ether trades 50% above the $880 intraday low on June 18. However, the price is still down 65% year-to-date despite the most exciting upgrade in the network’s sev-year history.

More importantly, Ethereum’s biggest rival, BNB Chain, suffered a cross-chain security exploit on Oct. 6. The $568 million exploit caused BNB Chain to temporarily suspend all transactions on the network, which holds $5.4 billion in smart contracts deposits.

Ether underperformed competing smart contracts like BNB, Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL) by 14% since September, even though its TVL in ETH terms increased by 9% during the period. This suggests that the Ethereum network’s issues, such as the $3 average transaction fees, weighed on the ETH price.

Traders should look at Ether’s derivatives markets data to understand how whales and market makers are positioned.

Options traders remain moderately risk-averse

The 25% delta skew is a telling sign whenever professional traders overcharge for upside or downside protection. For example, if traders expected an Ether price crash, the options markets skew indicator would move above 12%. On the other hand, generalized excitement reflects a negative 12% skew.

In layperson’s terms, the higher the index, the less inclined traders are to offer downside risk protection. The indicator has been signaling fear since Sept. 19, when it last held a value below 10%. That day marked the temporary bottom of a 28% weekly correction, as the $1,250 support strengthened after such a test.

Long-to-short data show traders adding longs

The top traders’ long-to-short net ratio excludes externalities that might have solely impacted the options markets. By aggregating the positions on the spot, perpetual and quarterly futures contracts, one can better understand whether professional traders are leaning bullish or bearish.

There are occasional methodological discrepancies between different exchanges, so viewers should monitor changes instead of absolute figures.

Binance displayed a modest increase in its long-to-short ratio between Oct. 13 and 17, as the indicator moved from 1.04 to 1.07 in those four days. Thus, those traders slightly increased their bullish bets.

Huobi data shows a stable pattern as the long-to-short indicator stayed near 0.98 the whole time. Lastly, at OKX exchange, the metric plunged to 0.72 on Oct. 13, largely favoring shorts only to rebound to the current 1.00.

On average, according to the long-to-short indicator, the top traders from those three exchanges have been increasing long positions since the $1,200 support test on Oct. 13.

Skew and leverage are critical to sustaining the $1,250 support

There was no significant improvement in pro traders’ derivatives positions despite Ether gaining 12% since the Oct. 13 crash down to $1,185. Moreover, options traders fear that a move below $1,250 remains feasible, considering the skew indicator remains above the 10% threshold.

If these whales and market makers had firm convictions of a sharp price correction, that would have been reflected in the exchange top traders’ long-to-short ratio.

Investors should closely monitor both metrics. The 25% delta skew should remain at 18%, and the long-to-short ratio above 0.80 to sustain the $1,250 support strength. These indicators are a telling sign of whether the bearish sentiment from top traders is gaining momentum.

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.

Cameron Winklevoss, a co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, has stepped down from the European company board of directors, according to a Companies House filing from Oct. 12.

As indicated in a statement sent to the local press, Cameron continues to lead Gemini’s global operations alongside his twin brother Tyler Winklevoss:

“We can confirm this change was filed with Companies House and brings local leadership onto the board of directors to reflect the growth of Gemini’s business in the UK and Europe. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss continue as President and CEO at Gemini.” 

As per the filings, Gillian Lynch, the head of Gemini in Ireland and Europe, takes Blair Halliday’s seat on the board. Blair was U.K. managing director at Gemini for two years before moving to the rival exchange Kraken this month, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In July, Gemini announced a registration as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) after having received an electronic money institution (EMI) authorization from the CBI that allowed the company to issue electronic money, provide electronic payment services and handle electronic payments for third parties months before.

In June, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Gemini claiming that the company made false or misleading statements in 2017 during in-person meetings and in documents, violating the Commodity Exchange Act and other regulations.

The agency was making an evaluation of the potential self-certification of a Bitcoin futures contract to be based on the spot Bitcoin price determined by an auction held on Gemini’s digital asset trading platform.

Also this year, the exchange laid off over 10% of its staff as part of “extreme cost-cutting” during the crypto winter, just two months after the company’s co-founders were featured as crypto billionaires in the Forbes list, with fortunes of $4 billion each.

Cointelegraph reached out to Gemini, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Bitcoin (BTC) headed toward $20,000 as United States equities gained at the Oct. 17 Wall Street open.

