SushiSwap, Fleeing Ethereum Fees, Is Now Live on Binance Smart Chain, Fantom, Others
Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) – Alexander Höptner was leading the Börse Stuttgart when he jumped at the chance to take a top job with BitMEX, a pioneering cryptocurrency exchange known for its high-risk offerings.Just a few months later, the people who hired him found themselves fugitives wanted by the U.S. government. Federal prosecutors in New York charged outspoken co-founder Arthur Hayes and other senior officers at the company with failing to deploy an adequate anti-money laundering operation at the derivatives trading platform. Hayes, along with fellow owners and co-founders, resigned from his day-to-day leadership duty at the exchange’s holding company.Now Höptner is tasked with steering BitMEX out of its biggest-ever crisis and transforming a renegade crypto startup into something much more staid. His goal: amend relationships with global regulators while also expanding businesses ranging from spot trading to brokerage and custody services.“I was coming from the regulated and classical world. I have a lot of touch points with the regulators already,” the 50-year-old said in his first sit-down interview since starting the CEO role in January. “Now I’m working on the crypto side and bringing the crypto side to the regulated world,” said Höptner, currently in Hong Kong while he considers a permanent base in Asia.See the Bloomberg Television interview here.He declined to comment on the criminal charges against the BitMEX co-founders, or on a parallel civil action by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleging BitMEX illegally allowed Americans to trade on the platform. Hayes, who was in Singapore, discussed surrendering to U.S. authorities in April, according to a court filing unveiled this week.Read more: BitMEX Founders Charged With Failing to Prevent LaunderingBack in his native Germany, Höptner helmed the Börse Stuttgart when it became the country’s first regulated trading venue for digital tokens in 2019, and before that spent over a decade with the rival Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It didn’t take him long to accept the BitMEX job offer, he said, because he had been contemplating a move into crypto derivatives on the global stage.“Alex wants to move faster in the crypto economy. He knows it’s not possible for him to do that in Stuttgart,” said Thomas Munz, a former board member at the German exchange who retired in October.Already, there are some changes in the company’s tone and policies. In January BitMEX said it had verified the identities, locations, and credentials of all of its customers, a program it kicked off in August. Corporate customers now represent about 60% of volume – totaling $1 trillion over the past year – as the exchange expands beyond its core following of risk-loving retail traders. On average, users apply single-digit leverage to multiply their bets, it said. That’s far from the highest leverage of 100 times the platform allows, which also gives the name to its holding company, 100x Group.Höptner says he’s engaging with regulators globally to get to the point where BitMEX can provide services on a regulated basis, and also work to help shape government oversight.“We are approaching regulators where we are currently present, but we will also reach out to regulators where we are not,” he said.Just as rivals like Binance are chipping away at BitMEX’s market share in derivatives, Höptner is preparing to expand BitMEX’s offering into spot trading and adjacent areas like brokerage and custody, handling transactions and assets for clients.“We have to very fast make up our mind how we want to approach these aspects and then see whether we could find a partner or whether we build something or buy something,” he said.He also has to contend with the memory of Hayes, a poster boy for the early, more freewheeling days of cryptocurrencies. The 34-year-old trader-turned-entrepreneur recently broke a silence maintained since the indictment in a blog post championing crypto’s rally and meme stocks like GameStop Corp.On stepping into the shoes of the iconic founder, Höptner said: “I’m not trying to be somebody else. I am who I am.”(Updates with CEO exploring a permanent base in the fourth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
The profitability of Ethereum cryptocurrency mining has halved in a week
There’s good news and bad news for gamers this week as the price of Ethereum has plunged, sending the profitability of the cryptocurrency favoured by GPU miners sharply down. The bad news is that even with a significant reduction in value, Ethereum remains a highly profitable crypto to hold onto and continue to mine.
The value of Ether, the actual currency of the Ethereum blockchain, is creeping back up and over $1,600 USD at the time of writing, a little bounce from a plunge under $1,400, and still down on February highs of over $2,000—a recent peak in the crypto’s value.
Ether price in USD vs. Ethereum mining profitability (Image credit: BitInfoCharts)
The value of Ether is likely to change considerably over the course of the next few hours, weeks, months, however—you really never know with most cryptocurrencies where they’re going to be in a week’s time, and they remain as volatile an investment as ever.
That plunge has seemingly had a larger impact on the profitability of the coin, however. More so than its value, too. That could be due to an increase in difficulty, an artificial limit on hash generation tied to the current overall hashrate of active miners.
The profitability of Ethereum mining, while on the rise slightly, has halved between February 23 and March 3 (via BitInfoCharts ).
Although even while shaving of all that value in just a few days, there’s still money to be made. And just like the value of Ether, profitability is gradually on the rise once more.
