News

Can Binance Coin Flip Ethereum? Analyst Nicholas Merten Examines Epic Rise of Crypto Asset BNB

img-ads

Crypto trader and analyst Nicholas Merten is giving Binance Coin (BNB) a close look after its meteoric ascent to an all-time high of $342.

In a new DataDash video, Merten tells his 391,000 YouTube subscribers that BNB’s furious rally from $38 at the start of 2021 is sparking a narrative that the coin and the protocol it fuels, Binance Smart Chain, could take over the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

ADVERTISEMENT

To explore the possibility of BNB flipping Ethereum (ETH), the crypto analyst takes a deep dive into the differences between the two leading smart contract protocols.

“The ironic thing overall is that the Binance Smart Chain is actually extremely similar to Ethereum. They share the similarity in the sense that Binance Smart Chain is basically a direct fork off of the Ethereum blockchain, in the sense of how it functions, how solidity and code can be brought over from the traditional Ethereum applications that exist into the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem. So all that functionality is seamless… 

The big difference here as well is that Binance Smart Chain in this case has a few select validators. Unlike Ethereum that goes through a mining process and has the thousands of nodes across the world in a very decentralized format, Binance is a lot more centralized. That’s not inherently a terrible thing immediately but as more assets grow on the network, just like how you have more assets on a centralized exchange, that can be a cause for concern…

The benefit of being more centralized in the interim and going towards a path of possibly more decentralization, Binance Smart Chain has been able to actually build out a system where gas fees are practically non-existent.”

Merten adds that although Binance Smart Chain has the advantages that come with its reputation, network effect, and low fees, he still believes that Ethereum is not out of the race.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The one critical thing here that is going to determine Ethereum’s dominance on the market when it comes to DeFi or decentralized finance is an implementation of layer-two scaling. We haven’t seen this yet in the sense of some of the major protocols like Uniswap but supposedly it may be in the works as they’ve been continuing to announce that they’re working with scaling solutions like Optimism. That is going to be the game-changer.”

The crypto trader highlights that news of scaling solutions being implemented on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap v3 will likely cement Ethereum’s place as the leader in the DeFi space.

Looking at Binance Coin, Merten notes that while the crypto asset looks exhausted in the short term, he doesn’t see any problem having some exposure to BNB if a trader believes that there’s at least a 10% chance that Binance Smart Chain will eventually dominate DeFi.

I

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get crypto email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Telegram

ADVERTISEMENT

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/ktsdesign

img-ads

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

You may also like

Bitcoin Blockchain

India’s largest crypto exchange adopts decentralized Unstoppable Domains

India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Unocoin, has adopted the blockchain-based Unstoppable Domains, which simplifies crypto transactions by turning blockchain addresses into human-readable web URLs.

Announced on Wednesday, the partnership between Unocoin and Unstoppable Domains — both funded by Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper — is expected to reduce remittance costs and simplify the transaction process for the exchange’s 1.2 million users.

Unstoppable Domains turns crypto addresses into decentralized websites on the Ethereum and Zilliqa blockchains. Instead of sending coins to a 42-character blockchain address, Unstoppable Domains allows users to create simple URLs ending in “.crypto” and “.zil” extensions. Domain names need only be purchased once, and then exist forever on the blockchain without requiring any renewal or maintenance fees.

The decentralized aspect of Unstoppable Domains should be of particular interest to Indian crypto users, especially amid the furor created by the Finance Ministry’s decision to ban the use…

View More Article
Bitcoin Blockchain Tech

Ethereum on track to settle $1.6 trillion this quarter

Ethereum usage is surging this year, with the value of transactions settled on the network skyrocketing during 2021.

According to research from Messari, Ethereum has settled $926 trillion worth of transactions this quarter so far — 700% more than it processed during Q1 2020. 

The network is currently on-pace to settle $1.6 trillion in transactions for the first quarter of this year. In the last 12 months, Ethereum has already settled $2.1 trillion in transactions.

