Major cryptocurrencies and altcoins give back some gains, despite prior strength.
The total cryptocurrency market is down just over 1% today. BTC is also down roughly the same, while ETH has shaved off a slightly smaller amount. SOL, meanwhile, is slightly green — up nearly half a percent.
DeFi Digest: LayerZero Labs raises $135 million
LayerZero Labs, a startup focusing on a universal layer and interoperability between blockchains, announced it raised $135 million from a number of groups and individuals. Co-led by Sequoia Capital, FTX and Andreessen Horowitz — along with investors such as Coinbase and Tom Brady — the funding round values LayerZero at $1 billion. The company will use funds to build out infrastructure and applications for the cross-chain world it envisions — similar to Stargate, which launched a little over a week ago.
Bryan Pellegrino, CEO and cofounder of LayerZero Labs, says the startup “brought some of the best and most well-respected entities in the world together to accomplish the same goal: create the generic messaging layer that underpins all interoperability between blockchains.”
As more unique Layer-1 blockchains launch and more use cases — such as play-to-earn gaming and decentralized finance — are developed, LayerZero aims to bring end-users a seamless experience by uniting everything they love about crypto through one network.
NFT Snapshot: DeFi Kingdoms launches Avalanche subnet
DeFi Kingdoms, the popular play-to-earn game and nonfungible token project, released its new blockchain on Tuesday. Aptly called DFK Chain, the project utilizes subnets — i.e., validators that allow developers to build Layer-1 blockchains on Avalanche. Just a few weeks ago, the Avalanche Foundation announced a $290 million incentive program to promote subnet adoption.
As of yesterday, DeFi Kingdoms players are able to bridge assets from the Serendale “realm” — the first map of the game that was unveiled on Harmony last year — to Crystalvale, which exists on its proprietary blockchain. The game’s native token, JEWEL, will be used as gas on DFK Chain. Features in Crystalvale will include liquidity pools, staking and hero quests to explore the game.
Top altcoin gainers and losers: DeFi tokens see gains
- WAVES/USDT +8.60%
- REN/USDT +8.41%
- SNX/USDT +7.28%
- COMP/USDT +6.14%
- BAL/USDT -2.22%
- APE/USDT -2.98%
- SAITAMA/USDT -3.47%
Despite a relatively flat Thursday for altcoins, WAVES remains green after an already-dominant week. SNX is also not letting up the gas alongside an overall resurgence in older decentralized finance tokens.
Though memecoins showed strength earlier in the week, tokens like SAITAMA are giving back those gains — now down 3.47%.
BTC technical analysis: Slightly down
BTC had hovered around 47,000 USDT after breaking 48,000 USDT earlier this week, but ultimately lost the level and now trades around 46,500 USDT. A cool-off is expected after a massive move, but bulls will need to hold previous resistance of 45,000 USDT to continue up. Losing that mark will make it much more difficult to break higher.
ETH technical analysis: Sitting near support
Despite weakness in BTC, ETH is showing relative strength today — though, it is also down. The 3,300 USDT level has shown as support since Monday. Buyers will need to maintain control of this area to sustain ETH’s recent run, or else a trip back down could be imminent.
Altcoin technical analysis: SUSHI moves on up
With newfound life in decentralized finance tokens, SUSHI has felt some of that attention. Up from levels not seen since January of last year, the token has caught fire as traders look for more beaten-down opportunities. SUSHI tapped the 100-day moving average earlier today and will want to flip it for more gains.
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Source: https://www.okx.com/academy/en/crypto-markets-down-slightly-after-early-week-surge-crypto-market-daily/