Stocks climb as U.S. dollar heads lower

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $19,672 on Bitstamp, up 3.5% versus the weekend’s lows.

The pair rose in line with stocks, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index gaining 2.7% and 3.2%, respectively within thirty minutes’ trading.

The action combined with weak U.S. economic data in the form of the Empire State Manufacturing Index, which fell to -9.1 for October, heavily below the forecast -4.3 and September’s -1.5 reading.

“Manufacturing activity declined in New York State, according to the October survey,” the New York Federal Reserve summarized in commentary on the data.

“The general business conditions index fell eight points to -9.1. Twenty-three percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, and thirty-two percent reported that conditions had worsened.”

Responding, Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, called the results “way worse than expected.”

“Top on Yields & $DXY on the horizon. Bitcoin to rally,” he predicted.

With that, the U.S. dollar index (DXY) continued retracing recent gains on the day, targeting 112 and down 0.65%.

“Risk asset deflation in 2022 and Fed tightening despite the world leaning toward recession portend an elusive end game,” Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote while summarizing fresh macro analysis.

“The lower-price cure may be necessary in commodities to curtail Fed restraint and plunging money supply. Cooling crude oil may be refuel Bitcoin and gold.”

Research reinforces impending volatility

While traders were already predicting some relief to hit crypto markets on weekly timeframes, other perspectives reiterated the fact that long term, nothing had changed for Bitcoin for many months.

Related: ‘Get ready’ for BTC volatility — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

“It is very uncommon for BTC markets to reach periods of such low realized volatility, with almost all prior instances preceding a highly volatile move,” on-chain analytics firm Glassnode showed in the latest edition of its weekly newsletter, The Week On-Chain.

Alongside a chart of Bitcoin’s realized volatility, researchers including lead analyst Checkmate argued that the market had reached a pivotal point.

“Historical examples with 1-week rolling volatility below the current value of 28% in a bear market have preceded significant price moves in both directions,” they continued.

Concluding, Glassnode acknowledged that despite the fuel for a potential price breakout being there, for example in BTC-denominated futures open interest hitting new all-time highs, there was “little discernible directional bias in futures markets.”

“Volatility is likely on the horizon, and Bitcoin prices are not known to sit still for very long,” the newsletter stated.

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.

Adam Back, the co-founder of Blockstream, took a timeout from the mainstage of Bitcoin Amsterdam, a three-day Bitcoin conference in the Netherlands, to talk with Cointelegraph. 

Perched at a park table amidst tulips and bicycles, the man behind the Proof-of-Work algorithm challenged Cointelegraph to a game of Jenga and made a case for beaming Bitcoin into space. One of the few people to be cited in the Bitcoin whitepaper, (BTC) Back also discussed his childhood and his first interactions with computers. The video will soon be published on Cointelegraph’s Youtube channel. 

But why do we need the Bitcoin blockchain–a decentralized peer-to-peer network already secured by nodes on earth–in space? Do aliens need Bitcoin the way humans do? Back joked with Cointelegraph nonchalantly:

“Well, I mean, there are a few reasons [to having Bitcoin in space]. One because it’s cool, and you can.”

However, it also brings benefits such as privacy: “You can receive the data anonymously because it’s broadcast, and basically nobody can tell you’re receiving it. So that’s good for privacy,” Back continued, moments before winning the game of Jenga.

Furthermore, having Bitcoin in space is also “Good for companies because they really need to make sure they’re on the right blockchain. If there’s a local network issue or if a router is hacked,” then the satellite Bitcoin connection ensures that companies can continue to transact and use the Bitcoin blockchain without hindrance.

Indeed, the news is awash with governments and groups intent on inhibiting access to Bitcoin or cryptocurrency-related activities; so having a connection to a satellite Bitcoin protocol is invaluable and enables greater censorship resistance.

For the global south, the argument for connecting and downloading the backlog of Bitcoin data in order to synchronize a node is the price. Whereas in the developed world, the cost of downloading and synching Bitcoin core could be negligible:

“For emerging markets, the cost of an Internet connection fast enough to keep up with Bitcoin is actually expensive compared to salaries.”

Back explained that you can sync a node at no cost in the developing world using Blockstream satellites. While the process is undoubtedly slower–taking a week or two to update–it means that the barrier to entry for participating in the Bitcoin protocol trends lower and lower.

