Author: The Daily Hodl

The crypto exchange OKX has launched the public mainnet of its new Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 (L2) network. The L2, called “X Layer,” onboarded more than 200 decentralized apps (DApps) during its testnet stage, according to a new announcement from the exchange. OKX says the network’s DApps include roughly 40 decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, 12 infrastructure projects, five growth tools, 12 bridges, 16 wallets, 10 social finance (SocialFi) platforms, and 10 non-fungible token (NFT) and gaming-focused projects. Popular DeFi projects on X Layer include Curve (CRV), Renzo and the decentralized exchange (DEX) QuickSwap. OKX Chief Marketing Officer Haider Rafique says X…

Castle Island Ventures founding partner and Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter still predicts Bitcoin (BTC) hitting six figures this year amid a looming debt crisis. In a new Kitco News interview, Carter says that despite the recent market pullback, Bitcoin “undeniably” could reach $100,000 in 2024. “On the first of the year, I think Bitcoin was trading in the $30,000 range, maybe $40,000. I forecasted $80,000 at some point this year. We were very close to hitting that just recently. $100,000 would certainly not be out of the question this year.” Asked if $100,000 remains his price target in 2024,…

A crypto whale recently lost more than $4.5 million attempting to long Ethereum (ETH) twice, according to the digital asset tracker Lookonchain. Lookonchain notes the whale lost $500,000 on their first attempt to long the top smart contract platform, then lost a lot more on their second try. “This whale sold all 10,701 ETH ($33 million) on Binance to repay debt two hours ago, losing more than $4 million again! He went long ETH by depositing ETH on Compound and borrowing USDT to buy more ETH.” Compound (COMP) is a decentralized lending platform. Lookonchain notes that other whales are accumulating…

Macro guru and ex-Goldman Sachs executive Raoul Pal is revealing that is heavily invested in one Ethereum (ETH) competitor. Pal says in an appearance on the Bankless YouTube channel that the native token of the layer-1 blockchain Solana (SOL) comprises about four-fifths of his crypto holdings while the rest is in memecoins, digital collectibles and in a digital assets-focused investment vehicle. “I am 80% SOL. All of my ETH is now NFTs (non-fungible tokens), I have been buying high-end art NFTs. I then have a bunch of the portfolio in the fund of hedge funds in Exponential Age Asset Management.…

Macro expert Lyn Alden says conditions are favorable for Bitcoin (BTC) to land a $100,000 price tag or more. In a new Blockcworks Macro interview, Alden says BTC is witnessing a supply shock as the majority of long-term Bitcoin holders are not yet ready to let go of their stacks at current prices. According to Alden, the constrained BTC supply coupled with rising global liquidity is proving to be a solid setup for Bitcoin to rally to the six-figure mark in the coming months. “For Bitcoin, most indicators that I track point to being fairly midcycle in terms of the…

A closely followed crypto analyst thinks market participants will seek shelter in a group of altcoins following last week’s marketwide dip. Pseudonymous analyst Altcoin Psycho tells his 501,200 followers on the social media platform X that he sees investors rotating funds into crypto assets with at least $1 billion market caps. According to the analyst, the market meltdown in the past few days is making investors think twice about accumulating speculative altcoins. “In my opinion, this wipeout results in a flight to quality from here for altcoins. Once the market can sustain a bid, we’ll likely see mid/high-cap alts run…

The CEO of Singapore-based digital asset exchange Crypto.com is saying Bitcoin’s (BTC) bull market cycle is just getting started. In a new interview with Bloomberg, Kris Marszalek says he expects the upcoming halving event, when miners’ rewards are cut in half, to be a positive development for Bitcoin within a six-month time frame. However, he warns there may be some Bitcoin selling in the near term. “I would say [the halving event] just improves the overall situation because you’ve got less Bitcoin coming into the market that is being sold by the miners and you’re just cutting this in half.…

A widely followed crypto analyst believes Bitcoin may be repeating a 2019 market structure that saw BTC consolidating for many months before launching a parabolic surge. In a new video update, crypto strategist Jason Pizzino tells his 323,000 YouTube subscribers that Bitcoin’s run to new all-time highs is reminiscent of its 2019 price action, when Bitcoin rose by about 4X before taking a breather for six months. According to Pizzino, Bitcoin’s big move from about $25,000 to $74,000 in a few months is comparable to the 2019 fakeout rally, suggesting that BTC may witness a multi-month consolidation before the next…

Newly created Bitcoin whales reportedly hold a record amount of BTC to the point of controlling 9% of the total supply of coins. Ki Young Ju, CEO of blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, shares data showing that short-term holder Bitcoin whales have become one of the primary cohorts of entities. Short-term holders are defined as those who have been holding their coins for less than 155 days. “New Bitcoin whales now hold 9% of the circulating supply, totaling 1.8 million BTC, including spot ETFs.” The CEO also says that despite a lull in demand for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the accumulation…

Ethereum (ETH) founder Vitalik Buterin says that on-chain privacy should be accepted as normal following his transaction with the Railgun protocol. First reported by crypto reporter Colin Wu, Arkham Intelligence data shows that Buterin recently transferred 100 ETH using the privacy protocol. “Vitalik Buterin (vitalik.eth) transferred 100 ETH (approximately $325,000) to Railgun at 17:40 UTC+8 today. Railgun is an EVM privacy protocol that enables DeFi private transactions. Over the past six months, Vitalik Buterin has been interacting with the Railgun using small amounts of ETH basically every month.” Responding directly to Wu’s post, Buterin said, “Privacy is normal. Railgun uses the…