First Mover: Scaling Narrative Propels Polygon’s MATIC Token Closer to $1

PLUS: Bitcoin Stabilizes Near Support; Resistance Around $56K-$58K

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 April 30, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) -0.6%  $54,269 Ether (ETH)  -0.5%  $2,764 (Price data as of April 30 @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: Scaling Narrative Propels Polygon's MATIC Token Closer to $1   Technician's Take: Bitcoin Stabilizes Near Support; Resistance Around $56K-$58K   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: Bill Powers, Arca Principal & Strategic Advisor Leo Cheng, Cream Finance Co-Founder DJ Umek Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: XRP (XRP): +7.7% Chainlink (LINK): +3.3% Polkadot (DOT): +3.0%   Losers:  Aave (AAVE): -6.0% NuCypher (NU): -4.7% Cardano (ADA): -4.5%   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 Scaling Narrative Propels Polygon's MATIC Token Closer to $1 Polygon Network's MATIC token continues to rally in a sign of persistent demand for layer 2 scaling projects helping decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols bypass Ethereum's high transaction costs and attract more users.    MATIC reached a new record high of $0.9459 early today, surpassing the previous lifetime high of $0.92 reached on Thursday, according to data provided by CryptoCompare. Messari puts the cryptocurrency's daily high at $1.05.   The token has rallied by 150% this month, outperforming ether's 45% rise.    Scaling refers to increasing the throughput of the system, as measured by transactions per second. MATIC price chart (Source: Messari) Layer 2 scaling solutions facilitate faster and cheaper transactions by running sidechains or tangential networks alongside the main Ethereum blockchain. Demand for these projects has picked up in the wake of network congestion and high transaction costs on Ethereum's blockchain., with prominent DeFi protocols like Aave announcing integration with Polygon earlier this month.   Derivatives market data shows the focus has shifted to Ethereum-based scaling solutions in recent weeks from rival blockchains like Solana. MATIC futures open interest (Source: bybt) Open interest in MATIC futures listed on Binance, FTX, and Huobi has skyrocketed along with the cryptocurrency's price. Open interest refers to the number of contracts traded but not squared off with an offsetting position.  Solana futures (Source: bybt)   Open interest in Solana's SOL token has turned south since mid-April, having seen a solid rise in preceding months. Vinokourov expects continued growth in Polygon at the expense of Solana.   Ethereum's scalability could improve, bringing transaction fees down once the sharding upgrade is implemented. However, Polygon's Sandeep Nailwal doesn't foresee Ethereum's improved scalability affecting demand for sidechains.   "Ethereum 2.0 will become 64 times more scalable than Ethereum is now, but the demand is 1,000 times than where we are. You will need L2 scalability," Nailwal told CoinDesk.   Ethereum's founder Vitalik Buterin plans to implement the sharding upgrade after the completion of the switch to proof-of-stake mechanism by early next year.   Read the original story here: Scaling Narrative Propels Polygon's MATIC Token Closer to $1 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 Stabilizes Near Support; Resistance Around $56K-$58K Bitcoin (BTC) has fully recovered from Thursday's price drop of near 5%.   The cryptocurrency was trading around $54,000 at the time of writing after holding support around $52,000. The short-term trend is improving, although there is strong resistance around $56,000 and $58,000 that could limit upside into the weekend.   Hourly BTC chart shows support and resistance levels with RSI (Source: TradingView) The relative strength index (RSI) on the hourly chart is not yet overbought which could keep buyers active over the short-term. Bitcoin will need to show a decisive break above $56,000 to continue the long-term uptrend. So far, oversold signals from the April 25 low around $47,000 was not enough to push BTC above the 50-day moving average. BTC is down about 7% month-to-date and is on track for its worst month since January. Original story found here: Bitcoin Stabilizes Near Support; Resistance Around $56K-$58K A message from Residual Our software platform leverages blockchain's near instantaneous, immutable settlement capabilities and eliminates latency and costly transaction fees. By bridging the gap between traditional financial services and today's cutting edge technology, unFederalReserve can help thousands of non-bank lenders and borrowers around the world. The eRSDL community is diverse and inclusive, encourages engagement and ongoing support for each other, and is dedicated to DeFi projects that de-risk at every opportunity. We are pleased to welcome the first product in our ecosystem, the Reserve Lending platform - the beginning of a robust treasurer's tool kit that will streamline future banking transactions. BOLO Be on the look out for these upcoming events: 11:00 UTC - 13:30 UTC (7:00 a.m. ET - 9:30 a.m. ET) CBOE (CBOE) earnings. Forecast EPS: $1.40 12:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. ET): U.S. personal income (March). Forecast: +20.0% U.S. consumer spending (March). Forecast: 4.0% U.S. core inflation (March). Forecast: 0.3% 14:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET):  SEC vs. Ripple discovery hearing. USA: (844) 291-4185; International: (409) 207-6997.  Enter access code 71063935, followed by the pound (#) key. A message from CoinDesk CoinDesk's Quarterly Review Webinar Series   The suits are here to stay, but retail isn't going away. While Q1 saw the emergence of retail investors as a market driver, crypto caught explosive interest through non-fungible tokens from investors, celebrities and the general public.   Every Monday at 11:30 a.m. ET, crypto analysts Noelle Acheson and Christine Kim will discuss the performance and milestones of bitcoin and ether compared to macro and other crypto assets, along with important developments in the emerging DeFi and NFT sectors. Each episode in this four-part series will reference key findings from the latest CoinDesk Quarterly Review report and a live Q&A.   Sign up for CoinDesk's Quarterly Review Webinar Series, every Monday from April 12. ICYMI In case you missed it, here's the most recent episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Why Is Ether Rising, Bitcoin Stalling? BNY Mellon on Its Move Into Crypto America's oldest bank ventures into new territory: crypto. BNY Mellon's Lory Kehoe explains what crypto services the bank will offer, why and when. Also, Matt Weller of Forex.com joins "First Mover" for bitcoin and ether markets analysis, and Greg King of Osprey Funds on its new trust fund for accredited investors and why it chose Polkadot. 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   Enforcing KYC, AML Laws Is Key to Reducing Ransomware Attacks, Report Says Existing AML/KYC laws could reduce ransomware proliferation, but it would require an international effort. CFTC Appoints Former DEX Lawyer as Head of Fintech Wing Jason Somensatto joined the CFTC in February. Ex Florida Tax Collector Offered Roger Stone Bitcoin in Hopes of a Trump Pardon "If I get you $250k in Bitcoin would that help," Joel Greenberg reportedly asked. Team Behind Argo Blockchain Launches London-Listed DeFi Fund Dispersion Holdings lists on Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market using an auspicious ticker symbol: DEFI. Fidelity Digital Assets' Director of Research Leaves to Join Castle Island Ventures Before Fidelity, Mrinalini Bhutoria served as senior research analyst at Circle and spent three years at Credit Suisse. Zambia's Largest Land Titling Project Gets Blockchain Backing by Medici "This program has the overall objective of ensuring security of tenure for our people," said Hon. Jean Kapata, Minister of Lands and Resources. NYSE-Owner ICE Sold Coinbase Stake for $1.2 Billion The NYSE participated in Coinbase's Series C $75 million funding round in January 2015.     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. 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