Related: Adam Back Denies Having a Beer With Satoshi Nakamoto

Finally, Back is still very bullish on Bitcoin. In a tweet on Monday morning, the mathematician shared that Bitcoin will “conservatively” do a 10x in the next five years. That means the Bitcoin price would reach over $200,000 before 2027. 

XRP XRP has made considerable gains over the past month as traders continue to shower confidence on Ripple’s legal win against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

For instance, XRP price has gained 25% thirty days after Ripple and the SEC filed for an immediate ruling on whether or not XRP sales violated U.S. securities laws. In comparison, Bitcoin BTC and Ether ETH are down 4% and 11% over the same period, respectively.

Now, a flurry of indicators, ranging from on-chain to technical, hints XRP can continue its uptrend going into 2023.

XRP price “bull pennant”

Bull pennants are bullish continuation patterns that form as the price consolidates in a triangle-like range after a strong upside move. In other words, they resolve after the price breaks out in the direction of its previous uptrend. 

On the daily chart, XRP has been trending inside a similar technical structure since late September, as shown below. While at it, the token has also attempted to break above the pennant twice, albeit to no success. It now eyes another breakout in the coming days.

Theoretically, a bull pennant breakout increases the price by as much as the size of the previous uptrend. Therefore, XRP’s bull pennant breakout can push the price toward $0.63 in Q4 2022.

That would mean a 35% price rally.

Strong accumulation detected

XRP’s bullish technical setup receives further cues from on-chain data, showing accumulation is underway.

Notably, XRP’s mean coin age — the average age of all tokens on the blockchain measured by the purchase price — has been rising since September, according to data from Santiment. The metric theoretically suggests that XRP users have been increasingly holding the tokens.

In addition, data tracker Whale Alert detected millions of dollars worth of XRP withdrawals across Bitstamp, Bitso, and other crypto exchanges, reducing the supply that can be potentially sold.

Notably, investors have moved a total of $126 million worth of XRP from exchanges to unknown wallets since Oct. 14. In comparison, $78.99 million worth of XRP was deposited into these exchanges. 

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65,200,000 #XRP (31,260,398 USD) transferred from #Bitso to unknown wallethttps://t.co/uZcv8p7bcD

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) October 13, 2022

A legal win for Ripple?

The root of all bullishness for XRP over the past few months is Ripple’s potential to win against the SEC.

One of Ripple’s core arguments is a speech by former SEC director William Hinman at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in 2018. Hinman said Ethereum was not a security despite conducting an initial coin offering (ICO) round to raise funds.

Related: Federal regulators are preparing to pass judgment on Ethereum

Ripple’s defense is that the SEC should treat XRP like Ethereum. And many believe the argument will guarantee a win for the company. For example, Seeking Alpha Contributor The Digital Trend stated:

“The news that the court has rejected SEC’s objection to disclosing more documents linked to Hinman’s 2018 speech led to a surge in XRP price on September 30; XRP rallied by 12% in twenty-four hours […] These post-hearing rallies might just be a taste of what is to come if XRP wins the case.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse anticipates the case to conclude in the first half of 2023. However, he admitted that the results of the case is hard to predict.

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.

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week keeping everyone guessing as a tiny trading range stays in play.

A non-volatile weekend continues a familiar status quo for BTC/USD, which remains just above $19,000.

Despite calls for a rally and a run to lower macro lows next, the pair has yet to make a decision on a trajectory — or even signal that a breakout or breakdown is imminent.

After a brief spell of excitement seen on the back of last week’s United States economic data, Bitcoin is thus back at square one — literally, as price action is now exactly where it was at the same time last week.

As the market wonders what it might take to crack the range, Cointelegraph takes a look at potential catalysts in store this week.

Spot price action has traders dreaming of breakout

For Bitcoin traders, it is a case of “almost too quiet” when it comes to the BTC/USD weekly chart.

Having come down significantly in volatile conditions over the first half of 2022, recent months have seen an almost eerie lack of volatility.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView proves the point — on one-week timeframes, Bitcoin continues to print candles with almost nobody whatsoever.

Such is the stickiness of the current range that, as Cointelegraph reported, the Bitcoin historical volatility index (BVOL) is at lows only seen a handful of times.

