LiveCoinWatch is a platform for tracking various data and analytics of cryptocurrencies. Token analytics this site covers include trade volumes, real-time price information, and other market data pooled from various exchanges. 

Is LiveCoinWatch still as relevant today as it was a few years ago? The answer would be a resounding yes. You must tailor this tool's usage to the market's evolutionary movements. [LiveCoinWatch is a bit like Coinmarketcap](https://blockchain.news/analysis/worldcoinindex-coingecko-livecoinwatch-who-will-become-the-biggest-threat-to-coinmarketcap), but there are some subtle differences, and your job is to know how to identify and deploy these differences to your advantage. 

## The first rational question would be: what can you use LiveCoinWatch for? 

- You can use this tool to identify what exchanges a coin is trading in. 
- By extension, arbitrage traders can use the tool to compare token prices across exchanges and use the information to plan their arbitrage trades. 
- You can access real-time market data about any crypto token. Data such as market capitalization, volume, price data, liquidity, etc., are all covered by LiveCoinWatch. 
- Enter your holdings into the appropriate search bar and view the analytics for your crypto portfolio live. 
- As a trader, you can also set price alerts so you receive notifications when the asset has hit your preferred trade entry or exit points. 
- You can track upcoming [ICO](/news/article/what-is-an-ico)s. 

Given the various functions that can be performed on the website, what would be a rational use case that a trader can directly profit from? 

## A use case for LiveCoinWatch 

One functionality of this website is its integration with several cryptocurrency exchanges, allowing the user to view the prices of tokens across these exchanges. 

This price aggregation allows the user to plan for arbitrage trades. By comparing price, volume, and liquidity information for a token across several exchanges, a user can potentially buy a token at a lower price on one exchange and resell the same on another exchange where the price is higher, profiting from the differential. 

LIVECOINWATCH logo on yellow image of crypto trading data

LiveCoinWatch Platform and You

In March 2023, Netflix premiered a series on the "late" former CEO of the defunct Canadian crypto exchange, Gerald Cotten. 

Gerald Cotten was reported to have died in 2018 while on a honeymoon in India, and his wife only made his death public a month later. Panicked investors tried to withdraw their funds from his exchange but could not do so. It then emerged that Cotten was the only one with the keys to the offline wallets housing his clients' crypto funds. So the keys died with him, cementing the well-known crypto adage "not your keys, not your tokens". Estimates of funds that went with the wind stand at $ 250 million. 

The story remains evergreen as it has repeatedly played out in other ways. The most recent was the 2022 implosion of the second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, FTX. 

From what has so far emerged in the media, the modus operandi of FTX and QuadrigaCX appear to be the same: co-mingling of traders' funds, unapproved transfers to third-party wallets, unhedged leveraged trades on other digital assets outside the exchange, and a centralized operation that appears to have been run by the young and inexperienced CEO and a handful of insiders with no professional training, no knowledge of compliance and zero internal controls. 

The only major difference from the Gerald Cotten story is that the former FTX CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, is still alive. Some of his fellow insiders have also spoken to authorities, and some of the company's monies are being recovered.  

## Why is Gerald Cotten’s story still relevant?

The unfolding saga, which features US regulators and their recent lawsuit against Binance.US, continues to remind traders who care to take notice of the dangers of leaving funds in largely unregulated centralized exchanges. 

Binance.US and CEO Changpeng Zhao have been slammed with serious charges. 

The Binance token has already taken a massive hit in the market as traders rush to the exit door to sell off their holdings. It is not the first time. A December 2022 CNN report claimed that more than $ 3 billion was withdrawn from Binance on 13 December, 2022, after several negative headlines and the prevailing cloud of FTX saw cautious investors take out their funds. According to a Forbes report on the situation, more than [$12 billion had been withdrawn from Binance](https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierpaz/2023/01/10/binance-is-bleeding-assets-12-billion-gone-in-less-than-60-days/) when the cloud cleared. 

The company survived this mini-run. But the new allegations against CZ, especially those claiming he siphoned customers' funds to his private wallets, are concerning. The company's response to suspend US dollar deposits indicates that the company is more than concerned about the situation. It has already suspended trading on several BNB pairs and is ending fiat deposits and withdrawals as it did in [March with GBP customers](/news/article/binance-gbp-deposits-and-withdrawals-suspended). 

Binance is not just another exchange. Whatever happens in the coming months regarding this case will have huge ramifications for the crypto market. Presently, no one knows where this is all headed. However, considering how US authorities have come down hard on those perceived as using cryptos to breach securities laws, it is safe to say that a guilty verdict will not be a pleasant situation for Binance and its customers. 

## Conclusion 

The worst-case scenario would be the US Government taking over Binance's assets and seizing the webpage handling its trading business. Those who think this is a far-fetched view should go back to 2013 to see what US authorities did with Liberty Reserve and its founder Arthur Budovsky. 

After a multi-year investigation spanning 17 countries, Budovsky was indicted over extensive money laundering and the flow of large amounts of illicit funds through his business. Not only were all the assets of that company and its major partners seized, but Budovsky and several associates were tried, found guilty, and jailed. Budovsky is still doing time in prison and, to date, many innocent entities who used the exchange for legitimate business have not recovered their funds. 

You may argue that the crypto world is different now and operates at a time when there is stricter oversight on how monies are moved across the world. But when you also consider that many crypto exchanges are closing down accounts of Russians due to sanctions stemming from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, you suddenly become aware of how innocent people unconnected with the key events can quickly become collateral damage. 

The story of Gerald Cotten is as relevant today as it was five years ago when his demise was reported. The Binance case presents another opportunity for investors to understand better why your tokens are only yours if you have control over the private keys needed to store or move them. 

Gerald Cotten former exchange CEO in front of image of USD and BItcoins

The Gerald Cotten story remains relevant 

Let's look at the emerging importance of Ledger crypto wallets. 

Hardware wallets have existed since the early days of cryptocurrencies, but only a few crypto traders and enthusiasts have paid much attention to them. 

The tide has changed after hundreds of hacks and breaches of centralized crypto exchanges, followed by the damaging collapse of FTX, Celsius, and several other companies exposed to FTX. 

A 2023 market intelligence report by Zippia indicates that there are 45 million crypto users in the US and more than 420 million worldwide. But guess what? Ledger and Trezor, the two crypto hardware wallet companies with the largest market share, only have about 5 million users. This shows that only 1.2% of crypto users use a hardware wallet globally. 

This statistic shows that many crypto users are still not using hardware crypto wallets, pointing to a vast market opportunity to bridge this gap. No wonder the hardware crypto wallet market is expected to have a CAGR of 24.9% between 2022 and 2030. 

A [2022 article](https://cointelegraph.com/news/hardware-wallet-industry-to-outstrip-crypto-exchanges-report) on Cointelegraph indicated that the total revenue of crypto trading firms in 2021 totalled $330 million and would hit $675 million by 2028. This number represents a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 12.7%. 

However, the article indicates that this amount is about half of the global hardware wallet market, which hit $252 million in 2021 and would reach a whopping $1.1 billion by 2027. Clearly, with the FTX debacle and similar hits from the hundreds of centralized exchange breaches, crypto users were now taking the issue of using offline hardware wallets seriously. 

So what's the big deal about Ledger crypto wallet and other hardware wallets? Most of today's crypto market activity plays out on centralized exchanges. These are online marketplaces where crypto users and traders can assemble to buy, sell and exchange cryptocurrencies. 

Typically, crypto tokens pass through several stages, from creation to listing on a centralized exchange. They go through several presales and initial offerings as the developers and project owners seek to raise funds to expand their blockchain projects. 

Those who miss out on these primary avenues of buying into a crypto project would have to wait for a secondary listing to get their hands on the governance token or the coin powering the project. 

