Crypto Market Rallies, Led by NEAR, as Interest Slides in Bitcoin-Margined Futures

Polkadot's DOT Token Shows Signs of Bottoming Out

The latest moves in crypto markets, in context Edited by Omkar Godbole December 21, 2021 Sponsored by     If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here's what's happening this morning: Market Moves: NEAR, LUNA, RNDR Rally, Interest in Bitcoin-Margined Futures Slide Technician's Take: Polkadot's DOT Token Shows Signs of Bottoming Out And check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and Lawrence Lewitinn at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today's show will feature guests: Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO, FTX Christine Brown, Crypto Division CEO, Robinhood – Omkar Market Moves by Omkar Godbole Bitcoin (BTC) See the latest price here Ether (ETH)  See the latest price here Crypto markets were bid at press time with coins associated with programmable, interoperability projects and Web 3 tokens leading the way higher.    NEAR, the native coin of Near protocol running decentralized applications, rose above $10, registering a 22% gain on a 24-hour basis.    On Monday, the protocol announced a partnership with Terra to integrate the latter's UST stablecoin on the NEAR and Aurora ecosystems. UST is the fourth-largest stablecoin globally, with a market value of over $9 billion. Terra recently surpassed Binance Smart Chart to become the second-largest blockchain as per total value locked in the DeFi protocols.    Terra's LUNA token registered fresh record highs above $95, taking the month-to-date gain to 60%. Such stellar rallies often translate into euphoria – a situation characterized by risky directional bets and excess bullish leverage and usually observed at market tops. However, LUNA's market showed no such signs, with derivatives data signaling investor caution.   "People appear to be shorting LUNA perpetual futures, as evidenced from rising open interest and persistent negative funding," Swiss-based crypto derivatives tracking platform Laevitas told CoinDesk in a Twitter chat.   Render Network's RNDR cryptocurrency surged 35% as the token began trading on cryptocurrency exchange Gemini. On Monday, the peer-to-peer service for providing 3D rendering power raised $30 million in funding.   "Render is a true sleeping giant of Web3 that is now being recognized by top investors like Multicoin, Vinny Lingham and, early on, Kenetic," Jehan Chu, co-founder and managing partner at Kenetic Capital, told CoinDesk in a WhatsApp chat. "As a metaverse infrastructure layer, it augments the Web3 stack and has top 10 coin potential."   Bitcoin continued to probe the six-week-long descending trendline hurdle above $49,000, while ether traded flat near $4,000 amid continued bullish flows in the options market.    "We maintain our view that there will be a squeeze (likely to the topside) as liquidity thins out into the holidays and into 2022. If this happens, owning wings would be very profitable," QCP Capital said in its research broadcast over Telegram. Wings here mean out-of-the-money or higher strike call options.  The percentage of futures contracts open interest margined in bitcoin instead of stablecoins or cash continues to slide, hinting at less price volatility during price sell-offs, if any.    "The largest implication of that is likely to be less volatility around sell-offs," Web Begole, chief technology officer at Exante Data, told CoinDesk in October. "That's because in coin-margined futures, losses are compounded during market downturns, which leads to exaggerated price declines." Also read:  Terra's LUNA Notches New Record High Above $90 Even As 'Shorts' Keep Piling A Message from Bybit You are Eligible to Get Up to $3,000 in Bonuses! Bybit's Deposit Blast-Off is now reloaded and back for a second round to give traders like you up to $3,000 in bonuses when you make your first-ever deposit!* It's simple: Deposit more to get more rewards. Terms & Conditions apply. *Select assets only. Learn more Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Top Gainers: Polygon (MATIC): 10%, Sector: Smart Contract Platforms Cosmos (ATOM): +8.5%, Sector: Smart Contract Platforms Cardano (ADA): +6.6%, Sector: Smart Contract Platforms Top Losers:  There are no losers in CoinDesk 20 today.  Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.  Technician's Take by Omkar Godbole DOT Shows Signs of Bottoming Out DOT's daily chart (Source: TradingView) The bullish divergence of the relative strength index and the MACD histogram's positive crossover suggests an interim bottom is in and scope for a clean break above the descending trendline and a rally to the 50-day moving average at $28.85.  A UTC close higher may bring more chart-driven buyers.  DOT is the native cryptocurrency of the Polkadot blockchain ecosystem A Message from Amber Everyone wants to build wealth with simplicity and security. But how?   WhaleFin is a digital investing experience offering easy portfolio management tools, attractive investment yields, and access to the emerging digital lifestyle. With over $1T in volume traded, WhaleFin offers personalized, compliant, and secure service across dozens of digital assets in 150+ countries. And every investment on WhaleFin helps protect aquatic habitats and reduce atmospheric carbon by supporting WDC and Moss Earth.   Find out more ICYMI In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Dogecoin Co-Creator Billy Markus AKA 'Shibetoshi Nakamoto' on the Past, Present and Future of Dogecoin and Meme Culture, Investor Gary Vaynerchuk on Red Hot NFT Market   "First Mover" hosts speak to co-creator of Dogecoin Billy Markus, aka "Shibetoshi Nakamoto," on his crypto journey and the evolution of dogecoin, which now is up 3,700% year to date. In addition, CEO of VaynerMedia Gary Vaynerchuk shares insights into the NFT market. Plus, regulation update from CoinDesk Managing Editor for Global Policy & Regulation Nikhilesh De. Introducing CoinDesk's new Digital Asset Classification Standard, which was created in response to the significant growth of the number and types of digital assets offered in the market and the realization that traditional classification standards used for equities and other asset classes could not be adapted accurately to classify digital assets. Read more about DACS. Latest Headlines Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Is Sued for Allegedly Stealing Blockchain Startup's Work According to the complaint, Armstrong offered to invest in Knowledgr so he could steal the work for a similar platform he was working on. El Salvador Buys 21 Bitcoins on 21st Day of Last Month of 21st Year of 21st Century In announcing the purchase on Twitter, President Nayib Bukele also noted that the country's land area is 21,000 square kilometers. CME Trades 100K Contracts of Micro Ether Futures in First Two Weeks The micro ether contracts are off to a slow start compared with early activity in micro bitcoin futures launched on May 3. Floki Inu Deposits on Inverse Finance Break $44M Within Hours Projects founded as memecoins don't want to remain mere memecoins anymore. Shiba Inu Spikes as Whales Add to Existing Positions A single wallet purchased nearly $134 million worth of shiba inu tokens, wallet trackers show. 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.  First Mover A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here.  Copyright © 2021 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA Manage your newsletter subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe from all CoinDesk email