“Equity volatility (VIX) relative to Bitcoin volatility (BVOL) is approaching all-time highs,” William Clemente, co-founder of digital asset research and trading firm Reflexivity Research, added in comments last week:

“This illustrates just how much volatility compression Bitcoin is currently experiencing.”

An accompanying chart neatly captured Bitcoin as a curiously stablecoin-esque pick in the current climate, with Clemente implying that a return to the classic, more volatile paradigm should follow.

The week prior, economist, trader and entrepreneur Alex Krueger additionally noted that an “explosive move” had followed all prior trips to macro lows on BVOL.

He argued that United States macro data missing expectations “would do it” in terms of rekindling volatility, but in the event, the numbers remained just short of the trigger range.

Cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital agreed.

“Historically speaking, when the BVOL falls below a value of 25, a large spike in volatility tends to follow shortly thereafter,” it stated in part of Twitter comments.

This week, meanwhile, popular crypto investor and analyst Miles Deutscher told traders to “get ready” while commenting on the Delphi data.

The question for everyone remained the direction that volatility would take the market in.

For Il Capo of Crypto, the trader who predicted Bitcoin’s descent to $20,000 levels from all-time highs, expectations remained the same.

$21,000 should feature as part of a relief bounce, only to be eclipsed by a fresh dive to multi-year lows for BTC/USD, these potentially coming in at $14,000-$16,000.

“Some shitcoins will experience scam pumps during these days, while $BTC goes to 21k. This could give you the illusion that the bull market is back,” he warned over the weekend:

“My advice: don’t be greedy. Take profits if this happens. Protect your capital.”

Fresh macro triggers line up for crypto

While little is expected from the Federal Reserve in terms of direct policy changes this week, there is still plenty of firewood for crypto volatility set to be provided by external forces.

In the United States, company earnings will be coming in thick and fast, with tech stocks particularly apt to move markets in the event of results falling wide of expectations.

Reporting firms represent over 20% of the S&P 500, which like other U.S. indexes is showing rare weakness this year.

“In my mind, the odds of a low coming in the next week or two are decently high,” Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of RealVision, predicted overnight alongside an accompanying chart:

“The SPX weekly DeMark hits next week, near the bottom of the channel and the 50% retracement, with RECORD bearish sentiment.”

Charting the week ahead, financial commentary resource the Kobeissi Letter likewise told subscribers to “prepare for more volatility.”

More U.S. data will join earnings this week, it explained, while Fed officials will comment on overall policy.

“The median bear market with a recession dating back to 1929 has fallen 39%,” it wrote about stock market strength in one of the various posts over the weekend:

“Furthermore, the median bear market with a recession lasts 16 months. We are currently only 10 months in and the S&P 500 is down just 28%. History continues to suggest that more pain is ahead of us.”

Beyond stocks, the U.S. dollar index (DXY) was mercifully motionless into the new week, so far avoiding another attack on twenty-year highs seen earlier.

Echoing Il Capo of Crypto’s theory, Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, hinted that it could be this week or next that “some relief” enters for risk assets more broadly.

“A crucial area for Bitcoin, as it’s still hovering in the range for more than a month,” he summarized on the day:

“It needs to break $19.4-19.6K clearly. If that happens, volatility can finally kick in. Given the structure of the $DXY and the Yields, I expect this to occur in 1-2 weeks.”

RSI breakdown risk echoes 2018

Further out, the picture for Bitcoin becomes murkier, and those divining bearish scenarios from current chart data are busy channeling comparisons to the 2018 bear market bottom.

Among them is popular analyst Matthew Hyland, who even in his characteristic bullish market takes has little to celebrate when it comes to the next few months’ BTC price action.

In a tweet from this weekend, Hyland flagged Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI) repeating behavior seen in the build-up to the 2018 floor.

An accompanying chart clearly demonstrated familiar bear market forces in play, adding to suspicions that Q4 2022 could closely mirror the scenes from four years ago.

Trading account Stockmoney Lizards confirmed that it “100% agreed” with the idea, which uses the 3-day chart.

The 2018 RSI breakout structure involved a dive from $5,500 to $3,100 for BTC/USD — or roughly 40%.

“Obviously, we’re still waiting for this huge move to come,” Hyland added in a related video about the idea.

He additionally showed that the classic Bollinger Bands volatility indicator was still predicting an incoming storm, with narrowing bands demanding a breakout of volatility.

