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Will Fear And Greed Keep Bitcoin Buyers From The Halloween Effect?

Data shows the Bitcoin fear and greed index has been pointing towards fear lately, something that might keep buyers from the Halloween Effect.

The Bitcoin Fear And Greed Index Points At Fear

The BTC fear and greed index is an indicator that measures the sentiment and emotions of the market based on various sources, and displays them on a numeric meter.

The metric uses a system with 0-100 as values, where low values indicate fear in the market, and higher ones show greed.

Extreme fear and greed occur when the indicator shows very low or very high values, respectively. Periods of fear usually happen when Bitcoin goes in the red, while those of greed are seen during big moves up.

Here is how the fear and greed index has looked like recently, as per the latest Arcane Research report:

The Bitcoin market continues to show fear | Source: Arcane Research

Last week the indicator slowly started shifting towards greed as the market recovered from the crash of 7 September. However, before the greed level could be hit, sentiment quickly turned into fear as BTC had yet another crash.

Related Reading | Despite Dips, Bitcoin Exchange Reserves Reach Lowest Values Since 2018

The fear and greed needle points at fear currently | Source: Arcane Research

The below chart shows the trend in Bitcoin’s price over the last month, highlighting the crashes that lead to this state of fear.

BTC’s price continues to fall down | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView

Over the last few days, Bitcoin has had two big dips where the price went down to $40.5k in the first one, but all the way down to $39.6k in the second one. These have only fed into the fear sentiment.

Will These Fear Levels Hold Buyers Back From The Halloween Effect?

The Halloween Strategy is a trading method that’s based on the idea that stocks, Bitcoin and other assets perform the best between 31 October and 1 May.

Traders using the strategy generally recommend “to sell in May and go away,” until the next Halloween comes around.

Because of this idea, buyers usually see this time of the year as an optimal entry point into the market. This is sometimes dubbed as the “Halloween Effect.”

The effect is a weird statistical anomaly as data over a period of a few years suggests the trading strategy does seem to produce better results.

Related Reading | Mid-Cap Altcoins Hold Onto Highs Better Than Bitcoin And Ethereum

Next month is the Halloween month, but will the effect attract buyers to Bitcoin this time? As the fear and greed index shows fear among traders currently, investors might be hesitant to enter the market right now.

If the market continues to show fear through the next month, then perhaps the Halloween Effect won’t benefit BTC this year.

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How Polygon Will Seek To Strengthen DeFi With $2 Million Bug Bounty

In the face of an increase in the number of attacks on DeFi platforms, Polygon has decided to take new measures. The Ethereum scaling platform recently announced a $2 million bug bounty.

In that way, Polygon expects to “root out and eliminate potential security flaws”, according to a press release. Only a few months ago, the DeFi ecosystem experienced one of its biggest hacks when it lost over $600 million on different platforms.

Polygon recorded an $85 million loss at the time. While Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) recorded a combined estimate of $500 million in losses.

Related Reading | Q&A With Poly Hacker, Hero Or Villain Behind Biggest DeFi In History?

The exploit used by the Poly Network hacker focused on a blockchain agnostic trading pool called O3 Swap. Ironically, the attacker that perpetrated this hack asked the projects for more security measures and transparency.

The Polygon network bounty program is live since September 20, 2021, on the bug bounty platform Immunefi. Focused on DeFi and smart contract security, the platform will host the program as an “open invitation to security researchers”.

In that way, the project expects to find and fixed potential security vulnerabilities in the smart contracts and dApps ecosystem power by Polygon. Thus, the platform seeks to offer its users more security and protection for their funds.

The bug bounty program will reward white hackers in relation to their findings and the severity of the potential security vulnerability discovered. The rewards will range from the $1,000 for “low-level threats”, the release clarifies”, and $2,000,000 for critical threats.

Related Reading | Polygon Links With Filecoin, How Users Will Benefit From Free Storage

On the other hand, if a white hacker finds a vulnerability on a dApp, they could receive a reward ranging from $2,500 to $15,000. Payments will be made in the following cryptocurrencies: Polygon (MATIC), Ethereum (ETH), or a stablecoin.

How Polygon Will Operate Its Bounty Program

Polygon will leverage Immunefi Vulnerability Classification System. This mechanism will allow the team to have a threat classification system according to the potential vulnerability of the network.

In order to be eligible for a reward, white hackers must submit a report that needs to include certain details about their findings. For example, reports must have a step-by-step guide so the Polygon team can reproduce the potential threat and other evidence such as screenshots and logs.

Related Reading | Ethereum Is Ready For Inevitable Climb Over $10,000, Says Crypto Analyst

Data from research firm Messari claims that over $284 million have been lost to DeFi hacks since 2019. Thus, why an improvement in this sector’s security has become a “matter of utmost importance”.

