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Analyst: OP Is Undervalued But Will Skyrocket Because Of Coinbase And Base

Adam Cochran, a partner and professor, is bullish about OP, the native token of Optimism, the layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum. 

Taking to X, Cochran is convinced OP is undervalued, pointing to the significance of Coinbase and the brand it has created over the years as a crypto exchange and investor in multiple products. In 2023, Coinbase backed the development of Base, a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum that uses Optimism infrastructure for its optimistic roll-up. 

OP Will Rocket Because Of CoinBase And Base

In coming up with this assessment, the investor highlights Coinbase’s vast user base and ability to drive retail adoption towards Base potentially. And, as aforementioned, since Base uses Optimism, the expected adoption spike will significantly boost OP from current spot levels. 

Cochran argues that the “power of discoverability” associated with Coinbase, a brand that facilitates billions of dollars in daily trading, will be crucial to Optimism’s success. This is particularly relevant when looking at OP prices when writing.

OP price trending upward on the daily chart | Source: OPUSDT on Binance, TradingView

When writing, OP is stable but up 220% from October lows. The token has been trending higher, benefiting from the broader crypto rally. Even so, though in an uptrend, OP has not reclaimed 2023 highs of around $4.2.

To drive the point home, Cochran compares how the BNB Chain blew up in the number of active users. In the last bull run, the chain had an active decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem. The BNB Chain’s popularity and soft landing is because the smart contracts platform is associated with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. 

Further to the point, the success of Solana, the partner argues, lends its success to the now-defunct FTX. At its peak, FTX injected billions to fund the development of Solana. It was also actively involved in financing some of Solana’s active protocols. 

The Great Convergence Of Supportive Events

Presently, Coinbase is streamlining its operations, recently stopping support for Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other UTXO tokens via Coinbase Commerce. Their focus is on Ethereum-compatible tokens, which could provide hints that Coinbase Commerce might soon be integrated into Base.

From the protocol level, Ethereum plans to implement upgrades to make transacting on layer-2 platforms even cheaper. The Dencun Upgrade is scheduled for March and will see Ethereum enhance as part of its long-term scaling roadmap.

Optimism TVL | Source: L2Beat

L2Beat data on March 1 shows that Optimism has a total value locked (TVL) of $7.8 billion, roughly half that of Arbitrum. Meanwhile, Base has been rising up the rankings, commanding a TVL of approximately $1 billion.

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If ZK Is The ‘End Game,’ Is Polygon (MATIC) Ready For $3?

With zero knowledge (ZK) proofs expected to be a game changer for blockchain scaling, Polygon may be on the brink of a major rally. Taking to X on February 2, crypto market commentator Polynya, asserts that ZK technology is the “endgame” as its “1,000x efficiency upside is irresistible for networks.”

Will “ZK” Technology Be The “End Game”?

This forecast on ZK adoption is massive for Polygon and its native token, MATIC, which has been under significant selling pressure in the past few trading months. As it is, Polygon Labs, the developer of the Ethereum sidechain, has been at the forefront, advocating for the development of ZK scaling solutions.

In 2021, Polygon began assembling a team to develop zkEVM, a technique relying on zero knowledge to scale Ethereum cheaply while being compatible with the EVM. Recent Polygon Labs documentation shows that their zkEVM is in beta and being tested.

However, this hasn’t stopped the team from striking deals with layer-1 protocols interested in harnessing this technology.

In mid-January, NEAR Protocol’s Data Availability (DA) solution was integrated with Polygon’s custom blockchain development kit (CDK). The goal was to make it easier for developers to create ZK rollup solutions suitable for their needs while leveraging NEAR Protocol‘s infrastructure. All this is when ensuring the integration lowers cost and improves performance.

Polygon Labs has also partnered with other platforms, including Immutable–a layer-2 web3 solution for NFTs; Ankr–an infrastructure provider; and QuickSwap–a decentralized exchange (DEX). Most of these platforms plan to operate as layer-2s for Ethereum. 

The total value locked (TVL) in layer-2 protocols remains in an uptrend, according to L2Beat. These platforms command over $21 billion. So far, the largest layer-2 protocols, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base, use Optimistic Rollups. 

Layer-2 TVL | Source: L2Beat

Is Polygon (MATIC) Ready For $3?

This is a bullish development for Polygon. Moreover, at this pace, it is likely to cement Ethereum, the pioneer layer-1 and smart contract platform, as a dominant settlement layer despite on-chain scaling concerns and relatively high fees.