Hodlers stay as determined as ever

Taking a look at hodler behavior and it becomes apparent that the resolve of the average long-term holder (LTH) remains steadfast.

The latest data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode confirms a five-year high in the number of Bitcoin either lost or out of circulation in cold storage.

The “hodled or lost coins” metric put the tally at 7,554,982.124 BTC — or 40% of the current supply — as of Oct. 17, meaning that more BTC is off the market than at any time since late 2017.

Likewise, distribution is also continuing an accelerating trend visible throughout 2022. The number of wallets with a balance of at least one whole Bitcoin is now at an all-time high of over 908,000.

While increasing overall through the latter half of 2021, the trend has gained noticeable momentum this year, Glassnode shows.

Analyzing lost coins as part of its weekly newsletter, “The Week On-Chain,” Glassnode, meanwhile, concluded that the current bear market has yet to match others in terms of intensity when it comes to hodlers.

“Network profitability has not quite hit the same level of severe financial pain as past cycles, however adjustment for lost and long HODLed coins can explain a reasonable portion of this divergence,” it explained last week.

Nonetheless, when it comes to those used to hodling through bear markets, it appears that there’s little appetite for capitulation from current price levels.

Fear enters its second consecutive month

There seems to be no shaking the fear when it comes to crypto market sentiment.

Related: ‘No emotion’ — Bitcoin metric gives $35K as next BTC price macro low

In a sign which has captured the industry this year, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has now had sentiment in its “fear” or “extreme fear” for two months straight.

Fear & Greed uses a basket of factors to compute a normalized score for market sentiment, and 2022 has delivered results unlike most years.

Earlier, the Index saw its longest-ever stint in “extreme fear,” a feat which is currently one month away from repeating.

As of Oct. 17, the Index measured 20/100 — around 10 points higher than classic bear market bottoms but a full 14 points higher than this year’s low.

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.

Crypto exchange Binance announced it will launch its first index product, the Top 10 Equal-Weighted Index, to kick off its Binance CoinMarketCap (CMC) Index Series.

The Top 10 Equal-Weighted Index will monitor the performance of the industry’s top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Binance indices will utilize pricing information from crypto price tracker CMC, of which the crypto exchange is the owner.

According to the announcement, the Equal-Weighted Index will be rebalanced monthly and is designed to help investors evaluate price and performance. The index products, beginning with the Top 10 Equal-Weighted Index, will be available to investors starting in November 2022 through Binance’s Auto-Invest service.

In the future, Binance says the community can expect more from the index series, which will encompass “more digital assets in a diverse set of products.”

Related: BTC price hits 3-week lows on US CPI as Bitcoin liquidates $57M

Despite a long and harsh crypto winter, Binance and other major crypto-industry giants have been developing their service offerings to the wider community.

A recent Q3 2022 report from the Web3 development platform Alchemy reported that this year could actually be the biggest year on record for development in the Web3 space.

Binance recently expanded its service offerings in multiple markets around the world. On Oct. 6, Kazakhstan granted the exchange a permanent license to offer digital asset services, while in the Middle East, it reported a 49% surge in regional user sign-ups in 2022.

This recent announcement of the price index tools comes as the network completed its 21st quarterly Binance Coin (BNB) burn, which eliminated roughly $547 million worth of BNB from its supply.

Over the past couple of years, games that use blockchain technology have increased their presence in the gaming industry.

While there were early examples like CryptoKitties — launched in 2017 — the trend has truly gained steam, with major gaming studios even exploring the technology.

At the beginning of 2022, the market capitalization of blockchain games was around $25 billion and it doesn’t seem to be decreasing anytime soon, even in the depths of a bear market. According to the analytical service DappRadar, the two most stable areas this year in the cryptocurrency market are blockchain games and nonfungible tokens (NFT), which have recently become very tightly intertwined, creating a new economic phenomenon.

A striking example here is the well-known game Axie Infinity, the token price of which rose above $150 last fall, providing the project with a capitalization exceeding $9 billion. During the same period, the daily audience of the game was approaching 2 million people.

In December 2021, when Bitcoin (BTC) began to fall from its record highs, the Axie Infinity (AXS) token also began to sink, but the Axie Infinity audience grew to almost 3 million people a day, and the transaction activity in its network increased four times.