Source: Messari via Twitter

Sandeep Nailwal, Co-Founder of Polygon said the following on their new bounty program:

User security is at the forefront of Polygon’s ethos. This substantial bounty offering aims to solidify what we know to be an extremely secure network.

On the other hand, founder and CEO of Immunefi Mitchell Amador said:

Bug bounty programs continue to be an essential part of the security stack for protecting crypto protocols and user funds locked in their contracts. We’re proud Polygon chose us among other platforms to ensure the safety of its protocol, and look forward to our collaboration.

At the time of writing, MATIC trades at $1,21 with a 9.5% profit in the daily chart.

MATIC trends to the upside in the daily chart. Source: MATICUSDT Tradingview

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As Ethereum Price Suffers, JPMorgan Strategist Hits The Asset With A 55% Lower Valuation

The past two days following the weekend close have not been the best for Ethereum. Along with the broader crypto market, the digital asset has suffered numerous dips that saw it break below $3,000 for the first time in a month. Although recovered back above $3,000, Ethereum continues to have a hard time maintain its position above this resistance point.

Although hopes are up in the community for recovery, a JPMorgan strategist has warned that the market is likely to see more dips that will drive the price of the digital asset further down. The strategist’s forecast essentially puts Ethereum in a bear market. Placing the bottom of the downtrend at less than half the current value of the digital asset.

Related Reading | Mid-Cap Altcoins Hold Onto Highs Better Than Bitcoin And Ethereum

Ethereum Is Overvalued

JPMorgan global market strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said that ETH’s fair value is actually much lower than its current trading range. The strategist put the asset’s fair value at $1,500, less than half of its current price. Unlike the rest of the market, Panigirtzoglou does not believe that the Ethereal network is the most attractive for investors, even though the price might suggest otherwise.

ETH price struggles at $2,900 | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com

The growth of ETH recently has been attributed to the growth of market applications like decentralized finance. Currently, Ethereum is the leading smart contracts platform, which has seen the highest development of decentralized finance protocols. But even this does not convince the strategist of ETH’s current valuation.

According to Panigirtzoglou, the actual valuation of the digital asset should be 55% less than it currently is. Panigirtzoglou points out that with growing competition from other blockchains like Solana and Cardano, Ethereum’s offering is no longer unique and “can easily be replicated by other networks.”

The Rise Of The “ETH Killers”

Panigirtzoglou elaborated on the growing competition for Ethereum, highlighting that there are just going to be more blockchains popping up to compete with the network in the future. The strategist brought up Cardano’s latest upgrade, which added it to the growing list of competitors for Ethereum. “You’re already seeing competition from Binance, competition from Solana,” Panigirtzoglou said. “And there are going to be more in the future,” he added.

Related Reading | Ethereum Is Ready For Inevitable Climb Over $10,000, Says Crypto Analyst

The rise of the so-called “ETH Killers” has certainly been an interesting turning point for the crypto industry. Although Ethereum still hosts the majority of smart contract-related activities in the market, blockchains like Solana have started creeping up to take more share from the leading blockchain. Giving credence to Panigirtzoglou’s belief that these blockchains will make ETH less valuable in the long run.

Featured image from Libertex, chart from TradingView.com

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ConsenSys Backed Virtue Poker and Binance NFT to Launch “Mystery Box” for Celebrity Tournament on Sept 23

The crypto and blockchain space is maturing at a rapid pace. Most financial industry experts agree that this nascent industry is here to stay because there are many different use-cases emerging for blockchain-enabled platforms.

In addition to the rise of Bitcoin (BTC) as a widely accepted medium-of-exchange and store-of-value, Ethereum (ETH) has become a globally recognized name in the crypto space. Large corporations such as Visa have acknowledged Ethereum’s role in the future of finance and its ability to support a wide range of other applications.

A growing number of online platforms have also been deploying solutions on Ethereum, despite its relatively slow transaction speeds. Even though there are many other blockchains that outperform Ethereum in terms of transactions per second (TPS) and cheaper transaction costs, they do not have the same powerful network effect that Ethereum has been able to acquire. There are also many Ethereum scaling solutions such as Polygon that will aim to make the leading smart contract platform a lot more efficient in the foreseeable future.

Yet Another Ethereum-powered Platform

Virtue Poker, a decentralized platform developed on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, reveals that it will be holding a Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament, which will be taking place on September 26, 2021.

The charity poker tournament participants will reportedly include Hall of Fame (HOF) poker player, Phil Ivey, former NBA all-star Paul Pierce, YouTube’s superstar Mr. Beast, TRON blockchain founder and serial crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, Hollywood actor and accomplished filmmaker Vince Vaughn, Polygon Co-Founder Sandeep Nailwal, and Ethereum Co-Founder and ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin.

