Monat: Dezember 2020

Eleven years after Bitcoin’s genesis, the world is still waiting for the blockchain revolution: word of its quality as a store of value has long since got around in non-crypto circles. But the big killer apps based on blockchain are still a long time coming. This is partly because Ethereum is still the basis of most decentralized applications (dApps). The second largest crypto network by market capitalization launched in 2015 as the first blockchain capable of running programs. Can Polkadot (DOT) bring blockchain technology to mainstream?

Teething problems that Ethereum gnaws at to this day, including: Above all, the lack of scalability has repeatedly proven to be a bottleneck for the success of decentralized apps based on Bitcoin Formula. The decentralized financial services (DeFi) branch that flourished this year is a dramatic demonstration of the overuse of Ethereum. The network charges have risen to a record level due to the high demand. If you have to pay high double-digit dollar amounts in gas fees to exchange ether for one of the currently popular DeFi tokens, small investors in particular quickly lose their interest in DeFi.

Ethereum 2.0 is supposed to help. Phase 0 could start this year. However, according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, a few more winters should pass before Eth2 is fully functional.

Gavin Wood, another co-founder of Ethereum and former CTO of the Ethereum Foundation, recognized early on that Ethereum 2.0 is making slow progress. And so he launched a new project to put the vision of a decentralized “Web 3.0” into practice: Polkadot.

Relay chain, parachains and bridges : this is how Polkadot works

In contrast to Bitcoin or Ethereum (1.0), Polkadot does not rely on a single blockchain, but on several that run hierarchically above or next to each other: The Polkadot protocol is entirely dedicated to interoperability – the cross-blockchain interaction of different networks.

The heart of Polkadot is the relay chain. It is the glue that holds all the networks connected to Polkadot together. The relay chain has interfaces (“slots”) that other networks can use to “dock” to Polkadot. So-called parachains are used here. These are specialized blockchains (or other data infrastructures) that focus on a single area of ​​application (e.g. IoT, financial services, insurance or gaming).

The bridges are a special case of parachains. As the name suggests, these are bridges that link the Polkadot network with other large blockchains – above all Bitcoin and Ethereum. This creates new opportunities to bring Bitcoin units to Ethereum in tokenized form. In this way, Bitcoiners can let their BTC „work for themselves“ in the Ethereum-based DeFi space, for example.

While Ethereum 2.0 and Polkadot share some fleeting similarities, we believe that their end goal is radically different and that rather than competing with each other, the two protocols are likely to co-exist in a mutually beneficial relationship for the foreseeable future

Polkadot white paper

Substrates: the blockchain construction kit

With Substrate, Polkadot also offers developers a kind of „blockchain construction kit“ that enables them to assemble a new blockchain from different modules and connect it to Polkadot. Substrate provides ready-made components, for example for node implementations, cryptography, network consensus and data storage. Developers can thus set up their own blockchain relatively easily without having to make concessions on network security: All parachains – even those that are not based on substrates – are secured via the consensus mechanism of the relay chain.

TPS that get Visa wet eyes

What Ethereum now has to laboriously create in retrospect is already in place at Polkadot from the start: Consensus-finding via proof of stake. While with Bitcoin (and so far also with Ethereum) the process of confirming blocks is not only slow but also extremely energy-hungry, Proof of Stake promises a significantly higher transaction throughput. And that with a much lower energy consumption.

In combination with the Parachains, Polkadot should be able to process over 166,000 transactions per second (TPS). Chief developer Gavin Wood expects up to one million TPS in perspective. For comparison: Bitcoin has an average of 3 to 5 TPS, Ethereum also only has 12 to 15 TPS. Even credit card providers look old in comparison: Visa can provide up to 65,000 TPS, according to information on the company’s website. Of course, the 166,666 TPS are theoretical maximum values ​​that have yet to be achieved in practice.

DOT: One token, three tasks

The platform’s own DOT token is used in three areas. In the area of ​​network governance, DOT owners can use their tokens to participate in elections and referendums on protocol changes. Each DOT holder is also entitled to make their own suggestions.

DOT is also required for the operation of the network. Holders can use DOT tokens to nominate the validators of transaction blocks in order to get a chance to receive a share of the block reward.

Finally, DOT tokens are required for connecting a parachain. As long as a parachain is connected to the relay chain, a certain number of DOTs must be stored.

Los mercados secundarios de máquinas de extracción de monedas de bits están al rojo vivo, ya que el aumento de la demanda de los mineros ha provocado graves retrasos en el cumplimiento de los pedidos de los fabricantes.

Dos de los mayores fabricantes de la industria minera, Bitmain y MicroBT, se han quedado sin máquinas nuevas hasta mayo de 2021, ya que la demanda ha superado la capacidad de fabricación actual. Luchando por más máquinas, los mineros están recurriendo a los mercados secundarios para conseguir lo que puedan encontrar.

El director de marketing internacional de Bitmain, Nathaniel Yu, confirmó que la compañía está agotada hasta mayo de 2021 en un correo electrónico a CoinDesk. El 166% de la demanda de Bitcoin en lo que va de año es un „impulsor clave“ de la creciente demanda de nuevas máquinas, especialmente para la Serie 19 de Bitmain, dijo Yu.

Vincent Zhang, vicepresidente de ventas del principal competidor de Bitmain, MicroBT, se negó a comentar sobre el inventario actual de su empresa pero señaló que la demanda de máquinas mineras eficientes es alta.

„Cuando el precio subió, todo el mundo se engulló los pedidos“, dijo Kevin Zhang, vicepresidente de desarrollo de negocios de la empresa minera Foundry, con sede en Nueva York, refiriéndose a la fuerte recuperación de Bitcoin tras la caída del 50% de los precios intradía en marzo.

Producir suficientes máquinas nuevas para satisfacer la demanda es especialmente difícil debido a la competencia por los chips de minería, dijo Zhang.

Los mismos chips de 7 y 8 nanómetros que los fabricantes de minería necesitan también son muy demandados por otros gigantes de la tecnología como Apple y Nvidia. Cuando compiten por el suministro con estas empresas, las compañías mineras de bitcoin son generalmente un cliente de menor prioridad.

Incapaces de recibir nuevas máquinas de los fabricantes que luchan contra las complicaciones de la línea de suministro, los mineros están pululando en los mercados secundarios.

La actividad comercial en estos mercados, que por lo demás son mucho más tranquilos, se encuentra en los niveles anteriores a la tala o incluso por encima de ellos, según las aproximaciones de datos de Guzmán Pintos, cofundador de la empresa de software minero Luxor Technologies. Antes del tercer evento de reducción a la mitad de la moneda de bits en mayo, el subsidio minero era el doble de su tamaño actual, lo que permitía un mayor número de participantes rentables en el mercado.

Un desequilibrio aún más marcado entre la oferta y la demanda fue dibujado por Thomas Heller, director de operaciones de la empresa de software minero HASHR8, en un mensaje directo con Crypto Bank. Heller dijo que los mercados secundarios de hardware minero son los más calientes que han estado desde finales de 2017 o principios de 2018 durante el último pico del mercado de la criptografía.

„Nadie quiere vender. Todo el mundo quiere comprar“, dijo Pintos a CoinDesk.

La fuerte demanda de cualquier máquina disponible se refleja en la alta volatilidad y las primas de los precios del ASIC. Para algunas máquinas, el precio por unidad puede „cambiar fácilmente entre el 10 y el 20% semanalmente“, dijo Pintos.

No es raro que la volatilidad ascendente de las máquinas de minería de segunda mano a menudo exceda la volatilidad de Bitcoin, añadió Heller.

En los últimos meses, los precios de las máquinas de minería de segunda mano de menor generación han aumentado entre un 40% y un 50%, según Mason Jappa, director general de Blockware Solutions, uno de los principales proveedores de hardware y servicios para la minería. Las máquinas más nuevas, como la S19 Pro, han visto más leves aumentos de precios de alrededor del 25% en los mercados secundarios.

Con Bitmain y MicroBT agotados hasta mayo de 2021, Jappa dijo que el mercado de hardware minero se ha transformado en „un verdadero mercado de vendedores en este momento“.

Blockware espera que la tendencia actual de fuerte demanda y oferta limitada se intensifique con más y más mineros „luchando por comprar máquinas en el mercado secundario con la mayor rapidez posible para la entrega“, dijo Jappa.

Las condiciones de la minería – sin mencionar el precio de la moneda de bits en sí – son „muy alentadoras en este momento“, dijo a CoinDesk. Según Jappa, los plazos para futuros lotes de máquinas de Bitmain y MicroBT seguirán ampliándose, y los precios en los mercados secundarios seguirán apreciándose.

From a technical point of view, many traders believe that Bitcoin is bearish.

On-chain trends, after miners and other big players have started liquidating their holdings, show that there is reason to believe that Bitcoin could go backwards

However, several analysts comment that there is one big reason they are reluctant to short here: inflows from Wall Street.

The entry of prominent Wall Street names into the crypto asset space has made many hesitate to go short here. For example, a hedge fund that buys $ 1 billion worth of BTC would likely instantly invalidate any bearish pattern that might appear on the Bitcoin chart.

Why many traders are bullish on Bitcoin right now

A historically correct trader named „Bitcoin Jack“ is hesitant to short BTC now after watching the institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies lately:

„One of the reasons I gave up the idea of ​​taking another significant short position is because I don’t want to bet against the brutal power of billionaires.“

He adds that while there is technical data that suggests that Bitcoin (buy now? Click here for instructions) has room to fall down – these signals can, due to the amount of capital flowing into the room, can be easily picked up:

“The reality is, I don’t know what’s going to happen from here. Large streams of money flow into Bitcoin. Tech specs that say a downtrend is possible can be blown out of the water, while we shouldn’t forget that institutional Bitcoin is not yet fully mastered. “

Just yesterday, an insurance company with at least $ 230 billion in assets under management made its first purchase of Bitcoin , buying $ 100 million worth of it.

Then, just an hour ago, MicroStrategy announced that the company is ready to buy $ 650 million worth of BTC in the coming weeks, which will almost certainly have an impact on the market.

Another trader known as „Mayne“ joins Jack’s concern and asks his followers if they think „big players“ buying BTC will be enough to catch the bearish technical trends that are affecting the Play charts, negate.

Bitcoin falls below $18K – but analyst believes massive breakout is possible soon

• Bitcoin is currently undergoing a consolidation process and is struggling to control its short-term prospects.
• The medium-term performance of the crypto-currency is likely to depend on whether the bulls can push it back above $19,000, as this was a key level for BTC.
• A sustained trading boom down here could open the gates for serious losses, but many factors are strongly in favour of the crypto currency.
• One trader believes that BTC’s consolidation channel is about to lose its place, which could mean that a massive upward push is imminent.
• For this to take effect, the crypto currency must continue to set higher lows.

Bitcoin has been caught in intensive sideways trading in recent weeks.

This is due to the fact that resistance in the region of the upper $19,000 remains quite strong, while Bitcoin Billionaire buying pressure in the region of the middle $18,000 remains strong.

Bitcoin’s consolidation phase has recently narrowed considerably, which could be a sign that a massive movement is imminent in the near future.

One trader believes that a massive movement is imminent in the near future as the crypto-currency channel is rapidly narrowing.

Bitcoin struggles to hold above $19,000 with increasing selling pressure

Bitcoin is currently quoted at a price of $18,000. Overnight, the crypto-currency fell rapidly before it could find some support.

The fact that there is support is positive and could mean that an upturn is imminent in the near future.

However, resistance at $19,000 is quite strong and turning this level into support has proven to be a difficult task.

Bitcoin’s consolidation channel goes „out of control

One trader explains in a tweet that Bitcoin’s consolidation channel is running out of space – which could mean massive volatility is imminent.

He notes that BTC will remain in this channel as long as he continues to see lower highs and higher lows. However, this trend can only continue for a certain period of time.

„BTC will continue to refine this area of consolidation… lower highs, higher lows, at some point we will run out of space“.