These secondary listings are done on exchanges owned or controlled by a single entity (Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, etc.). These exchanges allow the tokens global visibility and enable crypto enthusiasts who missed the presales to secure the tokens from other holders. 

As long as these tokens are warehoused in the wallets of centralized exchanges, they are vulnerable to all sorts of attacks aimed at stealing these coins. You must have heard the saying, "Not your keys, not your tokens". This means that as long as your tokens are in your exchange wallet, they are forever vulnerable. 

But the collapse of FTX has shown that hackers are not the only people that crypto traders with funds on exchanges should be worried about. In-house threats from incompetent teams with zero experience and no regard for internal controls, compliance, or segregation of clients' funds are an even more significant challenge. 

Self-custody with hardware wallets may come to the rescue, and one such wallet has been around since the early days. 

## About Ledger crypto wallet 

Ledger crypto wallet is produced by Ledger SAS, a company with headquarters in France but with several offices in the US. 

The firm was established in the same year the Mt.Gox exchange collapse occurred, 2014. Interest in the Ledger crypto wallets started to surge after the dramatic implosion of FTX and several of its subsidiaries in 2022. 

The following Ledger crypto wallets exist: 

- Ledger Nano S (debuted in 2016; now retired). 

- Ledger Nano X (debuted in 2019). 

- Ledger Nano S Plus (an upgraded version of Nano S; debuted in 2022). 

- Ledger Stax (yet to be released). 

The good thing about Ledger crypto wallets is that you can easily transfer your tokens for trading on a decentralized exchange. 

[Ledger wallets integrate easily with Uniswap](/news/article/uniswap-ledger-connect-guide), and you can easily connect both using the Uniswap Ledger connect browser extension. 

Ledger crypto wallet: Self-custody made easy 

Those pushing for better Crypto.com card alternatives have their reasons. These mostly focus on the costs of using existing options and the emerging lack of convenience with existing card options. 

Crypto.com issues the Crypto.com card to a section of its users. The card is meant to be an easier way to access crypto assets and spend these on merchant websites and other point-of-sales terminals that accept compatible cryptocurrencies. This card is part of an emerging trend of cards issued by exchanges to enable users to gain e-commerce capabilities with their crypto assets. 

One of the main issues confronting crypto users is the problem of convertibility between fiat cash and cryptos. Many banks and regulators across the world frown at fiat-crypto transactions. 

So, even if a crypto trader makes money via trading or investing in cryptos, there are few channels for converting these crypto funds to fiat cash for offline use. 

Furthermore, the channels are getting fewer and more banks that had pre-existing relationships with centralized crypto exchanges are cutting them, narrowing the options even further. Issuing a prepaid debit card to enable exchange users to convert their crypto funds to fiat funds in card format is a handy solution to the problem. 
[The Crypto.com card ](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/reviews/crypto-com-rewards-visa/#:~:text=The%20Crypto.com%20Visa%20Card*%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%20allows%20cardmembers%20to,actually%20a%20series%20of%20cards.)was meant to be the solution to allow holders to use their crypto funds as though they were using cash. 

Cardholders also get other perks, such as cashback at specific retail shops, airport lounge access, free ATM withdrawals, and cashback when used with the Dosh app. However, there are some other requirements that Crypto.com cardholders must fulfill to enjoy some of these perks and, in some cases, even to qualify to keep using the card. 

Some users have found some of these requirements unbearable and are now searching for viable Crypto.com card alternatives. 

## What is driving the search for Crypto.com card alternatives? 

One of the perks users of the higher-tier versions of the card enjoyed was that they would get reimbursement of up to 100% monthly on Amazon Prime, Spotify, and Netflix subscriptions. This has been stopped. 

In addition, top-up fees (fees charged for loading the card with crypto funds) have increased in the last year. 

Getting the Crypto.com card requires the user to stake some amount of money in CRO tokens, the native token of the Crypto.com exchange. Since the staking is in the native CRO token, it is subject to price fluctuation risks as it is not a stablecoin. 

Following on from the last point, the price fluctuations of the crypto market in which the CRO token trades have proven to be a risk factor many card users cannot bear. 

If you have followed the market in the last two years, you will find that the value of the CRO token has dropped from just under $1 to a little above 6 cents. That's a massive 95% drop. 

If you had staked the minimum of €400 in CRO tokens as required, the value of your staked tokens would probably be less than €2.50. This considerable drop has proven to be a significant disincentive to new users. 

There is much talk about unresponsive customer support service, with users waiting long to respond to their questions and inquiries. This adds to the frustration many users are feeling. 

## What makes a crypto card a viable alternative? 

For cards to qualify as viable Crypto.com card alternatives, they should have the following characteristics: 

- It must have very low ATM withdrawal fees or even none at all. 

- It must boast similar perks to the card to be replaced or even better. Cashback on purchases appears to be the dominant value-added product on most crypto debit cards. 

- Ability to use both a physical and virtual card option. 

- Seamless integration to Apple Pay or Google Pay, the e-commerce payment portals of the dominant companies in the smartphone market, allows the user to make payments across thousands of compatible websites. 

- If it comes from an exchange that requires staking, the token to be staked should have some resilience against steep price depreciation. For instance, you should have the option to convert the crypto holdings on the card to an interest-earning stablecoin until such a time when the funds are to be used. 

- The staked amount, if any, should not be too high so as not to expose the user to extreme price fluctuation risks. 

- Any usage fees should be minimal and should ideally not exceed what is paid for regular fiat credit/debit card usage. 

- Any additional perks, such as using the funds in the card as collateral for taking crypto loans, would be an added advantage. 

- It would also help if the company issuing the crypto debit card had a customer support desk that responds promptly to client requests, even though delayed responses from customer support seems to be a common denominator across the crypto world. 

With these factors in view, here are a few potential candidates that can serve as Crypto.com card alternatives. 

## Some Crypto.com card alternatives 

Nexo card: The Nexo card supports at least 20 cryptocurrencies and provides 2% cashback on all card purchases. In addition, you can convert the funds on your card to a stablecoin and use the same as collateral to collect crypto loans from the Nexo exchange. Clients can access both the physical and virtual versions of the card, and both integrate with Google Pay and Apple Pay. Users do not pay any inactivity fees. 

Gemini card: The Gemini crypto card provides specific cashback on retail purchases, with 3% cashback on dining outings, 2% on groceries, and 1% on all other retail purchases. It is one of the few cards available to US citizens and residents. Cashback is given in BTC or Ethereum, with no exchange or foreign transaction fees. Support is provided for 40 cryptos, and all rewards are paid instantly. 

Ledger Wallet Card: [Ledger wallet crypto cards](/news/article/ledger-crypto-wallet) were launched in 2021. The card, named the Crypto Life (CL) card, is available to EU and US customers, and is linked to the user's Ledger wallets. 

## Conclusion 

Crypto.com card alternatives have emerged due to the desire for better cashback offers, lower fees, and other perks not found with the existing solution. 

However, challenges remain due to the stiff opposition from regulators on crypto-fiat exchange solutions, thus limiting the scope of usage and general accessibility of these cards. 

It is hoped that the passage of time will lead to changes in the crypto card industry that will widen the scope of access to this product. 

cryptocurrency cards in wallet with blue filter

The search for Crypto.com card alternatives 

The BONE token assumed market importance when it was announced as the governance token of ShibaSwap, the new decentralized exchange created by the team behind the Shiba Inu token. This close association is perhaps why BONE is known as BONE ShibaSwap token, or simply Shiba Bone in colloquial circles. 

BONE ownership accords voting rights to its holders on the decentralized autonomous organization of ShibaSwap, known as DOGGY DAO. Additionally, BONE ownership can create value for holders if they add liquidity to the ShibaSwap DEX with their tokens or if they stake them. 