From a price point perspective, MATIC will likely benefit as more platforms adopt Polygon’s zkEVM solutions. So far, MATIC is stable but firm when writing on February 2. From the daily chart, MATIC has support at around $0.70. On the upper end, the immediate resistance level is at $1. 

Polygon price moving sideways on the daily chart | Source: MATICUSDT on Binance, TradingView

Spurred by partnerships as more platforms use zkEVM, fundamental developments might drive MATIC even higher in the coming sessions. If MATIC finds momentum, the medium- to long-term target will be $3, or a 2021 high.

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How To Buy, Sell, And Trade Tokens On The Optimism Network

Optimism (OP) is a Layer 2 network that solves Ethereum’s scalability issues, bringing low fees and faster transactions to users. Scalability and low gas fees have always been Ethereum’s major problems. This is because, amid the trilemma of crypto, where security, decentralization, and scalability are not equal, Ethereum chose more security than decentralization and more decentralization than scalability to focus on. This is the reason Ethereum has a lot of layer 2s to help solve the scalability difficulties. 

Over the years, people have had to spend huge amounts of ETH gas to perform a transaction, but no one really cared at the time because the value of ETH was small. For example, spending 0.001 ETH when ETH was worth $300 means that you were spending $0.03 on gas fees, which was cheap. 

This was also at a time when the network was less congested, but over time, the value of ETH increased from $300 to over $2,000. In a more congested period, users have found it could cost upwards of $80 in gas fees to approve a transaction on the Ethereum chain. 

OP network is one of the Layer 2 fixes for ETH

What better way to solve this issue than to introduce the Ethereum Layer 2s, which will give you almost the same properties as Ethereum but is expected to be better in what Ethereum is lacking. Ethereum is lacking in the scalability aspect, some of the layer 2s are helping to fill the void while some are not. One layer 2 Ethereum chain that is helping to feel the void is the Optmism chain. 

Ethereum is great, but imagine not wanting to transact on the chain because you feel the gas fee is too expensive. It’s like spending $50 on a delivery fee to buy a $10 item. Although Ethereum boasts of strong security, some people still detest the expensive gas fee and decide to build on other chains. 

Optimism (OP) Network Benefits: Cheap gas fees and lightning-fast transaction speed

 Optimism is an Ethereum rollup that is known for cheap gas fees and lightning-fast transaction speed. Using the chain to transact will make you appreciate it so much and will make you want to transact on the chain regularly. 

If you were used to paying $10 on gas fees on the ETH network, you would appreciate the Optimism network more, as you would spend less than $0.01 on gas fees. The Optimism Network is one of the most successful Ethereum layer 2 chains, with a very successful airdrop of its native token called Optimism (OP), which can be traded on centralized exchanges. 

Important things to know about the Optimism Ecosystem:

Let’s explore the Optimism ecosystem to help you know how to navigate and use the decentralized applications (DApps) on the network, which keeps you safe from falling for fake sites and phishing links. 

The optimism mainnet chain uses optimism ETH, opETH, for gas fees. Tokens on the chain are sometimes represented as opX, where X represents the token. For instance, if you have Bitcoin on the Optimism chain, it is represented as opBTC, so Ethereum on the Optimism chain is opETH. 

How to Buy, Sell, and Trade Tokens on the Optimism Chain or Network:

To buy any token on the optimism chain, you need optimism ETH; you can get OPETH in two ways: through the centralized or the decentralized way. Let’s talk about the centralised way first because it doesn’t require much effort. 

If you have a Binance account, Bybit, Kucoin, or HTX, and you have some USDT, you can trade the USDT for ETH. Then, withdraw the ETH on the Optimism network to your EVM wallet like Metamask. 

Decentralized Way To Buy Optimism (OP)

To get opETH the decentralised way, you would need to know what wallets to use. Optimism network supports varieties of EVM wallets. Here are some EVM wallets that are compatible with Optimism network; we have Metamask, which’s the universal EVM wallet, Trustwallet, Coinbase Web 3 wallet, Rainbow wallet, Brave wallet, Taho wallet, OKX Web 3.0 wallet, Rabby Wallet, Zerion wallet, and lots more. Check here for the full list of Optimism ecosystem wallets. 

How to Bridge to Optimism Network:

You should have your compatible EVM wallet and your ETH in wallet ready, the next step is to bridge your ETH. There are different ways to bridge your ETH. You can use native ETH or other layer 2 ETH, and you can get native ETH from centralized exchanges or through P2P from your local crypto vendor. 

You can also get native ETH by buying directly from Metamask like this:

Optimism 1

Go to Metamask portfolio and connect your Metamask wallet or whatever EVM wallet you have. Choose your location, and select a payment method. After that, you can select the coin you want to do, this method gives you a variety of coins on different chains. 

