Coinbase Opens Waitlist for Ethereum 2.0 Staking

Coinbase Opens Waitlist for Ethereum 2.0 Staking

TipRanks

Today, we’re looking at two small-cap biotech firms whose stocks have struck a rut. Each company has hit a recent clinical setback that sent the share price falling, erasing previous gains and sending it back down to low levels. Setbacks of this sort are not uncommon in the biotech industry, and in fact highlight the risk and speculative nature of the industry. So what should investors do, when a stock collapses? Is this a matter of poor fundamentals? And has the stock’s price found its low point yet? That’s where the Wall Street pros come in. Noting that each is set to take back off on an upward trajectory, some 5-star analysts see an attractive entry point for both. Using TipRanks’ database, we found out that these two tickers have earned Moderate or Strong Buy consensus ratings from the analyst community, and boast strong upside potential. Cortexyme, Inc. (CRTX) The first beaten-down name we’re looking at is Cortexyme, a clinical-stage biopharma company focused on degenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer’s. The company’s lead candidate is COR388, also called atuzaginstat. Atuzaginstat is currently under investigation in the GAIN trial, a study of its efficacy against Alzheimer’s disease. The trial is fully enrolled, with 643 patients, and the company was moving toward an open label enrollment (OLE) section of the Phase 2/3 study. During a routine regulatory update, Cortexyme announced that the OLE phase would be halted, although the primary GAIN study will continue, with results due to be released in Q4 2021. The announcement of the partial halt triggered a 35% drop in share price. The partial hold was prompted by adverse events on the liver during the atuzaginstat trial. The hepatic symptoms were reversible and showed no long-term lasting effects. The FDA reviewed these records, and in collaboration with Cortexyme the decision was made to hold the OLE while continuing with GAIN. This decision allows the main thrust of the program to continue, while working out a new protocol for the OLE. The purpose of the OLE is to test long-term efficacy and tolerability of the drug. In a review of Cortexyme after the announcement, HC Wainwright’s 5-star analyst Andrew Fein noted, “Cortexyme’s announcement of a partial clinical hold on the OLE study of atuzaginstat is disappointing, but the reversible nature of the liver toxicity might provide some ray of hope for Cortexyme. We believe that the pivotal trial’s continuation suggests that the drug-induced liver injury might not be severe enough to halt the program.” Turning to the near-term, Fein adds, “Continuation of the GAIN trial is encouraging despite the partial hold on OLE. It suggests that FDA plans to wait for the additional data from the pivotal trial before coming to any conclusion. Management shared that nearly one-third of the GAIN patients have completed the study and way past the 12-week time point, suggesting that they are out of risk.” To this end, Fein rates CRTX a Buy, and his $76 price target indicates confidence in a 147% growth potential. (To watch Fein’s track record, click here) Overall, Cortexyme has a Moderate Buy rating from the analyst consensus, with 6 recent reviews breaking down 4 to 1 to 1, Buy-Hold-Sell. The stock’s $83.60 average price target suggests that Wall Street sees a high potential here, on the order of ~170% upside from the trading price of $30.74. (See CRTX stock analysis on TipRanks) Immunovant (IMVT) Next up is Immunovant, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical research firm, focused on developing treatments for patients with autoimmune disorders, a class of diseases in which the immune system attacks the patient’s own body. The firm’s lead drug candidate, IMVT-1401, is undergoing trials as a treatment for thyroid eye disease, myasthenia gravis, and warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia. The drug described as “a novel, fully human anti-FcRn monoclonal antibody,” delivered by subcutaneous injection. On February 2, Immunovant’s stock plunged 42%, and it has been falling ever since. The precipitating factor was an announcement by the company that IMVT-1401 has had its Phase 2b clinical trial, for thyroid eye disease, halted temporarily, due to patients experiencing dangerous rises in their LDL levels. LDLs are the potentially harmful form of cholesterol, which have been connected to cardiovascular disease. Despite the clinical setback, Stiffel’s 5-star analyst Derek Archila reiterated a Buy rating on IMVT shares, along with a $28 price target. This figure suggests a 52% upside potential from current levels. (To watch Archila’s track record, click here) “Interestingly, increases have only been seen in TED patients, and our review of the literature suggests a few things: (1) it’s likely this is TED specific given the biology- see below for details, but we don’t think similar LDL increases will be seen in other indications outside TED; and (2) other anti-thyroid therapies used in Graves/TED also see similar increases in LDL, which end up being transient. We think IMVT-1401, in away, is replicating this mechanism," the analyst noted. Archila summed up, “While we will need to see additional data from the company to confirm… we don’t think this program is dead.” Overall, the Strong Buy analyst consensus view on IMVT would suggest that Wall Street generally agrees with Archila’s assessment. This rating is derived from 8 recent reviews, which include 7 Buys and only a single Hold. The average price target here stands at $40.38, implying ~121% upside for the next 12 months. (See IMVT stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

Ethereum vs Bitcoin - Similarities and Differences

Ethereum is similar to Bitcoin in the sense that they are both cryptocurrencies - non-centrally issued, digital currencies. Another similarity between the two is that the both operate using the proof-of-work consensus. This means that for both Ethereum and Bitcoin, the verification and confirmation of transactions requires a network-wide consensus of nodes. Due to this condition, both of them are slow when it comes to transaction processing.