Continuous demand for BONE will also come via its use as the gas fee currency for all transactions on the layer-2 network created by the Shiba team. 

It is clear that the concept behind the creation and utility of Shiba Bone has been well thought out. This has created a demand for the token as a traded instrument and a utility token. BONE was introduced in [an earlier article](/news/article/shiba-inu-holders-value-of-bone), where the writer opined that there was value in holding this token in 2023 and beyond. Today, a reappraisal will see if there is still value in being a BONE token holder in 2023. 

## Shiba Bone tokenomics 

The maximum supply of the BONE token is 250 million tokens, of which 229 million constitute the current circulating supply. A mining cap of 230 million tokens was implemented to prevent over mining and subsequent oversupply. The balance of this supply is set aside as rewards for validators and developers maintaining the network's security. 

Price action of the Shiba BONE token continues to follow that of Bitcoin, with dips and rallies closely mirroring that of the BTC/USD pair. BONE is also seeing significant market volume. It traded more than $4.15 million worth of shares in the last 24 hours, and has experienced demand that has pushed it above the $1.05 mark. The BONE token has seen its share price lifted in the 24 hours preceding this piece. However, it remains well off its 30 August 2022 all-time high of $2.39. 

Shiba BONE price performance in 2023 

As the governance token of the blockchain that features Shiba, BONE has attracted a lot of interest from holders of Shiba Inu. Here is an overview of its recent price performance: 

- 24 hours: a gain of 6.82%, allowing it to trade at $1.015 

- 7 Days: down 7.54% 

- 30 days: down 14.15% 

- 60 days: down 46.30% 

The 90-day retracement has seen the Shiba Bone governance token price drop from $0.2759 to $0.07002. The token continues to attract good trading volume, with $6.25m worth of transactions performed in the last 24 hours. 

The recent uptick in the price of BONE is directly linked to the recovery of Bitcoin prices. BTC recently hit the $30K mark but has been unable to move further north. Coming from the previous resistance of $25K, several tokens that tend to move in tandem with BTC also recorded mild gains. 

How BONE token holders can get better value 

BONE token is a governance token for ShibaSwap. As such, BONE token holders will benefit from earning rewards when they provide liquidity to the Shiba network. BONE is an ERC-20 token, so it can be swapped for other ERC-20 tokens. It is also possible for BONE holders to earn interest by staking their tokens on compatible platforms. 

BONE remains unlisted by Binance, Kucoin, or any of the major centralized crypto exchanges. So what exchanges can holders of Shiba's BONE token place their holdings to benefit from the potential value-additions? 

a) Crypto.com. 

b) MexC. 

c) OKX. 

d) Uniswap (v3.0). 

e) Gate.io. 

f) Coinex 

Crypto.com and MEXC are the exchanges with the largest BONE deposits on the exchange wallet, accounting for 12.98% and 7.42% of the [total on-exchange BONE holdings of traders](https://etherscan.io/token/0x9813037ee2218799597d83d4a5b6f3b6778218d9#balances). Indeed, Crypto.com is said to have purchased 2.1 million BONE tokens as recently as March 2023. This coincided with the launch of the Beta version of the Shibarium network. 

OKX is third with 3.41% of holdings. The percentage of BONE tokens warehoused on Gate.io and the ShibaSwap Treasury Wallet are much smaller, as each does not account for up to 1% of holdings. 

## Adding liquidity 

Providing liquidity on ShibaSwap is known as the DIG function. When accessing the ShibaSwap website, click the DIG button -> Add Liquidity. You can pick a combination of two cryptos to use in the process. BONE is an ERC-20 token, so Ethereum is a logical choice of crypto to use in the swap. BONE will be the destination crypto. 

![shibaswap screenshot](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/Screenshot_2023_05_17_at_14_55_15_38928d6965.png)

You may have to use the search bar to call it up by typing the "BONE". Input the number of tokens to be used in providing liquidity, then click "Connect Wallet" to complete the transaction with Metamask, Coinbase Wallet, or WalletConnect. 

## Staking tokens 

Staking on ShibaSwap is known as BURY. You can bury Shiba, Leash, or Bone tokens. When you stake BONE, you receive tBONE as your Woof returns. These are awarded based on the APY displayed on the DEX platform. The lock-up period is currently six months. 

## Conclusion 

The Shiba BONE token is still worth holding in 2023, but it would help to add more value to the HODLer if these tokens are put to work in adding liquidity and being staked. 

shiba bone logo on green image of cryptocurrency

Is the Shiba Bone token still worth holding in 2023? 

The idea of taking humans to live on Mars is no longer just an idea; it is being actively pursued by a number of private stakeholders. The developers of Marscoin seized on the hype to create it as a potential cryptocurrency to be used by the first colonizers on Mars. 

The MARS token was also to serve as a source of funding for research and non-profit projects within the ecosystem to provide the financing for the vast infrastructure required to make it even remotely possible to live on the red planet. 

The project's whitepaper envisions that some people among the first colonizers could volunteer to set up the nodes required to power the use of the blockchain and the MARS token on Mars. These nodes are also to enable Martian-based mining of Mars. Prevention of any Earth-side interference with the token's use on Mars is part of the project's security proposals. 

Considering the massive challenges that must be overcome for the lofty aims of the project to be achieved, is there any future for the MARS token? 

## Marscoin’s journey so far 

Marscoin was designed to have a finite supply of 40 million tokens. As of the last update in May 2021, nearly 36 million MARS tokens have been mined, leaving fewer than 10% of the total supply available for mining. 

The [Marscoin token price](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/marscoin/) is $0.07834 as of writing. The present 24-hour trading volume of MARS/USD is $36,298. The MARS/USD price dropped 9.39% in the 24 hours prior to writing. This is part of a larger price dip that commenced after hitting a high of $0.1549 on 3 March, 2023. Before hitting this high, the MARS/USD price action was as low as $0.052 on 10 February. Following the 3 March high, the price dipped once more to the $0.0735 price level on 12 March, and resumed the upward move soon after, hitting $0.12 on 23 March. 

However, it has been all downhill from there, which is not surprising if price action is viewed from the standpoint of technical analysis. 

![marscoin coinmarketcap screenshot](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/Screenshot_2023_05_10_at_16_43_31_7a40bda26e.png)
MARS/USD price chart, Feb - Apr 2023 

## State of Marscoin in 2023 

The price action on the MARS/USD pair reveals two progressively lower tops on 3 and 23 March. These indicate that any further upside moves in the medium term have stalled. The neckline formed by the 12 March low is now in danger. A breakdown here will bring utter grief to MARS token holders, as price action could head to the 10 February low at the very least. 

The combination of low trading volumes, the evolving double top, and the lack of a clear direction for this project are ominous signs for Marscoin. 

The Marscoin team wants the MARS token to be adopted as crypto for a future Mars occupation by humans. If this project had received official endorsement by Elon Musk or at a [blockchain conference](/articles/events/blockchain-fest-singapore-2023), there would be some hope for MARS token holders. But there is nothing in this regard. 

There are also some basic challenges to MARS ever being used on Mars. 

- There is no functional internet on Mars. 

- There is no definable value for anyone to want to use MARS. 

People don't just exchange cryptos because they want to. Those who buy and hold BTC are doing it because they can derive value from it in the exchange process or from outside the blockchain ecosystem. 

Aside from the need to get food and water on Mars (which is not a given as Mars is biologically dead), it is hard to see what people living on Mars would exchange their Marscoin tokens for. Clearly, the US dollar would not even be in the running as a potential currency up there! 

marscoin logo on green image of the mars rover

What's going on with the Marscoin project in 2023? 