You can select ETH on the optimism chain and easily get the ETH on the optimism chain, this way it’s easier for you to get ETH on the optimism chain or any other chain without using any centralized crypto platform. The downside to this is the spread; you can spend $100 only to end up getting $75 worth of ETH, and the rest will be used for charges. 

However, if you already have native ETH or ETH on Arbitrum or any other layer 2 chains, you can bridge in two ways.

Bridging using the Optimism native bridge: With this, you can bridge from the available ETH networks to the Optimism network. This bridge primarily supports bridging from native ETH to optimism but doesn’t primarily support other chains to the optimism chain. So it uses a secondary bridging platform like hop protocol, stargate, and more. 

Using the Optimism bridge is pretty easy, but you will have to have native ETH in your wallet. Go to the site, connect your wallet to the site, and review the deposit.

Bridge

From the review deposit, you will see that you have to pay a gas fee to the optimism chain. This gas fee is for the optimism chain, and after paying that, you still need to pay another gas fee to initiate the transaction, depending on the gas fee congestion at that moment. 

For instance, the gas fee congestion states I pay an extra $8.51 because the Ethereum chain has a high gas fee. 

Optimism bridge

So if you do the math, you will notice that we have spent over $16 just to bridge from the Ethereum mainnet to the optimism chain. This is why we need to consider the other bridging option, which is bridging using the secondary bridging platforms. 

There are varieties of secondary bridging platforms you can use, and each of them has its different bridging fees. 

Bridging using the Optimism app bridge: You can access all the secondary bridging platforms on the Optimism app bridge https://www.optimism.io/apps/bridges. Even though most of them are cheaper than the native bridge option, you have to do your research and find the cheapest with the fastest transaction time. 

DAPPS

Most of them are pretty easy to use, and some recommendations include Orbiter. finance, Bungee, and Layerswap. Transactions on these platforms are pretty cheap and can support bridging from other chains. 

Enter their sites from the Optimism bridging apps, choose any of your choices, connect to your wallet, select what network you want to bridge to the optimism chain, approve, and bridge. 

How to Find and Trade Tokens on the Optimism Chain:

With your optimism ETH in your wallet, let’s trade. To trade on the optimism chain, you need to know what to trade. On the optimism chain, you can only trade tokens on the optimism chain. To find tokens on the Optimism, you will have to use Dexscreener. 

Dexscreener is an on-chain tracker used to check most EVM and non-EVM coins and tokens. However, we will be focusing on the optimism chain right now, so navigate to the Optimism chain Dexscreener.

Token names

You can see a variety of tokens to trade on the optimism chain. If you have a specific optimism token in mind, you can type the name in the search button. If you don’t know the name of the token but have the smart contract address, you can also input that and the token will be displayed. 

From Dexscreener, you can also find the token contract address just by clicking the token name on Dexscreener. 

Dexscreener

For Instance, click on any token, scroll down and you will see the contract address, just like Smile in the red box. 

Now you know how to get token smart contracts, it’s time to trade them. There are different DEXes to trade these tokens, as shown below:

Optimism DEX

Check the Optimism Defi Section to select which DEX to use. People mostly use the Uniswap DEX, 1INCH DEX, and Sushi Swap. 

Optimism SushiSwap

Let’s use SushiSwap to show how to trade optimism tokens on the optimism network. Go to the SushiSwap swap section. Connect your wallet and change the network to the optimism network. 

If you want to swap opETH for any optimism token, click on the denominator side, input the contract address of the token, and approve the token. Now you can trade. 

Conclusion

The Optimisim network is just like any other decentralized network when it comes to trading and buying these tokens carry their own unique risks. A lot of the tokens on decentralized exchanges are new, and are therefore untested. So when trading these tokens, always risk what you are willing to lose in the event a project does turn out to be a scam or a rug.

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Arbitrum Reaches Major Milestone In TVL As Price Rallies

Arbitrum (ARB), a layer 2 (L2) protocol has achieved yet another major milestone in its Total Value Locked (TVL) reaching new heights, following a surge in the crypto asset’s price.

Arbitrum Sees Surge In Total Value Locked (TVL)

According to the L2beat platform, Arbitrum’s TVL recently went past the $10 billion mark putting it in the spotlight. Data from the analytics firm reveals that the network’s TVL is currently at $10.36 billion.

L2beat’s report shows that Arbitrum One’s TVL soared by a remarkable 16.49% over the past seven days. With this accomplishment, the network is firmly established as the first Layer 2 network to surpass the $10 billion TVL threshold.