There are objective reasons for such dynamics. Firstly, most blockchain games use browsers and the creators use HTML5 and WebGL technologies, which have radically expanded the possibilities for developing browser games. Such games repopulated browsers and, at the same time, provided the ability to connect crypto wallets and withdraw NFTs to external marketplaces without any regulatory restriction.

Secondly, blockchain games have no competition as such, as the traditional PC game industry still refers to the blockchain as an incomprehensible or even “toxic” space. This gives small studios, which are not yet able to create large gaming franchises, a huge head start on development. The ability to quickly launch the in-game economy allows developers to immediately fund the continued development of their game worlds without getting into debt and without inflating working capital.

Finally, blockchain games are mostly about income because in blockchain-based games players can earn money just by playing. For completing tasks and spending time in the game, users receive tokens that can then be invested or converted into real money.

What genre to choose

Just like classic PC games, blockchain games cater to all tastes. They have a number of common features: They work from a browser or a mobile app, have simple controls and have a user-friendly interface that even a beginner can handle.

Blockchain games relate to different genres, while they all have one common feature: They are developed by using smart contracts. That is, they provide an opportunity to receive valuable virtual assets. Therefore, all games, no matter what visual component or story they have, are all play-to-earn (P2E) games. Genres of such games include actions, strategy, online multiplayer arenas, sandboxes and more, but it is possible to define the most popular.

Massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) usually have a dynamic reward system where players get tokens by completing in-game tasks. Tokens are used to upgrade characters in order to gain an advantage over opponents in the form of a fortified arsenal or the development of character abilities. The most popular games in this genre are CryptoBlades, My Crypto Heroes and, of course, Axie Infinity.

If pocket monsters and endless battles seem boring, gamers can pay attention to collectible card games. Such games use the NFT system so that the digital cards look like real collectibles. Players need to strategically outplay their opponents by building decks to counter different tactics, and cards can be bought, sold or traded — just like real cards. Some of the most popular card games are Splinterlands, Gods Unchained and Sorare.

Another interesting genre is “x-to-earn,” that is, to do something to earn income and not necessarily just “play” the game. The concept of “X-to-earn” was first proposed by Ben Schecter, head of operations at RabbitHole — a platform that rewards users for learning about crypto. In this equation, “X” can be any daily activity like eating, exercising, sleeping, shopping or studying. “To earn” is the financial profit received as a result of performing these specific actions.

In blockchain games, the concept of “x-to-earn” was developed primarily in the form of move-to-earn, with the example of the famous STEPN game that rewards users for playing sports or exercising. In the English learning game Let Me Speak, the main way to earn money is to buy NFT avatars and start learning English in the app. Every few minutes, players are instantly rewarded with tokens for their progress.

The most ambitious and large-scale projects are AAA games, or games developed by a major publisher, which require a lot of time, a lot of resources and a lot of money to develop. Such games are designed not only to attract players with the opportunity to earn money but simply to enjoy the gameplay. The combination of real AAA gameplay and stunning graphics sets them apart from the rest. The best example of a AAA game right now is Illuvium, which has been in development since 2020 and was released this year. The Illuvium “ILV” token is currently trading at around $60, according to CoinMarketCap, with a market capitalization of $560 million.

Related: Is Illuvium the first fun crypto RPG video game?

Lesley Fung, a content operation specialist from Footprint Analytics, believes that AAA games are the future of GameFi:

“Some of the AAA Games combine the experienced team with delicate production. The teams behind these projects have a record of success in both blockchain and gaming, and the resources to potentially make a AAA title work. The narrative in GameFi is that current games lack quality and have unsustainable tokenomics. However, once AAA games come out, these will bring GameFi to the masses after the bear market, solving much of the current problems.”

According to Footprint Analytics, which is engaged in discovering and visualizing blockchain data, the most popular blockchain game genre for the first nine months of 2022 was card games such as Splinterland, leaving x-to-earn and AAA games behind.

So, the gaming space is replete with various blockchain games for any taste. Here we chose some unique games from each genre.

Nine Chronicles

Nine Chronicles is an Idle MMORPG developed by Planetarium in partnership with Ubisoft. The client works on the Unity engine, and the backend is completely on the blockchain. 