Niftygateway was founded by identical twins Griffin and Duncan Cock Foster in 2019. By his own account, Griffin admitted that he and the team were focused on building the technology and only fully realized their platform's potential when COVID-19-related lockdowns hit. 

By 2021, the platform had become widely popular and made lots of money for several early NFT traders. 

The success of Niftygateway attracted the attention of the Winklevoss brothers, owners of the crypto exchange Gemini. Gemini acquired the platform in late 2019, eventually adding a feature allowing users to transact using fiat currency. 

## What is the Niftygateway concept? 

Niftygateway is the largest NFT platform after OpenSea. The platform has three applications: web-based and mobile apps on Google Play and App Store. 

The concept is to provide a platform for users to buy, sell, and auction NFTs. If you are an NFT creator, the Drops section allows you to sell your NFTs directly to buyers exclusively. Otherwise, you can visit the Marketplace to buy NFTs for resale. You can also decide to auction any NFTs you have created or purchased, in which case you need to set a floor price for your product before the auction. 

Niftygateway charges gas fees of 5% on the NFT sellers, but these are charged only after an [NFT sale](/news/article/big-eyes-crypto-presale-explained). This is higher than competitors OpenSea and Rarible. It is also not possible to upload NFTs in bulk. You have to upload them one after the other. 

## Getting Started 

The starting point of your Niftygateway journey is to sign up using your MetaMask wallet. Working with your MetaMask wallet is easier as you can mine/create your NFTs using the wallet. Alternatively, you can sign up with your email and a password. 

Once you have signed up, you can trade NFTs via the Drops section or buy and resell NFTs from the Marketplace. The Drops section features the Verified or Curated Drops. Curated drops feature collections of high-quality, [limited-edition NFTs](https://coinmarketcap.com/nft/) exclusive to Niftygateway. 

The NFTs featured in the Curated Drops are sold by the creators directly. The Curated Drops are only available via a schedule after being verified by Niftygateway. They can also be purchased from the Marketplace, usually at a markup. 

pink image of niftygateway logo with photo of lady on a computer minting nfts

A quick 2023 review of the Niftygateway platform

## Lendhub: taking non-bank lending to a new level 

As the Silicon Valley Bank collapse threatens traditional lending, there could be an opportunity for Lendhub to take non-bank lending to new heights. 

The SVB crash triggered the second-largest bank collapse in history. The problem is that bad news travels fast, and bad news about money travels faster. An unchecked bank run quickly spreads and engulfs an entire sector. 

Lending is one of the banking activities that suffers in a banking crisis. When banks need to hold on to their deposits, the last thing they want to do is push money out. An exception is if they have to do beneficial deals, such as paying as little as [HSBC did to acquire SVB’s UK division](/news/article/silicon-valley-bank-uk-to-be-bought-by-hsbc). 

A banking crisis is never good if you are a business person and operate in sectors where large amounts of money are needed for projects (such as real estate). But the latest banking crisis may be the next moneymaker for Lendhub and other alternative non-bank lending industry operators. 

## SVB’s collapse: the unintended catalyst 

The SVB collapse had an unintended but positive impact on companies such as Lendhub, which are involved in non-bank credit financing. Regulators and even US President Joe Biden are promising stricter rules for traditional banks to prevent a recurrence of the latest collapse. New rules mean borrowers will face tougher loops to qualify for loans. This is sweet music to the ears of non-bank lending companies like Lendhub. 

Business is picking up fast. Law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld advises clients on taking non-bank loans and has seen an [uptick in inquiries about its non-bank lending options](https://www.businessinsider.com/private-credit-shadow-banking-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-lending-2023-3?r=US&IR=T). Other companies in this space, such as Applied Real Intelligence, are already talking to several startups with valuations above $ 1 billion. 

## Lendhub’s non-banking role going forward 

SVB's collapse may have dried up funding for tech startups, but these companies are not the only ones that will start exploring new options. Non-bank bridge, refurbishment, and development financing providers for the real estate sector may become the first point of contact for developers and individuals seeking these loans. 

These companies now have a chance to establish themselves as the lenders of first resort and not just as the alternative. Many of these companies are staffed by lawyers and people who have worked in bank supervision and regulation, so they know the rules and how to play by them without all the red tape of traditional banking. 

blue image of two people lending money with lendhub logo overlayed

Lendhub: New Level Non-Bank Lending

## Why is Bybit crypto a viable way to earn during crypto winters? 

The [Bybit crypto](/news/article/bybit-uk) exchange is a trading venue where contests and giveaways occur. If you have invested heavily in cryptos and are still smarting from the crypto winter that seized the market, consider looking for alternative ways to earn using the Bybit exchange. 

Here are a few ways to earn from the Bybit exchange. This information acts as a guiding light to your path and nothing more. You must walk that path by doing your own research to see which of these contests, if any, are good for you. 

## Bybit crypto contests 

It is Bybit crypto gaming season once more. Even as the crypto market continues to face challenges sustaining the knee-jerk uptick of January 2023, there are opportunities to profit from the market in other ways. 

One of these ways is by participating in competitions and promotions pushed out from time to time on centralized crypto exchanges. The Bybit crypto exchange is one such exchange, and several gaming competitions are currently open to the public. 

Before taking on the rest of the competition to get your share of the giveaways, you must understand a few things. 

a) The giveaways work both ways. They are meant to be for your benefit and that of the exchange. You have to put in the required work to benefit from them. They are an opportunity for the exchange to increase its public engagement and reward users who aid them in such engagement by participating in the contests. 

b) Bybit launches several of these giveaway contests from time to time. 

c) Some of these competitions do not require you to be an experienced trader. You could win if you know how to engage with people online. 

## Types of Bybit crypto giveaway contests 

What are the various types of giveaway contests found on Bybit? Having some idea about this is essential as it will help you decide where to focus your efforts. There is no point in registering for a trading contest if you are not a good trader. Likewise, if you lack the skills of marketing or social engagement, participating in contests that require a solid knowledge of the use of the various channels of social engagement may not be for you. The good thing is that there is a contest for everyone, so you can always find your bearings. 

## Core trading contests 

These come in different formats, but they all have one thing in common: you must engage in some trading activity as part of the contest. 

You are given an event period and you will need to carry out spot or derivative trades and achieve specific targets to get a share of the prize pool. Targets might be to achieve certain profit levels or set amounts in trading volumes. 

## Account upgrade contests 

Some contests reward users for performing account upgrades. The Bybit exchange recently launched a product called the unified trading account (UTA). This account type offers users enhanced leverage of up 10x for margin trades and provides 60 assets for cross-margin trading. 

## Stake-to-earn contests 

This category usually applies to new listings. You may be invited to use some of your stablecoins to acquire and stake newly listed tokens. You qualify for a reward when you stake these tokens for a certain period. Some staked tokens attract as much as 90% APY. You will find some of these opportunities on the [Bybit Earn](https://www.bybit.com/en-US/earn/home) product suite. 

## Recent Bybit crypto contests 

Here are some of the recent Bybit crypto contests. 

a) Unified trading account contest 

This contest involves actual trading but provides a volume target of $10,000 in Perpetual Contracts. You must have migrated to the UTA to participate, with a prize of 50,000 USDT to be shared by winners. 

b) Trading Rodeo 

This is a contest that is offering 700,000 USDT in prizes. To participate, you need to put on spot trades for a share of 100,000 USDT or derivative trades to aim for a percentage of the prize. Contest winners are decided on a ranking system based on trading volumes. 

c) P2P trading games 

An existing 10,000 USDT prize pool has been set aside for winners in the peer-to-peer trading games. This is for those who buy and sell cryptos to individuals listed on the P2P network instead of others on the spot/derivative markets. 