We’ve no idea where Ether will end up by 2022, but for now, it’s still profitable enough to keep GPUs in high demand.
The ongoing surge in cryptocurrency pricing has seen a resurgence of GPU mining activity in 2021, which has further exacerbated a shortage of graphics cards.
Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – March 3rd, 2021
Ethereum
Ethereum slid by 5.31% on Tuesday. Partially reversing a 10.55% rally from Monday, Ethereum ended the day at $1,488.34.
A mixed start to the day saw Ethereum rise to an early morning intraday high $1,605.89 before hitting reverse.
While falling short of the first major resistance level at $1,627, Ethereum broke through the 23.6% FIB of $1,579.
The reversal saw Ethereum slide to a late intraday low $1,455.86.
The sell-off saw Ethereum fall through the 23.6% FIB and the first major support level at $1,465.
Finding late support, Ethereum moved back through the first major support level to reduce the deficit on the day.
At the time of writing, Ethereum was down by 0.44% to $1,481.85. A mixed start to the day saw Ethereum rise to an early morning high $1,489.04 before falling to a low $1,480.27.
Ethereum left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead
Ethereum would need to move through the pivot level at $1,517 to support a run at the first major resistance level at $1,578 and the 23.6% FIB of $1,579.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ethereum to break back through to $1,570 levels.
Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and the 23.6% FIB would likely cap any upside.
In the event of another breakout, Ethereum could test the second major resistance level at $1,667 and resistance at $1,700.
Failure to move through the $1,517 pivot would bring the first major support level at $1,428 into play.
Barring an extended sell-off, however, Ethereum should steer clear of sub-$1,400 levels. The second major support level sits at $1,367.
Looking at the Technical Indicators
First Major Support Level: $1,428
Pivot Level: $1,517
First Major Resistance Level: $1,578
23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $1,579
38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $1,292
62% FIB Retracement Level: $830
Litecoin
Litecoin rose by 1.80% on Tuesday. Following on from a 6.30% rally on Monday, Litecoin ended the day at $179.25.
Story continues
It was a mixed start to the day. Litecoin fell to a mid-morning low $171.13 before making a move.
Steering clear of the first major support level at $167, Litecoin rallied to an early afternoon intraday high $185.48.
Litecoin broke through the first major resistance level at $180.71 before hitting reverse.
Coming up against the second major resistance level at $185.40, Litecoin slid to a late intraday low $170.70.
Continuing to steer clear of the first major support level at $167, however, Litecoin moved back through to $179 to end the day in the green.
At the time of writing, Litecoin was down by 0.79% to $177.84. A bearish start to the day saw Litecoin fall from an early morning high $179.29 to a low $177.62.
Litecoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead
Litecoin would need to move back through the $179 pivot level to support a run at the first major resistance level at $186.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Litecoin to break back through to $180 levels.
Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Tuesday’s high $185.48 would likely cap any upside.
In the event of an extended breakout, Litecoin could test resistance at the 23.6% FIB of $195. The second major resistance level sits at $193.
Failure to move back through the $179 pivot level would bring the first major support level at $172 into play.
Barring an extended sell-off, Litecoin should steer clear of sub-$160 levels. The second major support level at $164 and the 38.2% FIB of $163 should limit the downside.
Looking at the Technical Indicators
First Major Support Level: $172
Pivot Level: $179
First Major Resistance Level: $186
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 2.24% on Tuesday. Partially reversing a 7.04% rally from Monday, Ripple’s XRP ended the day at $0.43624.
A bullish start to the day saw Ripple’s XRP rise to an early morning intraday high $0.45574 before hitting reverse.
Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.4624, Ripple’s XRP slid to a late afternoon intraday low $0.42228.
Steering clear of the first major support level at $0.4213, Ripple’s XRP moved back through to $0.436 levels to reduce the deficit.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was down by 0.80% to $0.43277. A bearish start to the day saw Ripple’s XRP fall from an early morning high $0.43638 to a low $0.43277.
Ripple’s XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead
Ripple’s XRP will need to move through the $0.4381 pivot level to bring the first major resistance level at $0.4539 into play.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripple’s XRP to break back through to $0.45 levels.
Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Tuesday’s high $0.45574 would cap any upside.
In the event of an extended rally, Ripple’s XRP could test resistance at the 38.2% FIB of $0.4632 and resistance at $0.47. The second major resistance level sits at $0.4715.
Failure to move through the $0.4381 pivot would bring the first major support level at $0.4204 into play.
Barring another extended sell-off, however, Ripple’s XRP should steer clear of sub-$0.40 levels. The second major support level at $0.4046 should limit the downside.
Looking at the Technical Indicators
First Major Support Level: $0.4204
Pivot Level: $0.4381
First Major resistance Level: $0.4539
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
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