Robert Hoogendoorn, head of content at DappRadar, told Cointelegraph:

“When we’re talking about gameplay, it’s difficult to really point one out. However, on a technological level Nine Chronicles is very unique. While most blockchain games rely on existing blockchain ecosystems like Ethereum, Polygon or BNB Chain, Nine Chronicles runs on its own custom blockchain.” 

Furthermore, the entire set of game rules exists on the blockchain, making it impossible for gamers to cheat. Each player can manage a node, participating in the maintenance of the network. Therefore, updating the game also requires all users to update their nodes.

The game focuses on crafting and in order to develop a character, the player has to constantly loot in player-versus-environment (PvE) and craft more powerful equipment.

All fights are resolved automatically, with victory determined by the level of a player’s equipment, its element and randomness in hits. Using the same equipment, the player can both win and lose.

In March 2022, the developers made a global change in the gameplay, wherein equipment level restrictions were introduced.

Solitaire Blitz

In the genre of card games, the fantasy game Splinterlands is now very popular. But, what if a gamer wants to play an old-fashioned card game on the blockchain? 

One of the most widely played card games of all time was the classic Solitaire, a game that can be played by people everywhere and of almost any age. Perhaps that is why the developers of Solitaire Blitz took the game as a basis for their project, which now enjoys a considerable number of active players. It is the standard Solitaire card game built on the Flow blockchain. The game has seamless and fairly simple gameplay that makes it attractive.

In Solitaire Blitz, a player competes with opponent players who have similar ranks. The player with the most points wins the game. With a unique algorithm, the skill-based matchmaking system ensures fair competition. Solitaire Blitz is a mobile game and can be downloaded from Google Play or the iOS App Store.

XCAD Network

When thinking of the x-to-earn genre, the first image that comes to mind is move-to-earn games, but this genre is not limited to movements. One of the most intuitive variations of x-to-earn is watch-to-earn, a model that allows players to earn tokens by watching videos.

At the moment, the watch-to-earn industry is run by the XCAD Network project, not a game but a platform that allows YouTube content creators to make fan tokens and release NFTs, thus opening up new sources of monetization and ways to attract fans. As for the fans themselves, they earn fan tokens for watching the content of their favorite bloggers.

XCAD Network differs from other x-to-earn projects in that the amount of reward directly correlates with user activity. The total number of subscribers of all bloggers working with XCAD Network is already more than 260 million.

Another unique feature of the project is that on the XCAD Network, users do not need to watch what the platform offers them. Instead, they simply install the XCAD plugin and watch the same videos as before. And, since the platform is built on the Zilliqa blockchain, users do not face any minimum withdrawal amounts.

MIR4

MIR4 is a AAA game that appeared on the crypto game market in August 2021 and became successful both on mobile platforms and Steam, the largest online store for computer games.

The most important distinguishing feature of the game is partial automation. Auto-battles, auto-collection of game resources and auto-completion of tasks will partly replace manual gameplay, which is suitable for players who do not have enough time.

The storyline continues The Legend of MIR3 PC game, which was closed back in February 2012. The player takes on the role of an archmage’s apprentice guarding the princess, and the main attraction of the game is to upgrade everything, mining hundreds of components and resources.

The interface of the game is quite pleasing to the eye and the game world is huge. The game store has a great selection of items, including leveling boosters, currency, scrolls, power-up stones and others.

As a mobile game, MIR4 is quite beautiful. Of course, for a player who is not used to such projects, it seems that the screen is too loaded with information and inscriptions, but everything is done compactly. Models of characters and monsters are well-detailed.

Interestingly enough, the developers officially allow four windows to be played: one on Steam, two on the official game client and one on a phone. It is worth noting that the Steam version, according to the terms of the platform, is not tied to cryptocurrency and money withdrawal.

The controls are better on the PC version, but the graphics are much nicer on mobile.

In terms of earning real money in the game, the game is filled with “dark steel,” a resource that after level 40, can be exchanged for DRACO tokens. This metal is required for crafting and upgrades. The rate varies but roughly corresponds to the value of 100 thousand dark steel for 1 DRACO. The tokens can be converted into fiat currency and transferred to a bank card.

Trading on the in-game market also starts at level 40. Goods and resources are sold for gold coins, which can later be exchanged for dark steel and converted into DRACO.

MIR4 has good graphics, animation, special effects, dynamic battles and beautiful characters. It attracts with the cross-platform, automation, branching development system and a lot of tasks.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com.