## Conclusion 

There is a world of opportunity on Bybit crypto. You have to go there and put in the extra work that most will not do to be a contest winner. 

bybit crypto logo on image of crypto exchange

Bybit Crypto Trading Games Review

## What is the 2023 outlook for the BTCST price? 

Recent events in the US banking sector and their implications on the Fed's monetary policy could be the spark that the BTCST price needs to recover. This article sheds light on what has happened with the BTCST price so that you can find answers to these questions yourself. 

## BTCST price history at a glance 

Currently priced at $0.65, the BTCST token is attracting decent daily trading volume. For a token that was once priced at 90 USDT and had even hit a high of 92.53 USDT, the token's price may come as a wonder to many HODLers. How did this token fall so steeply within a two-year time frame? 

As with all the crypto tokens that have some exposure to Bitcoin, the Bitcoin Standard Hashrate Token took a massive hit when the crypto winter was triggered by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in November 2021. But before then, there had been warning signs. After the token's listing on some exchanges in April 2021, it surged massively, rising 300% from its mid-May 2021 price to a peak of 92.53 USDT. 

What followed was a massive sell-off later that month, shaving 80% off the all-time high price. However, a technical double-bottom pattern on the weekly chart heralded its best recovery run to date, sending the BTCST price from a low of 15.55 USDT to a high of 90.99 USDT in the first week of October 2021. But following the retracement from that move, the Bitcoin Standard Hashrate Token has dropped like a rock into the ocean, taking any long positions on the BTCST/USDT pair underwater, where it has remained ever since. At $0.66, the token is trading at its lowest points ever, sinking even below the April 2021 listing lows. 

## Is there a silver lining for BTCST? 

The Omicron effect has since waned. That variant did not cause severe disease among the population. What pushed the crypto market down in 2022 was the cycle of monetary policy tightening by central banks, particularly the US Federal Reserve. The stablecoin Tether (USDT) shares parity with the US dollar, so it has primarily benefited from the Fed's rate hikes to the detriment of risky assets paired with it, such as Bitcoin and BTCST. 

Inflation data for January 2023 pointed to further escalation when it was released on 14 February 2023. The data showed that the annualized consumer price index in the US beat estimates of 6.2%, rising to 6.4%. The headline number showed a print of 0.5%, beating December's figures which showed a contraction of 0.1%. Core CPI rose from 0.3% in December to 0.4% in January. 

This data, combined with the hawkish testimony of Fed Chief Jerome Powell before the US Senate Banking Committee and the House Committee on Financial Services on 7/8 March, raised the odds of the Fed moving from its previous 25 basis points [rate hike](/news/article/us-fed-crypto-rates-hike) to a 50 bps rate hike come 22 March. A further rate hike of this magnitude is expected to lead to further depression of crypto prices and gains for USD-denominated assets. This was the market view until 9/10 March, when everything changed. 

The markets woke up to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after a combination of liquidity issues, a fall in bond prices (to which the bank was heavily exposed), and panic-laden tweets fuelled a run on SVB that [led to the withdrawal of $42 billion](https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/14/tech/viral-bank-run/index.html#:~:text=Customers%20withdrew%20%2442%20billion%20in,said%20in%20a%20regulatory%20filing.) in a single day. A second bank, Signature Bank, was also in trouble. The contagion has spread, leading to a collapse in banking stocks in the US, Europe, and Asia. The US dollar is broadly weak, and suddenly, the bets for a rate hike by the Fed are off. 

If the Fed fails to raise interest rates, it will be the first time in nearly 10 months that this will happen. It could dwindle interest in USD-denominated assets and lead to renewed market interest in risky assets such as cryptos. The signs are already there. USD coin (USDC), a popular USD-backed stablecoin, briefly lost its peg with the greenback and traded at 88 cents. The peg has not fully recovered on several exchanges. 

## BTCST price potential 

For a coin that had traded as high as $90, a $0.65 price is an attractive proposition. There is long-term potential for the BTCST token. The Bitcoin Standard Hashrate Token shares a mild correlation with Bitcoin. Bitcoin prices tested the 25K resistance earlier in the year but failed to break it. The recent banking crisis caused the BTC/USD pair to push this boundary northward, testing the 26,000 price level before it beat a retreat. At current price levels, another retest of 25K is close. 

A more sustained push above 25K raises the chances of recovery of the crypto market and altcoins that are correlated with Bitcoin in particular. This scenario could prompt an uptick in the BTCST price, bringing smiles to the faces of long-suffering HODLers. Several factors need to come together to make this work. 

Volumes on the buy side are still low. But if buying volume rises and Bitcoin gets an uplift above 26K, the token may be on its way to recovery. 

btcst logo on green background image of cryptocurrency market price

BTCST Price Outlook for 2023

What are the key takeaways on the BLOC coin price prediction for 2023 and beyond?

•	Bloc Money is still trying to find its feet in the crypto market.

•	After several hiccups during development, the token is not listed on any major centralized exchange. Only a few obscure exchanges offer the token for trading.

•	The recovery of the Bloc Money token will depend heavily on developing a solid use case and disruptive products for the ecosystem to boost its acceptance.

## About BLOC coin

The BLOC coin price prediction for 2023 may not be a rosy one for HODLers of this token. Listed a few months ago on the Tradeogre centralized exchange and a few decentralized exchanges, Bloc Money has shed nearly 80% of its listing value in its pairing with [Tether](/news/article/usdt-to-gbp-price-analysis) (USDT).

This situation has left many wondering what the future holds for BLOC and whether the Bloc coin price prediction will be favourable.

## Bloc Money: The journey so far

BLOC, the Bloc Money blockchain project token, debuted as far back as 2018 on centralized exchanges. The highest price ever recorded on the BLOC/USD pair was $0.06. This is about as good as things got for the token, as the price has steadily declined since then.

The token was able to ride the market's bullish run in 2021, but never recovered its 2018 highs as it touched off the $0.04 mark. The recent bounce of this token has enabled it to pull off from all-time lows, but its present value remains more than 95% off its listing high.

![bloc1.png](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/bloc1_e9ddae1706.png)
 
A look at recent charts of the BLOC/USD pair suggests that the price action has stalled, and volumes on the token have dried out. For instance, the BLOC/USD pair was last traded on the [Uniswap exchange](/news/article/uniswap-exchange-nft-aggregator) on 7 January, 2023, with a very thin volume and virtually no liquidity. On other exchanges, total trade volume was just $3.0633613, according to data from Binance. This is a far cry from its early days when it traded with reasonable liquidity.

If you had invested $1,000 into the BLOC/USD pair at its all-time lows, you probably would have doubled your money. But whether you could have pulled it out on the back of such low liquidity is another story entirely.

## So, what has gone wrong with BLOC?

•	The token's listing came when the crypto market was in general decline.

•	The crypto market continues to face downside risks from rising inflation in the US, causing the market to lean heavily on USD longs in anticipation of further interest rate hikes by the Fed.

•	Liquidity has dropped off heavily, with only a few dollars-worth of the token being transacted daily. Simply put, there is not much trading interest in the asset currently.

## Bloc coin price prediction for 2023

The crypto market’s recovery has stalled after Bitcoin hit the 25k resistance mark. With the price pulling back slightly, this has also kept any altcoin recoveries at bay. To get a reasonable definition of what the Bloc Money token may do in 2023, one has to look at some of the project's fundamentals and the charts to get a glimpse of the future price action of this token.

Bloc Money was conceptualized in 2019 as a project to popularize the use of the blockchain in an environmentally sound manner. However, the project ran into problems soon after when the initial development team left the project, necessitating the sourcing of a new team to complete the project. Perhaps the biggest issue that the Bloc Money project has had fundamentally is the lack of a use case that resonates with the market.

