249
Market Update
- Taproot is LIVE! The first major update for Bitcoin in 4 years will optimize scalability, privacy and smart contract functionality. This will open the door for complex operations on Bitcoin such as Defi.
- Stacks (STX) and Portal Defi are two protocols to put on your radar because of the taproot upgrade. Both are going to offer smart contract capabilities and Defi on Bitcoin. You can enter the whitelist for Portal Defi on their website.
- Bitcoin is down 2.50% today, the bears are taking back the ground BTC made up on Sunday.
- The TOTAL (Total crypto Market cap) is down 1.7% to 2.78T.
- Many of the major layer-1 protocols are quiet and holding steady around their support lines. (ADA, SOL, AVAX, FTM, ETH)
- Benqi (QI) a DEX in Avalanche, was listed on BINANCE over the weekend. This marks the first major listing of an Avalanche protocol on a large exchange. I predict more listings will be on the way. Major AVAX protocols to watch are JOE, CQT, XAVA, and PNG. JOE is particularly interesting with a TVL (total valued locked) of 2.0B and a MC of 339M. JOE is the most utilized DEX on the AVAX ecosystem and has a lot of attention surrounding it. It’s a good time to stay ahead of the crowd and look for entries here.
Bitcoin Free and Greed Index 72 Extreme Greed
Bitcoin Google Trends 42
Notable Events
- Vechain will have its PoA2.0 Mainnet Upgrade tomorrow.
- Elrond (EGLD) is launching Maiar DEX This is a very important event for Elrond, a major smart-contract platform. Maiar is a cell and web app which supports seamlessly onboarding fiat users, social payments, multiple coins and features such as staking. If are interested in buying EGLD, Maiar has a promotion for $10 of free EGLD with a purchase of 200 USD’s worth on their site.
- Stacks (STX) is launching Stackswap mainnet tomorrow. It will be the first completed DEX on the Bitcoin Network.
Major Market News
- With taproot now integrated, Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square and a known Bitcoin Maximalist, announced that Square will launch a decentralized finance business using Bitcoin.
- Coinbase is looking to support third-party Defi apps on their platform. Haas, the company’s CFO, states that COINBASE wants to become “a bridge to Defi.” Continue to monitor this situation. The defi protocols that first become available on Coinbase will be exposed to 56 million Coinbase users.
Polkadot Crowdloans
One of the best investment opportunities in crypto
Crowdloans and Parachain auctions are a complicated subject, but the process of participation is quick and straight-forward. Today I will explain Parachain Auctions/Crowdloans and add links to help you further understand. Tomorrow I will lay out the process.
Polkadot
To understand Crowdloans we will quickly talk about Polkadot first. Polkadot is a multi-chain protocol that enables blockchains to integrate into its network. These chains can then interoperate on the Polkadot network. Interoperability is a major hurdle in crypto with all the various blockchains in operation which weren’t initially built to inter-mingle. Creative solutions have been built, but a majority such as bridges, can be somewhat complex to operate and require many extra steps. Polkadot was built from the ground up with interoperability in mind and is the next generation of blockchain technology. Polkadot has a market cap of 47B and is the eighth largest cryptocurrency on the market. Here is link if you would like more information on Polkadot.
Parachain Auctions and Crowdloans
Parachain Auctions is the process Polkadot has chosen to onboard different blockchains. Each Parachain, is auctioned for a week and the project with the most DOT allocation is the declared the winner. Anyone who owns DOT can participate. This participation is called the Crowdloan. If a participant allots DOT to a project and wins the auction, they receive an allotted number of tokens for that project. The new tokens and the DOT, are then locked for 96 weeks. At the end of the 96-week period, the DOT and new tokens are released to the Crowdloan participant. Here is a link to the status of current Parachain auctions. Acala and Moonbeam are neck and neck for winning the first auction. This process begun on November 11th and the first auction ends November 18. Here is a video that further breaks down Parachain auctions.
Why should I participate in these auctions?
- The number one reason to participate in auctions is for access to the first and likely most influential Parachains which will connect to Polkadot. The participant will get these tokens at entry level price.
- Throughout the process the participant keeps ownership of their DOT.
- The participant has no choice but to keep DOT for a minimum of 96 weeks. One of the hardest aspects of being invested in crypto, especially for beginners, is not touching long term holds. This market is very volatile and has large swings. But keep in mind, crypto has been the best investment opportunity in the past 10 years.
- It’s a set it and forget it process. In 96 weeks the participant could be sitting on a very nice nest-egg. They can then cash-out or stake the new tokens for a nice APY%. DOT can currently be staked for 10-15% APY.
What are the risks?
- We could enter a bear market and participants would have to watch DOT substantially fluctuate in price.
- A total regulatory attack on crypto, or Polkadot completely fails as a network. I give either one of these a 1% chance of occurring.
On a sidenote, Kusama, the canary network for Polkadot, has been Auctioning Parachains for a few months. Moonriver has been the most lucrative to investors, where each KSM (currently at $427) would have received $5k of Moonriver (MOVR) tokens. Moonriver is the sister network of Moonbeam, which is currently in auction on Polkadot.
Figure 2 Kusama Crowdloan ratings
The hard stuff is out of the way. Tomorrow I will provide everything needed to participate in these auctions. Stay tuned because Wednesday is the end of the first auction. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on Acala or Moonbeam.
NOOBIE Lesson of the Day
Investment Tools
Every trader or investor should have a bag of tools to use for making decisions and gathering data. Below I will introduce you to two of my favorite and most useful websites.
CoinGeckoCoinMarketCap are excellent for tracking prices and looking up crypto coins. They provide information in a simple, easy to use layout. When you first enter these pages, you will see a layout of cryptocurrency prices listed by Market cap. Here is a list of some of things you can do on either of these sites.
- Get information such as Market cap, trading volume, circulating supply of tokens, total supply, max supply
- See a basic price chart
- See what exchanges or DEXs (decentralized exchanges) offer the crypto
- Find the coin’s websites
- Social media links
- Whitepaper links
- Create a watchlist
- Create a portfolio
- See trending coins
10.Track prices by different ecosystems
There are many more things you can do on these two websites and I recommend everyone explore and interact with them to get a better feel. For example, Try making a list of cryptos that are mentioned on an awesome newsletter or look up the whitepaper for the cryptocurrency you currently own. Below is a small contest to test yourself.
TOMORROW
- Trade set up on Stacks (STX)
- Crowdloans participation
- More Investment tools
Last week we hit a milestone of 100+ subscribers. Not bad for 2 weeks! Thanks to you guys/gals and the people who have been spreading the word. If you know more people that want to sign up, feel free to send me their email. I hope you enjoyed today’s newsletter. Stop by our twitter @TraderGabi and give us a like, it really will help get the word out. We also attach a lot of relevant information on up to the minute news when we find it. Hope you enjoyed the material.
Have a great day/night!
If you would like to receive the FULL copy to your email, please PM me your email address.