Ethereum is slightly faster than Bitcoin: it normally processes 10-15 transactions per second, while Bitcoin processes 3-5. At least, this is true for the current version of Ethereum. One of the big expectations in the market right now is that the upcoming 2.0 upgrade will provide faster transactions, among other things.

But the major point that separates Ethereum from Bitcoin are smart contracts – the term most closely associated with Ethereum blockchain. Smart contracts are digital contracts that have a variety of applications.

Without going too far from the topic of Ethereum 2.0, it makes sense to mention Beacon chain., that is used to provide an upgrade to Ethereum’s features. Beacon chain makes use of a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm rather than proof-of-work – this means that it uses tokens instead of traditional computational power in order to process transactions.

Beacon chain employs shardchains, smaller groups of nodes that process their own portions of transactions in parallel, without needing to achieve a consensus across the entire network. This is meant to improve Ethereum’s scalability and vastly increase its throughput rate. At CEX.IO, we expect that the Ethereum 2.0 throughput rate will be able to reach 15,000 transactions per second, allowing Ethereum to match any centralized payment system in transaction processing speed.

In terms of price stability, it is clear that Bitcoin has a lead over Ethereum. BTC rate is a major point in defining the entire cryptocurrency market picture. And the two are positively correlated - when Bitcoin rises or falls, the same happens to Ethereum. And Bitcoin has an around four times higher market capitalization; therefore, it is less unstable in its price action.

As far as the trading of both assets is concerned, at CEX.IO we observed that in December 2020 ETH/USD trading volumes grew by 20%, while BTC/USD grew by 47.5%. We believe that it may represent a psychological trait for users – due to the rally, BTC became too “expensive” to fund trading strategies with, too risky to trade. This also indicates that Ethereum is no longer following Bitcoin’s price fluctuations as closely as it used to. And this divergence may become more apparent in the future.

Coinbase will soon allow users to earn interest on Ethereum

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has launched a waiting list for users that would like to earn interest on Ether (ETH) held in their account wallet .

As per a recent blog post , the firm will soon introduce a staking facility that will allow customers to set aside a portion of their holdings to be funnelled into the new-look Ethereum network , where it will be used to keep the system well-oiled and secure.

The exchange claims participants could earn interest of up to 7.5% on the amount staked, but will be unable to sell or transact using the allotted Ether for the moment. However, there will be no staking minimum, so users can pledge as little or as much as they like.

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The upcoming Ethereum 2.0 staking service will build upon similar facilities introduced in 2019 that allow Coinbase users to earn rewards on their Tezos and Cosmos holdings.

Ethereum 2.0 staking with Coinbase

For anyone new to the world of cryptocurrency, it might be a little puzzling that Coinbase is choosing to offer staking services for Ether but not Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The reason lies in the fundamental differences in the way the two underlying blockchain systems operate.

The Ethereum network recently began a transition that will overhaul its consensus mechanism, which is designed to incentivize network maintenance and ensure data cannot be tampered with.

With Ethereum 2.0, the network will switch from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus, which is generally considered to be a more effective and energy-efficient means of maintaining the network.

A basic way to describe the difference is that, in a PoW system (used for Bitcoin), one unit of computational power equates to one unit of mining power. Under PoS, however, one unit of staked value secures one unit of mining power.

According to data from Dune Analytics , more than three million ETH (worth circa $5.4 billion at current market rates) has been committed to the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract to date.

Typically, Ethereum 2.0 stakers are required to pledge a minimum of 32 ETH (almost $60,000), pricing many people out of contention. But Coinbase will allow its customers to contribute as little ETH as they like, in exchange for 25% commission on any rewards earned.

The main caveat is that if the price of Ether were to fall, users will not be able to limit their losses by selling their holdings. For many individual investors, then, Ethereum 2.0 staking is effectively a long-term bet on the future of the project and an increase in value of the underlying currency.

Staking via Coinbase also means that holders of Ether will not be able to transfer their funds to a non-custodial wallet, over which they have full control, as opposed to the custodial wallet provided by the exchange itself.