The Binance Mysterybox Collection

To commemorate this special event, the Virtue Poker team plans to launch a Binance MysteryBox collection, starting on September 23, 2021 –  representing each card in a typical 52 card deck. Collectors who possess the winning hand for each knockout during the Celebrity Event will get a chance to win prizes ranging from $2,500 to a $25,000 reward for the top prize.

Participants need to purchase two mystery boxes in order to assemble a hand. The participants can then trade with each other so that they can assemble the best poker hand through the secondary market.

The Mystery box will reportedly include an Ace of Spades that will come with Phil’s digital signature and a $5,000 prize.

Prizes

All participants with completed hands can compete and have an opportunity to win:

A $2500 price for the winning hand for each knockout. If multiple players own the hand, then the $2500 prize will be split equally among all the winners. Furthermore, the player who possesses the championship knockout hand will be able to claim a $25,000 prize.

If more than one player is holding the championship knockout hand, then only 1 player will be randomly selected to claim the reward

Participants are able to collect as many as (50) completed hands (100 boxes). Participants must also HOLD the winning hand in their Binance account to be eligible for the rewards. Winning players should email support@nfkings.io for confirmation.

Freeroll Tournament

Virtue Poker will also hold a freeroll tournament where ALL holders of (2) mystery boxes should be getting exclusive access to participate in a $10,000 free-roll tournament on the Virtue Poker platform.

Virtue Poker NFT holders need to send a message to support@nfkings.io with their UID and NFT screenshot to obtain the Virtue Poker referral code.

Supporting NFT Use-Cases

The Virtue Poker team is looking forward to hosting their Celebrity Tournament and are focused on offering a truly unique NFT experience for their viewers that plan to tune in. Through their partnership with leading crypto exchange Binance, they plan to support the adoption of the Virtue Poker platform and also that of NFTs. They’ve decided to take this step to show that there’s yet another real-world use case for non-fungibel tokens or digital collectibles: interacting through a live event.

The team has also thanked the Virtue Poker community for their support of their platform as they continue to expand their ecosystem in the nascent blockchain-enabled gaming industry.

As noted in the announcement, Virtue Poker is described as a decentralized poker platform that leverages the Ethereum blockchain as well as P2P networking to offer an online poker platform that is safe, “honest” and fun. It was established in 2016 within New York-based Consensys, the leading Ethereum development studio and incubator launched by crypto billionaire and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin back in 2014.

Backed by Consensys and stakeholder Phil Ivey, Virtue Poker aims to make blockchain or distributed ledger tech (DLT)-powered betting mainstream.

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Cabital To Facilitate Euro And Cryptocurrency Swaps Through SEPA Intergration

Users of Cabital can now change their Euro to cryptocurrency, thanks to a recent integration by the digital asset institution. The Single Euro Payments Area facilitates such changes, plus making cashless payments in EUR through direct debit and credit transfer.

Cabital is a platform where users can sell, buy, or save crypto. It offers opportunities to earn passive income on savings.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Holders Take Profits As Price Falls, Indicators Remain Bullish? 

According to them, you can make 12% APY on cryptocurrency with them. Moreover, there are no hidden fees, and the institution is secured and registered in the European Union.

SEPA Facilitates Direct investment In Cryptocurrency Assets

By integrating this payment method, Cabital has boosted its services and automatically increased its patronage. All the 36 SEPA EU countries can use the service to buy and sell their crypto for Euro. Users can also change their cryptocurrency holdings to Euros and vice versa anytime they want.

The best part is that the payments will be safer, faster, and efficient without hidden charges. Users can make direct debit or credit transfers to even non-EU countries.

The institution disclosed the information yesterday, September 21, and its CEO Raymond Hsu stated that they would be rendering full-service to their users. In his statement, the CEO said the platform will help both EU countries and non-EU countries to manage and save their crypto without hassles.

Hsu also stated that this move has also given Cabital a competitive edge over its competitors. The company can pursue expansion across Europe and secure on-ramps to support its customer’s cryptocurrency investments.

Before this announcement, Cabital had completed a seed round that generated $4 million. The leaders of the round were GSR, SIG, and Dragonfly. The firm also had an angel round that generated $3 million. Now, the valuation of Cabital sits at $40 million.

Cabital And Regulations

The firm is regulated by the Republic of Lithuania laws. They operate under the guidelines of the “Lithuanian Anti-Money Laundering & Counter-terrorism Financing Rules.” According to Jonas Narbutas, the Senior Money Laundering Reporting Officer at Cabital, the firm fully adheres to cryptocurrency regulations.