L2beat shows that Arbitrum is above Optimism (OP) by about 40% which comes in second place with a TVL of $6.44 billion. Optimism’s TVL has also increased significantly by 11.63% in the last 24 hours. 

When analyzing Arbitrum’s TVL, Ethereum (ETH) makes up about 30% of the TVL, while the ARB token makes up about 23.68%. Meanwhile, stablecoins make up a substantial portion of 29% of the TVL, with the remaining 15.76% going to other assets. This diverse composition highlights the platform’s increasing popularity and attractiveness to a larger range of users.

In addition, L2beat has also revealed a surge in the network’s market share. The data shows that Arbitrum One’s market share has seen an increase of over 48%. 

So far, the network’s token ARB seems to have experienced a rise in response to the rise in TVL. The digital asset price is currently set at $1.84, indicating a 2.82% increase in the past day.

As of the time of writing, the network’s trading volume has increased significantly by 60% in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, its market capitalization is up by 1% in the past day, according to data from CoinMarketcap

The price rise is indicative of investors’ increased faith and interest in Arbitrum’s ecosystem. The network’s success also highlights the growing need in the Ethereum ecosystem for scalable and affordable solutions.

Analyst Predicts A Clear Uptrend For ARB

Cryptocurrency analyst Michaël van de Poppe has predicted a clear uptrend for Arbitrum, signaling a possible breakout. The analyst shared his projections for the token on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

Related Reading: Arbitrum Network Faces Major Outage, ARB Token Faces 4% Decline

In his analysis, he noted that the uptrend is “taking place with beautiful retests of previous resistances, becoming a support zone.” Poppe further pointed out a possible retest optimal “go-to level” between $1.50-1.60. 

This area denotes a tactical stage where the token might experience a retest before opting to breach the psychological barrier of $2.  However, this will only take place if the ARB continues on the current upward path.

Lastly, Poppe highlighted a difficulty in the token initiating its first cycle when put against Bitcoin. “Against $BTC, this pair barely wakes up and starts its first cycle,” he stated.

With the recent price of Arbitrum sitting at $1.84, it appears that the analyst’s predictions will soon come to pass.

Arbitrum

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Optimism Price Up By 34% Today – But Investors Should Watch Out For This Sell Signal

Optimism price has been witnessing significant momentum over the past few days, becoming one of the top gainers in the market today. Thanks to this recent price growth, Optimism has seen its native token OP lay a serious claim to a place within the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

However, it seems that the Optimism price movement may soon be turning bearish following the appearance of a sell signal on the price chart. 

Indicator That Preceded 80% Rally Turns Bearish, Analyst Says

In a recent post on the X platform, crypto analyst Ali Martinez sounded the sell alarm for the OP token. According to the popular crypto pundit, the Optimism price might be in the best range for investors to cash in on their profits.

The reasoning behind this forecast revolves around the TD (Tom DeMark) sequential indicator. Based on Martinez’s analysis, the indicator is currently flashing a sell signal on Optimism’s 12-hour price chart.

The crypto analyst highlighted that a buy signal from the TD sequential indicator preceded a substantial surge in Optimism price earlier in December. And this adds even more weight to the possibility of a bearish turnaround following a sell alarm from the indicator.

Martinez advised investors to think about taking profits right away, given that the OP price may decline and mirror the size of the initial bullish upswing. This projection comes during an exhilarating positive run for OP, putting the altcoin’s bullish trajectory in jeopardy. 

Optimism Price And Network Growth

As of this writing, the Optimism price stands at $3.37, reflecting an almost 34% price increase in the past 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko, the value of the cryptocurrency has soared by more than 55% in the past week.

The OP coin looks set to end the year as one of the 30 largest cryptocurrencies in the sector, with its market cap recently surpassing $3 billion. This positive performance of the token – in such a short time span – only underscores the increased rate of network growth.

According to recent data from IntoTheBlock, the Optimism network boasts more than 5.9 million addresses with a balance. This represents a nearly 400% surge from 1.2 million in January 2023.

Growth of this caliber and magnitude suggests increased confidence, adoption, and usage of the Optimism network. And if this positive trend is anything to go by, there is a chance the Optimism price won’t be down for long – if the current bearish projection does come true.

Optimism Price

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Optimism Price To Resume Bullish Trajectory To $3? Here’s How

The Optimism price appears to have struggled over the past week, with its recent bullish momentum seemingly waning. During the altcoin rally, the price of Optimism’s native token OP went from a low of $1.2 to a high of nearly $2.5 before experiencing a pullback. 

