First Mover: Ether’s Active Addresses Pass 2018 Peak as Cryptocurrency Soars to New Price Highs

PLUS: Bitcoin Stalls at Resistance; Could Face Lower Support at $56K

Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond By the CoinDesk Markets Team Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets May 10, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) -0.3%   $57,954 Ether (ETH)  +2.9%   $4,044 (Price data as of May 10 @11:00 UTC) If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Good morning. Here's what we're writing about: Market Moves: Ether's Active Addresses Pass 2018 Peak as Cryptocurrency Soars to New Price Highs   Technician's Take: Bitcoin Stalls at Resistance; Could Face Lower Support at $56K   Check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Lawrence Lewitinn and Emily Parker, at 9 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today the show will feature guests: Daniel Vogel, Bitso CEO & Co-Founder Igor Telyatnikov, AlphaPoint Co-Founder & CEO Brad Kam, Unstoppable Domains Co-Founder Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: Stellar (XLM): +24.2% Bitcoin Cash (BCH): +6.8% Litecoin (LTC): +6.6%   Losers:  Filecoin (FIL): -2.7% Algorand (ALGO): -1.1% The Graph (GRT): -1.1%   The CoinDesk 20 are 20 digital assets filtered from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges. Market Moves by Omkar Godbole Ether's Active Addresses Pass 2018 Peak as Cryptocurrency Soars to New Price Highs Ether (ETH)'s ongoing bull run appears to be backed by fundamentals, with active user participation in Ethereum's network booming alongside the cryptocurrency's price.   The number of unique active ether addresses, either as sender or receiver, rose to a new record high of 7.94 million on Sunday, topping the previous peak of 7.14 million reached on Jan. 16, 2018, according to data provider Glassnode.   The tally has increased by more than 100,000 in the past three days alone, taking the year-to-date growth to 86%.   Active Ethereum addresses and daily transaction count bottomed out in early 2020 and have been rising ever since, signaling the potential for a bull run in ether. "When there's greater usage of a cryptocurrency there's more demand, and that drives the price up," Chainalysis' economist Philip Gradwell told CoinDesk last year.   Ether, the native token of Ethereum, has responded positively to the network growth, rising by a staggering 2,355% since early 2020. The cryptocurrency is trading at record highs above $4,100 at press time – up 450% so far this year. Prices have doubled in the past two weeks alone, per CoinDesk 20 data.   Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency by market value, is trading near $58,200, representing a 100% year-to-date gain. Ethereum: Active addresses and transaction count (Source: Glassnode) Since the first quarter of this year, the network has been facing congestion and charging relatively higher transaction fees than rivals like the Binance Smart Chain.   So far, however, high fees have largely failed to deter users, as evidenced by the continued rise in the active addresses and transaction count (now also at record highs). That's a sign of real fundamental growth, according to some analysts.   Read the original story here:  Ether's Active Addresses Pass 2018 Peak as Cryptocurrency Soars to New Price Highs A message from Nexo Your digital assets deserve a savings account in their BEST INTEREST. Leading crypto lender Nexo treats you, your crypto and your fiat to industry-best Crypto & Fiat services, featuring:    * Up to 12% interest on digital assets, paid out daily! * Yields available on BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, XRP, XLM, EOS, TRX, LINK, BNB, PAXG, USDT, USDC, TUSD, PAX, DAI, HUSD, GBP and EUR. * No minimum or maximum limits on funds deposited, offering infinite opportunities to earn. * #ZeroFees on all transactions. * Military-grade wallet security and top-tier insurance on all custodial assets with SOC 2 Type 2 certified crypto custodian BitGo. Get started at nexo.io Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes Bitcoin Stalls at Resistance; Could Face Lower Support at $56K Buyers continued to take profit around $59,000 after a near 5% rise in bitcoin (BTC) on Sunday. The cryptocurrency is currently at support, trading around $57,800 at the time of writing. Stronger support is seen around the $56,000 level. Hourly bitcoin chart shows support and resistance levels with RSI  (Source: TradingView) Bitcoin is trading near the 100-period moving average on the hourly chart, which suggests profit taking could stabilize during the day. However, if BTC breaks below $57,000, buyers will likely wait to enter around lower support at $56,000. The relative strength index (RSI) on the hourly chart is not yet oversold, which means price could face further downside after failing to hold above $59,000 over the weekend. Bitcoin has retraced about 23% of the recovery from the May 4 low around $53,000. The cryptocurrency continues to consolidate within a broader uptrend.   