![bloc2.png](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/bloc2_92e1610a5e.png)
 
BLOC/USD: May 2022 to February 2023

One of the products that Bloc Money was to implement was PayChange. PayChange was conceptualized as a one-stop listing for business owners accepting cryptos as a payment method to get their business listed and found on the PayChange Map. That way, businesses would be accessible to millions of users who spend cryptos by viewing the listings close to them on the GPS-enabled PayChange map. In return, users would get cashback and other benefits for using the PayChange app to shop at these businesses.

PayChange was supposed to disrupt the advertising business, cutting out the likes of Facebook by offering a means of bringing crypto-using shoppers to the PayChange-listed businesses. This would have allowed companies to reduce their ad spend and share these savings with the customers as incentives. It is currently unclear what has happened to this product. From the look of things, it never really took off.

So we have a situation where anyone trading the BLOC/USD pair would be hard-pressed to find any intrinsic fundamentals to drive any price recovery. This leaves the BLOC coin at the mercy of the market's vagaries. Bitcoin has shown some recovery in 2023, but this has largely stalled. Altcoins depending on Bitcoin to achieve some recovery have also stalled.

Trading on the BLOC coin currently suffers from very low liquidity. For instance, in the 24 hours preceding the writing of this piece, the token only saw $12 worth of transactions, despite an uptick in its share price by close to 50%. [Recent price action on BLOC/BTC](https://tradeogre.com/exchange/BTC-BLOC) has oscillated between 0.00000002 acting as the floor and 0.00000004 functioning as the ceiling.

A steep surge in buying volume must accompany any radical upticks in the price of this crypto. Currently, this is absent. The present scenario does not favour much of a bullish BLOC coin price prediction.

However, a market bounce led by a Bitcoin recovery above the $25,000 resistance mark on the BTC/USD pair may lead to a short-term recovery. Until that happens, the range defined above remains the limits of the BLOC coin price prediction.


bloc coin logo on image of person playing with blocks

BLOC Coin Price Prediction 2023

As the crypto market undergoes a muted recovery, several projects are going into presale. One such project is [Big Eyes](https://bigeyes.space), a new DeFi project that features a meme coin dabbling into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Many meme coins have been developed since the Doge meme coin Shiba Inu became the most successful. Apart from the Shiba Inu coin, none of the other Doge meme coins found much success in the market. Some started well but got destroyed by the crypto winter of 2021-2022.

## Big Eyes crypto: The appeal

What makes Big Eyes crypto different from all the other meme coins? Firstly, Big Eyes has deviated from the dog-themed memes and has gone the way of the cat. Older meme coins in the market were patterned after [Dogecoin](/coins/doge), its leading promoter Elon Musk, or the famous [Shiba Inu](/news/article/akita-inu-coin) dog breed that represents the logo of Dogecoin.

Secondly, in trying to avoid the pitfalls of other meme coins, which were just copycats of Doge without offering anything substantial of value to the crypto ecosystem, Big Eyes crypto has come up early with a concept of being a [DeFi coin](/news/article/debank-defi-tool) with an imprint in the NFT world.

Thirdly, Big Eyes also has a charity component to its ecosystem. It has a background theme rooted in environmental preservation, specifically the recovery and preservation of the world's oceans, currently riddled with plastic and other waste products. Climate change and environmental conservation are presently on the front burner of today's discussions among the world's leaders and captains of industry.

So Big Eyes is not all about creating the next big meme coin and serving as a platform for tomorrow's in-demand NFTs, and this separates it from the older meme coins in the market.

## What is the concept of Big Eyes crypto?

Big Eyes aims to self-propagate itself via NFTs. [Uniswap](https://uniswap.org/) is the designated decentralized exchange (DEX) where the Big Eyes token will be sold after launch. All NFTs sold will be subject to a 10% withholding charge, of which 4% goes to the original seller, 5% to the holders, and 1% to the charity wallet.

The project's tokenomics shows that the community will own 90% of the tokens. The rest will be split between a Visible Charity Wallet and a marketing wallet on an equal basis. The tokens destined for the community will be sold during the presale (70%) and on exchanges after launch (20%). The charity wallet will hold tokens that will eventually be sold and used as contributions to efforts to save the world's oceans.

## How to join the Big Eyes crypto presale

The presale is currently on, with the project's presale website reporting that it has raised more than $29 million. You can buy into the presale using Binance Coin, Ethereum, or Tether (USDT). You must connect your browser-based MetaMask wallet or Trust Wallet to pay for the subscription directly from your wallet once you connect it to the presale page. Mobile purchases must be made using the Trust Wallet.

Currently, 1 USDT can purchase 2028.99 BIG tokens. There are still 7.23 billion of these tokens available as of writing. The project's next stage would be its launch, where tokens will be sold at six times the presale price. The Big Eyes crypto price prediction is that it will eventually hit $1, 10,000 times the presale price.

While these projections may look ambitious and mouth-watering, considering that Shiba Inu did a 10,000% appreciation run, remember that projections do not guarantee future returns.

Gone are the days when people jump into a meme coin and pump it by thousands of percentage points. This time, an attractive use case must focus on Web 3.0 projects such as the Metaverse. Therefore, the team behind Big Eyes must find a way to direct their project to these growth markets and find innovative ways to capture the essence of its environmental protection goals.


big eyes NFT logo on image of NFT on a computer desk with pink filter

Big Eyes Crypto Presale Explained 

The Digibet token is an ERC-20 token operating on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It is listed on Latoken, PancakeSwap, and Hotbit. The recent mild recovery in the crypto market is being stalled by various factors, including [lawsuits filed by regulators against exchanges](/news/article/coinex-exchange-sued-by-ny-attorney-general). It could take a lot more than the token's inherent fundamentals to see a recovery in the Digibet token price.

## Digibet: The journey so far

This token debuted on the Nomics exchange with a price of $0.012. That is the highest the crypto has ever attained. After closing lower on the day, the Digibet token price recorded a significant slump. This development may surprise many, especially as it started well before the crypto winter commenced. For a token belonging to a project that ought to have taken the online gaming industry by storm, the performance of Digibet has disappointed many.

So what happened with Digibet? Why is the token price where it is today? Here are some reasons.

•	Despite the brief recovery of the crypto market, it remains well off its 2020/2021 highs.

•	Rising inflation continues to pressure the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. This scenario makes US-denominated assets (such as Tether stablecoin or USDT) more attractive at the expense of riskier altcoins. Digibet continues to suffer from this effect.

![digibet.png](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/digibet_fd162f0e66.png)
 
## Digibet token price prediction for 2023

Digibet’s price currently rests at $0.000000001, which is more than 95% below its listing high. In terms of fundamentals, the future of gaming tokens looks bright, as the [global blockchain gaming market](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/01/26/2596429/0/en/The-Global-Blockchain-Gaming-Market-size-is-expected-to-reach-104-5-billion-by-2028-rising-at-a-market-growth-of-68-2-CAGR-during-the-forecast-period.html) is expected to grow from $4.6 billion in 2022 to $104.5 billion in 2028, representing a CAGR of 68.2%.

This is according to data from Reportlinker detailing its six-year outlook for the global blockchain gaming industry.

Suppose the fundamentals are anything to go by, and Digibet can tap into this potential. In that case, we could see some price appreciation, making this token a good investment at current levels.

However, there is always a possibility that this may not happen, and Digibet may find itself joining the list of altcoins that had great potential but sadly lost their way.


blue image of digibet logo on image of chains

Digibet Token Price: What's Happening? 

The recent advance in the Lunar crypto price has raised some salient questions among investors and HODLers alike:

•	Is this a proper recovery, or is it a bull trap?

•	Can Lunar crypto price ever get back to its October 2022 listing high?