Crypto-market is back of recovery track by a 4% rise | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingView.com

Also, it is contributing towards developing the EU’s crypto industry and helping people in the region and beyond to achieve their investment goals safely and easily. Jonas Narbutas is one of the newly appointed leadership team members at Cabital. He was earlier working at Western Union and also headed the Luminor Group anti-financial governance team.

Related Reading | Did Turkey’s President Say “We Are In A War Against Bitcoin”? An Investigation

On its official website, Cabital assures users of being protected by strong fireblocks against cyber-attacks on users’ assets. Moreover, the team is experienced in investment both in crypto and beyond. As a result, users can rely on their expertise to expand their crypto portfolio with high-yield assets.

Featured Image From Finance Monthly, chart from TradingView.com

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HeroVerse is Revolutionising How People Play Blockchain Games

When we hear about revolutionization, we may think of public policy, trade agreements, immigration, and big business. But oftentimes, the connectivity of the world isn’t happening in board rooms – but in virtual environments accessed from across the world.

Now, the world is seeing a gaming model known as Play-to-Earn, specifically in the blockchain universe. Blockchain has been used in gaming for a few years now, with Play-to-Earn embracing an open economy. Despite the popularity of the Play-to-Earn model, Heroverse Development pioneered a new trend and became the first vendor bringing Play-and-Earn business model to the blockchain space.

What is HeroVerse?

HeroVerse is the first pioneer to bring the Top Grossing Mobile Genre Game to the blockchain universe, which combines Match-3 Puzzle and RPG Strategy Play-and-Earn Game. Play-and-Earn is a business model that embraces the concepts of players’ gaming experience and open economy.

Game Play

Inspired by the concept of Match-3 Puzzles games like Candy Crush Saga, Empires & Puzzles, HeroVerse is a hyper-casual game that focuses on matching similar items to make them disappear. When the line or matches disappear, heroes will fight with their counterparts, and if they win, they are allowed to move up to the next level. This is when users can receive rewards for their achievements, which can be transferred to the real world as a valuable resource.

Moreover, Heroverse also focuses on prominent RPG features: exploring and looting. Specifically, RPG is a role-playing genre where the gamer controls a character that undertakes a quest in an imaginary world. In HeroVerse, it is more about how the characters evolve as they interact with the narrative.

Apart from casual game mode, HeroVerse also has Daily Raid mode where players can do daily missions to receive in-game tokens. Moreover, Heroverse Development Team is also working to develop more gaming modes such as Tower, PVP and Clan Event.

Recently, it is recorded that Puzzle games are the most popular mobile genre in the market. In the US and UK, more than 60% of players are enjoying these games. In South Korea, it is the second most popular genre, with 45% of players. In Japan, 38% of gamers play puzzle games. Whereas, mobile RPGs are the most popular in Japan and South Korea. As a combination of Puzzle and RPG Strategy, HeroVerse is expected to be a unique game genre that will attract the attention of millions of players worldwide.

Game Economy and Its Inflation Rate Controlling

The Earning part of Heroverse is quite the same compared to the Play-to-Earn model.  However, a key element making HeroVerse unique is that HeroVerse is controlling its in-game inflation rate by controlling its currency and hero generation.

There are two types of tokens available in HeroVerse: HER and HES. HER are pre-minted tokens that the holders use to buy Heroes and Hero Box. Due to the limited feature of this token type, HeroVerse can control the pricing process of the pre-minted token during the project. To be more specific, the number of pre-minted tokens released has been decided at the beginning of the project, which means there will not be any situation of issuing more tokens during the whole process that might lead to the shrinkage of token price.

HES is the in-game currency that players can earn while playing and can spend on almost all game features. HES is an unlimited token that Heroverse will continue releasing when users play the game. A part of HES can be withdrawn as real money. The other part can be used for in-game transactions such as hero upgradation. Heroverse controls HES by a burn mechanism in which Heroverse burns some percentage of this HES to create in-game balance.

HeroVerse also comes with the hero generation mechanism. There are two ways to generate a new hero: Limited Hero Box and Summoning. A Limited Hero Box might generate a superhero or a normal hero. Likewise, Summoning generates a new hero by sacrificing some HER and 4 Hero Shards. In order to balance the supply of heroes in the market, Heroverse launched the Awaken System which helps maintain the hero’s supply power and reduces the hero’s inflation rate.

Closing Thoughts

The Play-and-Earn model is likely to become increasingly popular in every country during the Covid-19 pandemic as an entertaining platform and an extra income stream. As the pioneer in this business model, HeroVerse is expected to be a revenue boom this Autumn. Heroverse will launch its IDO on leading platforms – Red Kite and GameFi. The IDO will commence on 23rd September at 2:30 PM (14:30) UTC.