THE COIN STREET JOURNAL
Market News - October 10th, 2023
FIVE ALTCOINS POISED TO PERFORM
In the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency, investors are shifting their attention away from Bitcoin, which has reached a point of maturity, and are now seeking altcoins that promise substantial returns. With the multitude of altcoins in the market, pinpointing the potential winners can be challenging. Here, we present five altcoins poised to perform well in the forthcoming bull market, potentially multiplying your crypto portfolio by 20 times.
**Lido DAO (LDO) -** Lido DAO has quickly established dominance in the Ethereum liquid staking arena, commanding over 30% of all staked ETH in Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSD) protocols. This achievement has significantly raised the profile of its native token, LDO, which has also enjoyed substantial growth. Despite these gains, LDO maintains a relatively modest market cap of $1.4 billion, suggesting it may still be undervalued within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Should a bull market ensue, LDO’s market cap could potentially surge past $30 billion, delivering more than a 20-fold return on its current price of $1.61.
**Arbitrum (ARB) -** Arbitrum earns its place on this list due to its impressive track record within the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem. It leads the pack in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL) and daily trade volume, outperforming competitors like Optimism (OP), Avalanche (AVAX), and Polygon (MATIC). Surprisingly, Arbitrum boasts the lowest market cap among these Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, currently standing at $1.08 billion. Its resilience during a bear market suggests it has the potential to become a top-10 cryptocurrency during a bull market.
**Stacks (STX) -** Stacks stands out as a Layer 2 network facilitating NFTs and DeFi on the Bitcoin network. It enables developers to create protocols and launch NFT collections on the Bitcoin network, a unique feature that has garnered attention. Despite this innovation, STX’s market cap remains relatively low at just $715 million, given its capabilities. This distinctive offering places Stacks in the spotlight, positioning it as a billion-dollar token capable of delivering substantial returns, potentially exceeding 20 times the investment.
**Kava (KAVA) -** Kava has been steadily gaining traction in mainstream adoption despite competing with larger networks. This Layer 1 blockchain takes a unique approach to interoperability by combining the strengths of Ethereum and Cosmos networks. It marries Ethereum’s developer capabilities with Cosmos’ speed and interoperability, creating a robust Layer 1 blockchain. KAVA’s native token is already closely watched and, with a market cap of $500 million, appears far from reaching its full potential.
**Trust Wallet Token (TWT) -** As more crypto investors opt for self-custody of their assets, self-custody wallets like MetaMask and Trust Wallet are gaining popularity. Trust Wallet, being the one with its own native token (TWT), has secured a significant market share. TWT’s popularity surged when the FTX crypto exchange experienced an outage in 2022, and its momentum continues. With the expected rise in self-custody during the bull market, TWT’s current market cap of $411 million could potentially soar to $8 billion.
In conclusion, these five altcoins—Lido DAO (LDO), Arbitrum (ARB), Stacks (STX), Kava (KAVA), and Trust Wallet Token (TWT)—are positioned to make significant gains in the upcoming crypto bull market. However, as with all investments, it’s crucial to conduct thorough research and exercise caution when considering any cryptocurrency investment.
SIGNALS PRESENT A CALM OUTLOOK
The bitcoin and ether options markets are currently signaling a calm outlook despite rising global risks. These markets show a preference for selling options, a strategy employed to profit from low volatility or price stability. The bid-ask ratio in these options markets consistently leans below one, indicating a bias for selling rather than buying options.
Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange, plays a significant role in this market, controlling over 85% of the global activity in bitcoin and ether options. Typically, geopolitical events, central bank actions, and economic data announcements lead traders to buy options in anticipation of significant market fluctuations. However, the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, coupled with other economic concerns, have not led to increased demand for options.
Despite the challenging global economic environment, both bitcoin and ether have remained relatively stable. Bitcoin has traded within a narrow range of $27,000 to $28,500, while ether has been confined to the $1,550 to $1,750 range for the past two months.
The bid-ask order book depth ratio in bitcoin and ether options on Deribit indicates that the market is leaning toward selling, as the ratio remains consistently below 1. This preference for sell trades is in line with the decline in implied volatility (IV) seen in both bitcoin and ether since the start of the year. IV reflects investors’ expectations for price turbulence and is influenced by demand for options.
In summary, despite growing global risks, the options markets for bitcoin and ether are showing a preference for selling options, suggesting a belief in continued stability or low volatility in these cryptocurrencies. This stance is consistent with the decline in implied volatility throughout the year.
BitVM CREATING BIG BUZZ AROUND THE MARKETS
The cryptocurrency market is buzzing with excitement over the latest Bitcoin update known as BitVM. This new computing paradigm aims to express Turing-complete Bitcoin contracts without requiring changes to the network’s consensus rules. Instead of executing computations on Bitcoin, they are verified, similar to optimistic rollups. This innovation paves the way for smart contracts on the Bitcoin network, potentially revolutionizing it.
Ethereum, once the dominant leader in the DeFi and NFT sectors, has been facing challenges. DeFi and NFT spaces have lost appeal due to scams and perceived lack of innovation since the 2021 bull run. Meanwhile, Cardano positioned itself as a more efficient and scalable alternative to Ethereum but also struggles to gain widespread adoption.
With the introduction of BitVM, Bitcoin’s capabilities could change dramatically. It allows complex off-chain computations without leaving a trace on the chain unless there’s a dispute, enhancing privacy and efficiency. This could make Bitcoin a formidable competitor in the smart contract arena.
If Bitcoin successfully implements BitVM, it may attract developers and users away from Ethereum and Cardano. Bitcoin’s reputation for trust and security, coupled with BitVM’s capabilities, could entice developers to build decentralized applications on the platform. Additionally, Bitcoin’s Turing-complete nature, capable of verifying the execution of any program, strengthens its position. While currently limited to a two-party setting, future enhancements could broaden its capabilities.
In summary, the introduction of BitVM has the potential to reshape the cryptocurrency landscape. Ethereum and Cardano may face increased competition as Bitcoin gains prominence in the smart contract space, thanks to its unique features and security. The impact of BitVM on the industry remains to be seen, but it has certainly captured the attention of the crypto community.