While OP has managed to preserve a majority of its recently accrued profit, the cryptocurrency seems to be finding it challenging to continue its bullish trajectory. And the latest on-chain revelation suggests that there might be only one thing in the way of the Optimism price rise to a new high.

OP Price To Soar By 26% To $2.70, Crypto Analyst Projects

Popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez, in a recent post on the X platform, disclosed his bullish projection for the price of Optimism over the next few weeks. This prediction revolves around on-chain data from IntoTheBlock, which is based on the density of investors who purchased the OP token at certain price zones.

Optimism Price

The chart above displays how the Optimism price zones around the current value look in terms of investor density. The size of the dot indicates the number of investors who bought the OP coin at each price range. Notably, the resistance or support at a price zone is more significant the larger the dot size of that price zone.

In his post, Martinez pointed out that the Optimism price is currently bouncing off a major resistance zone between $2.17 and $2.30. According to data from the analytics platform, roughly 27,000 addresses purchased a massive 45 million tokens within this range.

Martinez posited that the zone between $2.17 and $2.30 is one to watch out for, given the substantial buying activity within the price range. “A sustained close above could signal a bullish breakout, potentially propelling OP toward $2.70,” the crypto analyst said. This represents a more than 26% price growth from the cryptocurrency’s current value.

Optimism Price Overview

As of this writing, the Optimism price stands at $2.11, reflecting a 2.4% price decline in the past 24 hours. OP’s sluggish performance in the past day underscores the altcoin’s struggles over the past week.

According to data from CoinGecko, the Optimism price has barely changed in the past seven days. Although the cryptocurrency surged to a multi-month high of $2.46 earlier in the previous week, it has since faced some level of correction to trade around $2.10.

Nevertheless, Optimism still ranks amongst the top 40 cryptocurrencies in the sector, with a market capitalization of roughly $1.94 billion.

Optimism Price

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November To Witness Over $450M In Token Unlocks: Aptos And Avalanche Take The Lead

The crypto market is set to experience significant token unlocks in November, with projects such as Aptos (APT), Avalanche (AVAX), and Hashflow (HFT) leading the way.

These unlocks are anticipated to release more than $320 million worth of tokens, contributing to the overall $450 million set to enter circulating supplies in the crypto market this month.

It is worth noting that such substantial releases could have immediate and long-term effects on both the price and availability of these digital assets.

Aptos And Top Players In November’s Token Release

Token unlocks are events where previously locked tokens become available for trading, often increasing a project’s circulating supply. These events are critical moments for projects, as they can signal maturation and a new phase of market dynamics. 

Aptos, a Layer 1 blockchain created by former Meta executives, is expected to have the most significant token unlock by value, releasing 24.8 million APT tokens, currently representing about $165.6 million at today’s price.

Aptos’s upcoming unlock on November 12 is not just substantial in value but also notable for its distribution, with core contributors, investors, the community, and the Aptos Foundation all set to receive portions of the release.

Meanwhile, Avalanche, another Layer 1 blockchain, is preparing for its considerable token unlock later in the month on November 24, which will see 9.54 million AVAX tokens (valued at approximately $99.3 million at today’s price) released, marking 2.7% of its circulating supply.

Hashflow, a multi-chain decentralized exchange, is slated to have the largest token release by circulating supply percentage. It is poised to unlock 160.38 million HFT tokens, approximately 73.9% of its circulating supply, on November 7, injecting roughly $42 million into the market.

The distribution of these tokens will span early investors, ecosystem development, the core team, and community rewards, adding another layer to the economic activities of the project.

Other Notable November Token Unlocks

Other projects like Optimism (OP), ApeCoin (APE), and Sui (SUI) are also scheduled for significant token unlocks this November. However, they pale in comparison to the top three in terms of value. Optimism is set to unlock 24.16 million OP tokens worth $32.4 million.

Apecoin (APE) is poised for an unlock of 15.60 million APE tokens worth $19.5 million, and SUI is to unlock 34.62 million tokens valued at $14.6 million at today’s market prices.

Each unlock carries potential implications for the broader crypto market, as they may affect liquidity, trading volume, and investor sentiment. Furthermore, out of these six tokens above set to unlock this month, Aptos and Avalanche are the top gainers.

Aptos (APT) price chart from TradingView

Currently, both assets are up 38% and 22%, respectively, in the past 14 days. APT trades at $6.82, down by 2% over the past 24 hours, while AVAX trades at $11.02, down by 2.7% over the same period, at the time of writing.

Featured image from Unspkash, Chart from TradingView