•	Is there a potential to invest in Lunar now?

This article sheds light on what has happened with Lunar so that you can find answers to these questions yourself.

## What has been happening with Lunar?

The first thing to mention is that Lunar has moved to a new contract address. So, if you have yet to migrate and are worried you have lost your coins, you may check here for the new contract address, as there was an official announcement.

Lunar is primarily paired with wBNB on decentralized exchanges. However, it also pairs with the US dollar on the MEXC exchange. The price moves on the LNR/USDT pair on the MEXC exchange indicate that after hitting its all-time highs on the listing date in October 2022, the pair was hit by the crypto winter. Despite its recent attempts at recovery, it is still 80% below its listing highs.

So you can understand the questions from HODLers who are worried about whether there is any chance of LNR/USDT regaining those highs.

One thing is for sure; recovery (if any) will be a prolonged process. Here are some reasons that will play into this line of thinking.

First, we need to understand why Bitcoin and some cryptos did nothing but drop like a rock in 2022 and why they have shown some level of price appreciation in 2023. While the onset of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was the fundamental trigger for the selloff that began in November 2021, the fundamentals pushing the crypto market have since changed as Omicron has not produced any dramatic worsening of the pandemic as once feared. So it is no longer an issue.

What has been driving the markets is the anticipation of the direction of monetary policy by central banks, chiefly the US Federal Reserve. 

The Fed commenced an aggressive rate-tightening cycle in May 2022, making US dollar-denominated assets more attractive and sending investment money out of risky assets such as cryptocurrencies. This factor was what drove crypto prices lower in 2022. Following several rounds of rate hikes, the Fed has started to slow down on its tightening cycle, allowing some of this money to return to the crypto market. There is on-chain evidence to this effect, with data from Whalealert showing that a lot of whale money poured into the crypto market in February 2023.

The recent bounce in crypto prices has served Lunar well, allowing it to push off its January 2023 lows. The [much-awaited judgement in the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit](/news/article/ripple-xrp-news-2023) could also significantly impact the crypto market and on altcoins such as Lunar in the short term.

Watch out for Lunar’s presentation at the London Blockchain Summit
Following the 10 October, 2022, spike that led to an 800% rise in the Lunar crypto price, the token has since shed off some of that value.

However, there appears to be a slight resurgence in the price action. 

There is still a long way before the price can recover to the highs of 10 October, but Lunar has much potential, and the current prices may present an exciting opportunity for those in it for the long haul.

The upcoming [London Blockchain Summit](https://blockchaineconomy.london/) will present an opportunity for the Lunar team to give an update on its products and how it intends to push the project forward in 2023. This meetup may throw up some exciting stuff that will make the token the market's darling once more.


lunr crypto logo on green background image of the moon in the sky

Is Lunar Crypto Price Ripe for Recovery?

Kiba Inu is not just a meme coin, as a first glance may lead the reader to suspect. Instead, it is a full-service blockchain project that features a decentralised exchange, a governance token (KIBA), and various other tools found within its network.

The project claims that it is committed to restoring the integrity of meme coins by building projects that add value to the ecosystem. 

This is a lofty idea, as several meme coins which spawned after the initial success of Shiba Inu were mere pump-and-dump projects that only made money for the creators and not for members of the ecosystem at large.

This project has an opportunity to benefit from some of the recent dysfunction in the crypto market created by the [collapse of centralised exchange FTX](/news/article/ftx-collapse-blockfi-suspend-withdrawals) and other lending projects that had hefty leveraged exposure to the exchange. Some have argued that the collapse of FTX has damaged confidence in centralised crypto exchanges. But this event inadvertently created a window of new opportunities for decentralised exchanges to grow their market. This is an opportunity that the Kiba Inu project can develop if it strikes the right chord with the market.

## Kiba Inu's story so far

As with several other meme coins, Kiba Inu debuted on several centralised and decentralised exchanges to much fanfare in May 2022. However, the crypto market was already in a full downtrend, and aside from the considerable surge seen on the listing day, the price of the token hit rock bottom soon after.

So hard was its fall that it met lows that took out listing lows. After hitting its lowest point in December, a month in which the token shed a further 33% of its November 2022 value, the token has benefitted from the brief resurgence seen in January 2023. The 75% gain seen so far has eclipsed the December 2022 highs, and the technical pattern on the long-term charts suggests that 2023 could be the year a gradual recovery starts.

## Where can you buy Kiba Inu tokens?

KIBA tokens are available on several centralised and decentralised exchanges. Decentralised exchanges that offer KIBA as a swap-enabled token include PancakeSwap, UniSwap, and Kiba Inu's DEX, Kiba Swap. You may also purchase the tokens using fiat currency on Flooz Trade or Fiatom. Gate.io, Hotbit, Digifinex, and Bitrue are centralised exchanges where you can purchase KIBA using Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins such as USDT or USDC. The Kiba Swap exchange is the primary decentralised exchange for obtaining the KIBA tokens.

## What activities are performed on Kiba Swap?

[Kiba Swap](https://kibainu.com/#/swap) is a decentralised exchange (DEX) that features a traditional swap exchange, a trade portal that offers traders the chance to trade with limit prices, and a cross-chain bridge that allows the transfer of tokens between different blockchain networks. Kiba Swap is a non-custodial exchange, meaning that users keep their tokens in wallets that are not warehoused on the exchange itself.

a) Swap portal
This traditional DEX allows owners of specific tokens to swap them for other tokens that share the same network. The standard base tokens on Kiba Swap are KIBA, Ethereum, USDC, USDT, DAI, WBTC, and WETH. These can be swapped with 1inch, AAVE, APE, AUDIO, AXS, BAND, CRV (Curve DAO), GALA, KNC, and other external tokens. You can also add external tokens by managing your token lists.

b) Trade portal
Kiba Swap's limit order trade portal offers crypto owners the opportunity to buy or sell their favourite cryptos at beneficial prices that are different from the market price. For instance, those selling their tokens can choose to do so at a higher price than the market price to get a better deal and potentially make more profits. Those who want to buy tokens can set lower prices for their entries to secure better pricing.

c) Crosschain bridge
What can you do with the cross-chain bridge? Various stablecoins (USDC, USDT, LUSD, DAI), FRAX, ETH, and STG can be moved from their parent networks to other networks. Featured networks include Ethereum, Arbitrum, Fantom, Avalanche, Polygon, and the Binance Chain. Kiba Swap currently does not have an active liquidity pool for crypto lending.

## Conclusion

The performance of the KIBA token in 2023 and beyond will be tied directly to the degree of success the Kiba Inu team has in onboarding new clients who will be active users of its Kiba Swap decentralised exchange.

The recent gains seen in the KIBA/USDT and other KIBA pairs are more of a market response to Bitcoin's latest move toward the $22,000 mark. If the KIBA token is to recover its 2022 listing highs, Kiba Swap needs to capture a significant chunk of the DEX market share currently controlled by Uniswap and PancakeSwap.


Kiba Inu: The Long Road to Recovery 

Dogelon Mars is back in the news. With a current market capitalization of $183.38 million and a circulating supply of 549,040 billion tokens, [Dogelon Mars](https://twitter.com/dogelonmars?lang=en) is ranked number 152 in the list of cryptos by market cap. It is one of the Dogecoin-themed meme coins.

Dogecoin received some promotion from Elon Musk via a series of tweets in December 2019, leading it to become one of the most sought-after altcoins that produced a massive price appreciation.

Subsequently, various altcoins were created, either bearing semblance to the symbol of Dogecoin (such as Shiba Inu, the name of the dog features as Dogecoin's logo), or by having some labelling with Elon Musk's name. These meme coins found success for a while, but the crypto market downturn has erased the meme effect and left the coins to find their feet on their own value.