If Messari’s $1.6 trillion forecast is accurate, Ethereum’s quarterly settlement value will have increased 1,280% compared to Q1 2020, and more than 5,000% compared to Q1 2019. 

Messari researcher Ryan Watkins noted the data counters the prevailing narrative that Ethereum is seeing an exodus of users amid its high gas fees, exclaiming:

“Incredible scale for a technology that critics claimed couldn’t scale.”

Ethereum’s recent surge in settlement value can be attributed to explosive growth in the…

View More Article
Bitcoin Blockchain

Bitcoin whale from 2010 moves 100 BTC for first time in 11 years

A veteran miner has cracked open their 2010 stash of Bitcoin, with crypto analysts spotting 100 BTC being transferred from two wallets that had laid dormant for more than a decade.

Prior to today’s transaction, the addresses had not seen any activity since receiving a 50 BTC Coinbase reward each nearly 11 years ago, except for two incoming transactions worth just 0.00000547 BTC each that were sent to the wallets in the last six months.

The Feb. 25 transaction combined the two mining address outputs, indicating both addresses belong to the same owner. The two blocks were mined only a couple of hours apart on Jun. 10, 2010.

Bitcoin is currently trading for $49,800, giving the coins a combined value of nearly $5 million. With BTC trading for $0.08 when the coins were mined, the whale’s holdings have increased in value by 622,500 times.

View More Article
Bitcoin Blockchain Markets

Cross-chain bridges and DeFi integration are pushing these 3 altcoins higher

The cryptocurrency market is showing signs of progress following a multiday sell-off that saw the total market capitalization drop by more than $400 billion as Bitcoin’s (BTC) price briefly fell below $46,000. 

While the majority of altcoins have entered a consolidation phase that includes a retest of underlying support levels, several projects have started to regain lost ground after new developments reignited investors’ optimism.

ADA/USDT

Cardano’s ADA started the year with a bullish spark that saw its price increase 624% from $0.165 on Jan. 2 to a high of $1.20 on Feb. 20. This week’s sharp correction pulled the price to a swing low at $0.80, but it is clear that traders bought the dip.

ADA/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Since hitting a swing low at $0.80, ADA’s price rallied 30% to $1.05 following the news that community members at Venus Protocol…

View More Article
Bitcoin

Traders remain bullish even as DeFi’s TVL falls to $54.4 billion

Decentralized finance and the numerous platforms offering investment services have been the talk of the cryptocurrency sector for several months, and this has resulted in investors capturing spectacular gains for some of the top DeFi tokens like Uniswap’s UNI and AAVE. 

The fast-moving prices and 1,000% annual percentage yield on staked tokens elicited cheers from investors when the market was going up, but the recent selling pressure seen as Bitcoin’s (BTC) price dropped below $45,000 shows that the highest fliers are often the quickest to fall as traders rush to exit their positions and lock in their gains.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

On Feb. 22, Bitcoin’s price entered a sharp corrective phase that saw the top digital asset pull back by more than 20% from its all-time high of $58,274. As this occurred, the majority of altcoins also saw double-digit corrections, and DeFi tokens…

View More Article
Bitcoin Business

As Visa and Mastercard raise fees, merchants may look to crypto

Credit card providers charge merchants a cut of the payments they accept, called interchange fees or swipe fees. With two major card providers aiming to elevate rates, could crypto become an alternative? 

“Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are planning to raise swipe fees for some types of credit-card purchases in April,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, adding:

“Though invisible to consumers, they [interchange fees] are glaring to merchants, which often end up paying fees of about 2% of their customers’ credit-card purchases. The fees are set by the card networks, such as Visa and Mastercard. Merchants pay them to the banks that issue the cards.”

As credit card fees rise, other options will become more attractive to merchants. That includes crypto. Digital assets also incur transaction fees, but some may be cheaper alternatives than the current credit card scene, especially if card fees continue rising.

Bitcoin (BTC),…

View More Article
%d bloggers like this: