USV Leads Round in Matter Labs as Ethereum Scaling Wars Intensify

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The team behind Ethereum speed booster zkSync has closed a Series A funding round led by Fred Wilson’s Union Square Ventures (USV) as the race between Ethereum scaling solutions tightens.

Matter Labs, which first released its zero-knowledge rollup (ZK-rollup) product in December 2019, raised an undisclosed sum with limited partners “to preserve the dominance of the community share in the future zkSync network,” Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

“The crypto community will strongly prefer solutions with the least compromises on security, decentralization and [user experience],” the startup said in a blog post shared in advance with CoinDesk. “This is what makes ZK-rollup tech so important. It relies on pure cryptography rather than game-theoretic mechanisms, and is thus the only scaling approach with no upper bound on the value it can securely handle in L2.”

The round was joined by a host of cryptocurrency projects that are considering adding zkSync, including Coinbase, Aave, Curve Finance, CoinGecko and Balancer, among others. The round also included venture capital firms Placeholder, 1kx and Dragonfly Capital.

Gluchowski said numerous cryptocurrency wallets are in various stages of integrating zkSync, including Argent. Crypto exchange partners are likely to integrate the tech directly as well, he said.

War for L2?

The funding round comes at a time when historic gas fees have plagued the leading blockchain for decentralized applications. For example, a simple transfer on Ethereum cost up to $40 last week. Rollups are considered the prime method addressing this issue – at least in the short term until Ethereum 2.0 is fully developed.

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Rollups are off-chain batches of transactions that settle as one transaction on a base layer. They come in two forms: zero-knowledge (ZKR) and Optimistic (ORU). The former rely on a mathematical proof to settle the lump payment without committing fraud. Optimistic rollups rely on a slashable bond and validators who watch for fraud.

A chief distinction between ORU and ZKR has been the latter’s limited interoperability with virtual machines. Yet, Matter Labs has “found a way to make ZK-rollups EVM-compatible in a very efficient way” using another privacy tech called “recursive PLONK,” Gluchowski said. A solution to this issue could make ZK-rollups a more favorable solution for decentralized applications (dapps).

Optimism is the most well known proponent of ORU. The firm also recently closed a round, booking $25 million in a Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – March 1st, 2021

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Ethereum

Ethereum fell by 2.63% on Sunday. Reversing a 1.07% gain from Saturday, Ethereum ended the week down by 26.54% to $1,422.02.

A mixed start to the day saw Ethereum rise to an early morning high $1,469.96 before hitting reverse.

Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $1,518, Ethereum fell to a mid-afternoon intraday low $1,292.76.

The extended sell-off saw Ethereum fall through the first major support level at $1,411 and the second major support level at $1,256.

Finding support at the 38.2% FIB of $1,292, Ethereum revisited $1,440 levels before easing back.

The first major support level limited the downside late in the day.

At the time of writing, Ethereum was down by 0.62% to $1,413.22. A mixed start to the day saw Ethereum rise to an early morning high $1,430.74 before falling to a low $1,413.22.

Ethereum left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

For the day ahead

Ethereum would need to avoid a fall through the pivot level at $1,395 to support a run at the first major resistance level at $1,497.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ethereum to break out from Sunday’s high $1,469.96.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $1,500 would likely cap any upside.

In the event of a breakout, Ethereum could test the second major resistance level at $1,572. The 23.6% FIB of $1,579 and resistance at $1,600 would likely cap any upside, however.

Failure to avoid a fall through the $1,395 pivot would bring the first major support level at $1,320 and the 38.2% FIB of $1,292 into play.

Barring another extended sell-off, however, Ethereum should steer clear of sub-$1,200 levels. The second major support level at $1,218 should limit the downside.

Looking at the Technical Indicators

First Major Support Level: $1,320

Pivot Level: $1,395

First Major Resistance Level: $1,497

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $1,579

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $1,292

Story continues

62% FIB Retracement Level: $830

Litecoin

Litecoin fell by 3.63% on Sunday. Reversing a 1.02% gain from Saturday, Litecoin ended the week down by 27.18% to $165.72.

It was a mixed start to the day. Litecoin rose to an early morning intraday high $173.17 before hitting reverse.

Falling short of the first major resistance level at $179.25 Litecoin fell to a late afternoon intraday low $153.07.

The sell-off saw Litecoin fall through the first major support level at $166.00 and the second major support level at $160.00.

Litecoin also fell through the 38.2% FIB of $163.

Finding late support, however, Litecoin broke back through the support levels and the 38.2% FIB before ending the day at $165 levels.

At the time of writing, Litecoin was down by 0.88% to $164.26. A mixed start to the day saw Litecoin rise to an early morning high $166.38 before falling to a low $164.04.

Litecoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

For the day ahead

Litecoin would need to avoid a fall through the $164 pivot level to support a run at the first major resistance level at $175.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Litecoin to break out from Sunday’s high $173.17.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely cap any upside.

In the event of an extended breakout, Litecoin could test the second major resistance level at $184.

Failure to avoid a fall through the $164 pivot level would bring the 38.2% FIB of $163 and the first major support level at $155 into play.

Barring another extended sell-off, Litecoin should steer clear of the second major support level at $144.

Looking at the Technical Indicators

First Major Support Level: $155

Pivot Level: $164

First Major Resistance Level: $175

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $195

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $163

62% FIB Retracement Level: $110

Ripple’s XRP

Ripple’s XRP fell by 4.45% on Sunday. Reversing a 1.82% gain from Saturday, Ripple’s XRP ended the week down by 23.57% to $0.41661.

A bullish start to the day saw Ripple’s XRP rise to an early morning intraday high $0.43831 before hitting reverse.

Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.4541, Ripple’s XRP slid to a late afternoon intraday low $0.3934.

Ripple’s XRP fell through the first major support level at $0.4231 and the second major support level at $0.4098.

Finding late support, Ripple’s XRP revisited $0.42 levels before falling back. The first major support level pinned Ripple’s XRP back late in the day.

At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was down by 0.74% to $0.41351. A mixed start to the day saw Ripple’s XRP rise to an early morning high $0.41862 before falling to a low $0.41351.

Ripple’s XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

For the day ahead

Ripple’s XRP will need to move back through the $0.4161 pivot level to bring the first major resistance level at $0.4388 into play.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripple’s XRP to break out from Sunday’s high $0.43831.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $0.44 would cap any upside.

In the event of an extended rally, Ripple’s XRP could test the second major resistance level at $0.4610 and the 38.2% FIB of $0.4632.

Failure to move back through the $0.4161 pivot would bring the first major support level at $0.3939 into play.

Barring another extended sell-off, however, Ripple’s XRP should steer clear of the second major support level at $0.3712.

Looking at the Technical Indicators

First Major Support Level: $0.3939

Pivot Level: $0.4161

First Major resistance Level: $0.4388

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.5320

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $0.4632

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.3521

Please let us know what you think in the comments below.

Thanks, Bob

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

Ethereum Price March Prediction: Down to $1,000 or Up to $2,500?

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The Ethereum price has been under pressure in the past few days. After soaring to an all-time high of $2,045, the price has dropped by more than 30% as investors worry about the rising US Treasury yields.

What happened: Ether price was in a strong upward trend on Sunday last week. However, the price started falling as investors started to worry about its valuation and the fact that it seemed overvalued. Also, a warning by Elon Musk led to rising pressure of ETH and BTC prices. In the past, a sharp decline of Bitcoin tends to lead to more weakness in other cryptocurrencies.

Further, Ethereum price and other risk assets declined as the US Treasury yields continued to rise. Last week, the ten-year yield of the US Treasuries rose to 1.50%, the highest level since February last year. At the same time, the spread between the 30-year yields and 5-year yields rose to the highest level in more than 5 years.

High yields usually have a direct impact on risk assets like cryptocurrencies, emerging market currencies, and technology stocks. Indeed, the Nasdaq 100 index has dropped by more than 5% in the past few days.

Ethereum price technical outlook

As I wrote last week, the sharp decline of the ETH price was expected. Furthermore, the currency was previously forming a rising wedge pattern that is usually a bearish factor. The price also moved below the 25-day and 50-day moving averages on the daily chart, It is also about 40% above the ascending trendline that is shown in red.

Therefore, at this stage, the outlook for the currency is neutral. On the one hand, the price could move down and retest the important support at $1,000. On the other hand, it could retest its all-time high at $2,045 on its path towards $2,500. In my view, I believe that the latter option will happen.

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