Original story found here: Bitcoin Stalls at Resistance; Could Face Lower Support at $56K   A message from CME Announcing CME Micro Bitcoin Futures (MBT) : Ready for Trading  Tap into the precision of a smaller-sized Bitcoin contract At 1/10 the size of one bitcoin, MBT futures provide an efficient, cost-effective way to fine-tune bitcoin exposure and to enhance your trading strategies. Enjoy the features of Bitcoin futures, but in a smaller size that gives active traders more choices for managing bitcoin price risk. BOLO Be on the look out for these upcoming events: 11:30 UTC - 13:30 UTC (7:30 a.m. ET - 9:30 a.m. ET): Riot Blockchain (RIOT) reports earnings. Forecasted EPS: $0.20 A message from CoinDesk Unlocked 101 at Consensus by CoinDesk 2021   The countdown is on to Consensus by CoinDesk, our virtual big-tent event this May.   For those who need a primer or to brush up on the fundamentals, we're hosting Unlocked 101, a free educational series designed to give you the tools you need to navigate crypto.   Sessions run May 4–20, covering the basics of Bitcoin, DeFi, scams and hacks and the NFT boom.   Register for Unlocked 101. ICYMI In case you missed it, here's the most recent episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Bitcoin, Ether Ending Week on Quiet Note as Exchanges, Funds, Cities Prepare for Wide Crypto Adoption Bitcoin and ether markets may be subdued today, but a wide variety of crypto service providers and investors are busy with new projects paving the way for wider adoption. "First Mover" guests today include Julian Sawyer, CEO of Bitstamp, the world's longest-running crypto exchange and Scott Conger, the mayor of Jackson, Tennessee. He wants to make the city a leader in bitcoin adoption. And as always, we dive into markets analysis. Greg Magadini of Genesis joins the discussion. Introducing CoinDesk Indexes TradeBlock, the leader in providing crypto asset indexes to financial institutions, will now assume the CoinDesk name. Introducing CoinDesk Indexes: the industry standard for institutional-grade digital currency price references with billions of dollars in monthly trading volume quoted against them. Underlying new brand names, TradeBlock's index methodology will continue to adhere to the standards of integrity and reliability that have always differentiated its indexes. Read more about CoinDesk Indexes, the industry standard in crypto benchmarks. Latest Headlines Crypto Long & Short: Why Bitcoin's Taproot Upgrade Matters The most important impact for the investing market overall: It's a reminder that Bitcoin is a technology. Plus: What's next for dogecoin? Ether Price Pushes Past $4K for First Time, Approaches JPMorgan's Market Value A Coinbase premium for ether is continuing to spur new investment, according to analyst Ki Young Ju. Craig Wright's Multi-Billion Dollar Bitcoin Trial Moves to Year's End The trial over a share of $65.2 billion in bitcoin has already been moved several times. Twitter Scammers Used Elon Musk's SNL Appearance to Reap $100K in Crypto The scammers reportedly hijacked verified Twitter accounts to promote a fake giveaway by the Tesla CEO. Gemini Exchange Users Can Now Earn Interest on Dogecoin The U.S.-based exchange also added SushiSwap, Injective and Polygon, bringing the total of interest-earning cryptocurrencies to 32. Rari Capital Plans to Refund Stolen $10.6M in Ethereum From Dev Fund The attack exploited Rari Capital's integration with Alpha Finance Labs' ibETH token.   CoinDesk Research: Does Bitcoin Have an Energy Problem? Is Bitcoin bad for the environment? This CoinDesk Research report looks at the data behind the most common critiques and shows that, while Bitcoin uses a lot of energy, the mix is evolving toward renewables. Bitcoin also incentivizes investment in clean energy sources, can convert pollution into value, and redistributes wasted power production.  Download the free report.   Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.  ATTENTION: Scammers have been sending fraudulent emails with links to sites disguised to look like coindesk.com. If you are in doubt about a link, type https://www.coindesk.com directly into your browser; do not copy and paste. Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. 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