## Dogelon: the story so far

In April 2022, a petition was started on Change.org urging Binance to list Dogelon Mars on its exchange. At that time, it was approaching a $1 billion market cap and seeking 25,000 signatures. In October 2022, rumours of a potential listing by Binance surfaced, and the token shot up 4,194%. However, this listing did not materialise. In the following months, Dogelon Mars gave up all these gains. This is not the first time rumours of a Binance listing have dogged the token. Some of these rumours date back to 2019, but have never resulted in anything substantial.

The gains seen in the ELON token this January are not linked to any listing rumours. They have come as the entire market witnessed a slight push to the upside. The recent market gains result from a shift towards risky assets after data from the US indicated a cooling of consumer inflation. The drop in the US Consumer Price Index has led to bets that the Federal Reserve would force down the size of future rate hikes, with 25 basis points being the preferred number.

This is exerting a downward pull on Tether (USDT) and other USD-pegged stablecoins, allowing tokens like ELON to enjoy a level of price appreciation. While the 19% gains seen this January is a far cry from some of its earlier improvements, the Dogelon Mars community seems excited by what they perceive as a renewed push by the meme coin to get back some of its old shine. The fact that 18,448 people have signed the Change.org petition as of writing is a testament that there are still those who want to pressure Binance to list the ELON token.

The push to get listed on Binance came when there was no clear-cut information about its tokenomics and what value the project would add to the crypto ecosystem. At the time, it seemed that everything that Binance touched turned to gold. 

Even tokens that were floundering on other exchanges got a shot in the arm that turned them into a speculator's delight. It was clear then that the promoters of the Dogelon Mars petition were out to cash out big from every token that had some kind of association with Elon Musk or Dogecoin, either by name or otherwise. That attempt may have worked in October 2022, but it is clear that it has failed miserably in the long run.

The deepening winter in the crypto market and the fallout of the collapse of FTX, Celsius, AAX, and several crypto exchanges and lending platforms means it will be harder for tokens to command appreciation from just a mention of a purported Binance listing.

## Dogelon Mars: What does the future hold?

If Dogelon Mars is to rise from the ashes, the team behind the token has to return to the drawing board and think out a strategy to shift this coin from being just another meme coin to something of real value to the ecosystem.

They need not look too far. [Shiba Inu](/news/article/shiba-inu-news-will-it-rise) was the first meme coin patterned after Dogecoin. It rode the speculation train for a while until the team decided to reconfigure the project to extract value for both project owners and token holders. The SHIB project now boasts a robust ecosystem of its own, featuring three tokens (BONE, Shiba Inu and Leash) and the Shibarium Layer 2 protocol. A launch into the Metaverse is scheduled for 2023. The recent resurgence of the Shiba Inu and BONE tokens is not accidental. The Dogelon Mars team needs to follow a similar pathway to make the ELON token a thing of value. The meme effect is not going to cut it going forward.

## Conclusion

The current price action on Dogelon's pairing with Tether (the most traded pair of this asset) indicates the brief upside move that has taken it from the low of November/December 2022 to its current levels appears to have stalled. This situation is in keeping with the current expectations.

The 19% move higher was only a drag effect exerted by Bitcoin on the entire market. For Dogelon Mars to witness any real price recovery to its previous highs, there has to be a concerted effort by its developers to create value from the ecosystem. 

Otherwise, the ELON token may fall by the wayside even before the market takes a turn for the better.

There is still time for the developers behind Dogelon to make the necessary changes. Shiba Inu is a classic example of how value addition can make all the difference in a token's valuation.


Is Dogelon Mars a Buy After the Recent Upside?

If you are familiar with the Game of Thrones series and the White Walkers, chances are you will see a semblance to some characters that form the Ice World NFT collection.

There are 2,765 non-fungible tokens on Ice World representing the ice men and the tree men, who will ultimately be locked in a battle to take control of the entire planet.

## What is the concept?

Members of the Ice World community can acquire the NFT tokens by outright purchase or auction. It is also possible to win some of these tokens by participating in the promos and giveaways on the community page. Once you have an Ice World token, you can resell it to others for a profit.

The concept is interesting, but after nearly a thousand people picked up various tokens as NFTs, the tokens and community site experienced a marked lack of interest. This lack of interest in the Ice World NFTs is not surprising, as the entire NFT market has recently suffered some slump.

## Is there a future for Ice World NFTs?

Despite a seeming dropoff in 2022, [data from DappRadar](https://decrypt.co/118438/2022-versus-2021-nft-sales) shows that $24.7 billion of organic trading volume occurred in the NFT market in 2022. So there is still a vibrant NFT market, and there is a potential for a pick-up in 2023 if the crypto market starts heading in the right direction.

There is a belief that the future of NFTs will be in the [Web3 gaming](/news/article/web3-games-raised-millions) industry. Ice World's developers need to think creatively to take the concept in this direction.

The concept of the Icemen vs. Treemen certainly looks promising if taken further as a hugely interactive video game. In that case, this could reach a new market and translate to enormous earnings for community members.


pink image of blockchain with whitewalker ice nft in foreground

Ice World NFT: What is the Pathway to Recovery?

News of a drop in the US Consumer Price Index to one-year lows rubbed off nicely on the cryptocurrency market, as [holders of Bitcoin](/news/article/bitcoin-surge-hits-new-heights), Shiba Inu, and several other crypto assets enjoyed some nice gains.

Shiba Inu holders must be heaving a sigh of relief. Having spent the latter part of 2021 and 2022 dipping their fingers in cold water after having them badly burnt, they are enjoying some handy comfort from the recent price appreciation. Even though Shiba Inu is nowhere near its 2021 highs, the recent march from 0.00000790 to 0.00001090 (a 30% appreciation in January 2023) may have brought some value for Shiba token owners who decided to load up as soon as the crypto asset retested the lows of June 2022.

## Why are holders excited?

Several developments have emerged in the Shiba ecosystem in recent times. The SHIB team has presented the basic concepts behind Shibarium, the Layer 2 blockchain of the SHIB ecosystem.

One of the takeaways from the release is the new ability granted to users and Shiba Inu holders to access Shibarium's test tokens through private test networks.

This is in addition to removing one zero from its price (some of us were starting to lose count). There is also some buzz around a rumoured 2023 launch for the long-awaited SHIB Metaverse.

The [listing of the Shiba token on the StealthEX crypto exchange](https://u.today/shiba-inu-shib-boasts-new-listing-as-price-jumps-22-on-weekly-basis) also created some market buzz. StealthEX is a mobile app that provides non-custodial exchange and swap facilities for the three tokens that make up the Shiba Inu ecosystem.

Speaking of the Shiba ecosystem tokens, one of them is already attracting huge interest. The BONE token, which will power all transactions on Shibarium's Layer 2 protocol, is experiencing a resurgence.

After hitting exchanges at $0.4 in June 2022, it reached its all-time high of $2.39 on 30 August 2022 before hitting Q4 2022 lows at $0.60. Since the 22 November 2022 lows, the price of this Shibarium token has more than doubled. This has positively impacted the number of addresses holding Shiba Inu, growing from 1,280K on 11 January to 1,283K on 17 January. The largest Shiba token owner owns 41.03% of the total supply, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com. The next top holder is a distant second, holding just 5.59% of the total supply.

## Is BONE bringing value?

It isn't easy to quantify this. Undoubtedly, the Shiba Inu token has drawn some inspiration for its one-week performance from the BONE token's rise. However, it is too early to say if this correlation will endure or eventually break down. For now, Shiba Inu token holders may only care a little as long as the token keeps heading in the right direction.


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Author: Eno Eteng

Author: Eno Eteng's Articles