Daily Flash | Monero New Hard Fork Upgrade Further Enhances Privacy Features, Shiba Inu Jumped 30%, And Ethereum Options Open Interest Continues To Soar As Merge Closes In

Today's Headline - Monero’s Privacy-Focused Crypto Protocol Upgrade Is Now Live: CoinDesk Report

Privacy Coin Monero has successfully upgraded its protocol via a hard fork at block 2,688,888. The upgraded protocol has implemented changes that enhance the privacy-preserving features of the network.

The new upgrade has increased the number of signers for a ring signature from 11 to 16 for every transaction. This will make it harder to trace the origin of a Monero transaction. The upgrade also features an improved version of its zero-knowledge proof with reduced transaction size and increased transaction speed.

Monero, whose native token is XMR, is an open-source project that launched in 2014 as “Bitmonero.” It claims XMR is a secure, private and untraceable cryptocurrency that keeps financial transactions confidential. Wallets that support Monero include Ledger and Trezor, two popular hardware wallets, as well as Cake wallet, a hot wallet that was originally exclusive to Monero but now also supports bitcoin (BTC), litecoin (LTC) and haven (XHV).

According to Chainalysis, 5% of all Monero in circulation was mined by cryptojackers – a form of malware that hijacks computing resources from unsuspecting users and exploits those resources to mine XMR – representing over $100 million in illicit gains and making cryptojackers the most popular cryptocurrency-focused malware.

The price of XMR remains relatively unchanged, currently trading at $168.55 or up 0.8% since Friday’s last recorded price.

Chart of the Day - Ethereum Open Interest Still Climbing

As of this writing,
bitcoin (BTC) is changing hands at around $24,907, up 4.99% in the past 24 hours,
while Ether (ETH) is trading at $1,995, or up 0.44% during the same period.
Major altcoins are seeing mostly gains, except for Cardano (ADA) which is down by 0.79%, Solana (SOL) +1.79%, Polkadot (DOT) +2.47%, Avalanche (AVAX) +1.34%, and Cosmos (ATOM) +1.44%.

Notable gainers include:
Shiba Inu (SHIB) at $0.0000172 (+36.38%),
Celsius Network (CEL) at $4.44 (+19.42%),
iExec RLC (RLC) at $1.61 (+15.42%).

Notable losers include:
Ampleforth (AMPL) at $1.60 (-9.85%),
Dvision Network (DVI) at $0.0868 (-4.50%),
UMA (UMA) at $3.55 (-5.83%).

bitcoin (BTC) is up 1.09% in the past 24 hours, currently trading at $24,872, and has risen 4.8% throughout the past week. Ether (ETH) led the charge last week with gains of 13.8%, and in the past 24 hours, ETH is up 0.74%, currently trading at $2,004.

As of Friday's close, the Dow Jones saw gains of 1.27%. The S&P 500 added 1.73% and the Nasdaq composite 2.09%. The positive sentiment of the U.S. equity market has helped the crypto market hold on to gains throughout the weekend.

On Thursday, Ethereum core developers earmarked tentative dates for the merge, a process that will see the blockchain transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. This follows Wednesday's news that Ethereum has passed the final test for proof-of-stake merge on Goerli, paving the way for the merge proper.

More recently, traders have been using the crypto options market to bet on ether (ETH) and hedge positions as the Ethereum blockchain’s hotly anticipated Merge approaches.

Open interest of ether options has hit an ATH. The Block's data dashboard shows August 12 saw open interest hit $8.11 billion—a figure that's nearly three times higher than where it stood a month ago. Ether futures is also on the rise, approaching levels not seen since early April and topping $9.15 billion.

On the other hand, open interest of bitcoin options has been slumping for months, currently sitting around $5.5 billion.

In terms of technical outlook, bitcoin (BTC) saw a brief battle between the Bulls and the Bears over the weekend, reaching a height of $25,030 before settling above the weekly support zone ($24,269 - $24,298).

The next resistance zone to challenge the bulls stands at $25,850 - $25,880, which coincides with the 100-Day EMA ($25,973) and the 38.2% Fibonacci level measured from Mar. 28 - Jun. 18.

Ether, on the other hand, reached a height of $2,029 on Sunday before settling between its monthly support zone at $1,918 - $1,947.

For the bulls, holding above the support zone is one thing, but in order to continue attracting more buying interest, they will have to push the price and hold above the next overhead resistance zone at $2,100 - $2,150, which coincides with 200-Day EMA and 61.8% Fibonacci level measured from Apr. 3 - Jun. 18.

To counter this movement, the bears will have to break and close below the current monthly support zone on a daily candle to bring the price down to its closest weekly support zone at $1,750 - $1,800, which coincides with 100-Day EMA and 50% Fibonacci level.

Influencer of the Day - SkyBridge’s Scaramucci expects BTC to Hit $300k in Six Years: Finbold Report

In an interview with CNBC on Aug. 12, Anthony Scaramucci, the founder and CEO of investment management company SkyBridge Capital, discussed the possibility of digital assets emerging from the crypto winter.

During the interview, Scaramucci highlighted that he expected a lot more liveliness in the crypto market in the future, stating that,

“We think [with] the improvement of the lightning network, the increase in applications, and the ease of transactions on bitcoin, you’re going to see a lot more commercial activity there.”

Scaramucci also believes that the worst of the crypto bear market is now over and that bitcoin’s fair market value is about $40,000, adding that,

“These are great long-term investments. In the next six years, if we’re right, if bitcoin goes to $300,000 a coin, it will not matter whether you bought it at $20,000 or $60,000.”

Buzzes of Yesterday - #Shiba Inu Jumped 34% on Sunday, #Philippines to Stop Releasing Crypto Licenses

SHIB Spikes 30% On Sunday, Dogecoin Climbs

OpenSea Changes Stolen NFT Policy Following User Outcry

Tornado Cash DAO votes to take partial control over treasury funds

Polkadot-based stablecoin aUSD depegs after Acala Network breach

Blockchain Firm Skynet Labs to Shut Down After Failing to Raise Funds

BlueBenx Fires Employees and Halts Funds Withdrawal Citing $32M Hack

Velodrome Recovers $350K Stolen Funds from Team Member Gabagool

Arbitrum Launches Gaming and Social App-Focused Layer 2 Chain Arbitrum Nova

Nigeria Leads Global Search for Cryptocurrency Information

Central African Republic President Says Successful Launch of Sango Coin a Key Milestone

Philippines Will Stop Accepting Crypto License Applications for 3 Years, Regulator Says

Philippines’ Unionbank to Support Cryptocurrency Exchange via Mobile App

Author: Gate.io Researcher Peter L.
This article represents only the researcher's views and does not constitute any investment advice. Gate.io reserves all rights to this article.
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