Ethereum's exciting upgrade

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Scammers exploit hype around TREAT token, impacting Shiba Inu community

Key points:

• Hackers exploit hype surrounding unreleased TREAT token in the SHIB ecosystem.

• SHIB price and network growth declined, indicating waning interest.

News - Shiba Inu's recent upswing faces a challenge as bad actors exploit the hype surrounding the upcoming TREAT token. Hackers are targeting individuals believing the token is already released, spreading misinformation, and conducting fraudulent activities.

TREAT slated to enhance liquidity for the SHI Stablecoin and offer rewards across various SHIB ecosystem ventures, is not yet available.

What could be the potential consequences of misinformation?

• Confusion and false expectations caused by scams could damage trust within the SHIB community, leading to decreased confidence and participation.

• Victims of phishing attacks could suffer financial losses, impacting their ability and willingness to engage with the SHIB ecosystem.

• Negative publicity generated by scams can discourage potential investors and hinder SHIB's growth.

• Such incidents might also attract regulatory attention, potentially leading to stricter oversight and impacting SHIB's market dynamics.

Well, at the time of press, SHIB's price dropped 1.49% in the last 24 hours, and network growth showcasing interest from new addresses significantly declined.

Ethereum devs set mainnet launch date for Dencun upgrade, anticipating lower transaction costs

Key points:

• Dencun upgrade targets the March launch, aiming to enhance Ethereum scalability and reduce Layer-2 fees.

• Developer call on February 8th to determine the official launch date.

News - Ethereum developers are gearing up for the Dencun upgrade, a significant step towards enhancing scalability and reducing transaction costs. Tentatively scheduled for March, the upgrade will introduce several key improvements, including the highly anticipated proto-danksharding.

What are the important details?

• The developers aim to set a mainnet launch date for Dencun on February 8th during the upcoming All Core Developers Call.

• Recent testing, including the Sepolia fork on January 30th and the upcoming Holesky upgrade on February 7th, have yielded positive results, paving the way for mainnet deployment.

• Dencun would introduce several crucial alterations to Ethereum's consensus and execution layers, focusing on scalability and fee reduction.

• Proto-danksharding, a core element of Dencun, would significantly decrease transaction costs on Layer-2 solutions like rollups by optimizing data availability.

• Following last year's Shapella upgrade enabling Ether unstaking, Dencun seeks to further attract institutional investors by improving efficiency.

Chainlink soars 17%, dormant coins, and liquidations drive rally, but NVT signal warns

Key points:

• Chainlink price jumped 17%, outperforming other altcoins

• High NVT Signal warns of potential overvaluation and possible price retracement.

News - LINK rallied 17% in the past 24 hours, topping the altcoin charts. While the price jump might seem spontaneous, AMBCrypto's investigation revealed key factors driving the surge.

Dormant wallets stir - A significant influx of LINK tokens from dormant wallets revitalized the network. Over 5.38 billion dormant coins stirred, according to Santiment, boosting the "Age Consumed" metric. However, some on-chain data revealed a few LINK holders’ liquidations, potentially suggesting fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) around the project. LINK, at press time, sat at $18.03, its highest value in nearly six weeks. Despite the rally, cautionary signals emerged.

What are these signals? Chainlink's Network Value to Transactions (NVT) Signal reached 40.75 as per Glassnode data. The high NVT Signal suggested LINK's price rally might hit a local top, with a potential dip below $18.

Even so, an AMBCrypto analysis of the LINK/USD 4-hour chart revealed bullish momentum. Buyers capitalized on the support level at $15, generating enough buying pressure to break through the resistance at $16.

$900M tokens to be unlocked in February across major crypto projects

Key points:

• Major projects like Avalanche, Aptos, and The Sandbox are among those facing significant unlocks.

• While vesting incentivizes long-term commitment, sudden supply increases can negatively impact prices.

News - The crypto market braces for a potential price shakeup as nearly $900 million worth of locked tokens are scheduled to be released in February. Projects like Avalanche, Aptos, and The Sandbox are among those facing significant unlocks, raising concerns about potential selling pressure.

But why were the tokens locked? This practice of temporarily locking tokens prevents early investors from dumping them and harming the project's long-term viability. By gradually releasing tokens, projects aim to incentivize long-term commitment and stabilize prices.

February's unlocks -

• Avalanche: It is set for the biggest unlock, with 9.5 million tokens ($320 million) to be released on Feb. 22. It will be allocated to the foundation, partners, and team members. An airdrop will also be scheduled.

• Aptos: Feb. 11 will see 24.8 million tokens ($233 million) released, with $180 million going to core contributors and investors, and $39 million to the community and foundation.

• The Sandbox: 209 million tokens ($90 million) will be unlocked on Feb. 14, with over $40 million allocated to company reserves and the rest to the team and advisors.

• Optimism: 24 million OP tokens ($70 million) will be unlocked on Feb. 29 for core contributors and investors.

• Sui: $53 million in tokens to be unlocked for its community access program.

More stories from the crypto ecosystem

• OPNX to shut down on the back of greater regulatory scrutiny

• Bitcoin trading on Coinbase sees another decline – Why?

• FTX’s stolen $400M – Here’s what we know so far

• Bitcoin’s post-ETF prices spark discussions, yet accumulation persists

• Will Ethereum bear the brunt of Celsius Network’s actions

Interesting facts

• In 2017, the Ethereum-based game Crypto Kitties gained immense popularity. Users could buy, sell, and breed virtual cats using blockchain technology, leading to network congestion on the Ethereum platform.

• Cryptocurrencies often undergo hard forks, resulting in the creation of new coins. Notable examples include Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC), which emerged from forks of Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively.

• El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021. The move sparked both enthusiasm and skepticism.

Top 3 coins of the day

Bitcoin (BTC)

Key points:

• BTC ETFs are still seeing plenty of volume despite the recent drop in the king coin’s prices.

• Interestingly, the recent fall in price wasn’t significant enough to break the bullish trend that BTC had established.

What you should know - On the lower timeframe, the price chart of BTC, looks quite bearish. But the scenario changes if one zooms out on the chart. A clear uptrend can be seen after 16 October, revealing that the buying volume has been healthy. At the press time, BTC seemed less volatile. A high liquidity area could be seen near the $45,000-$47,000 level and a strong support level was spotted at the $38,000 mark. The market sentiment was somewhat negative but bulls were trying to outshine the bears. This was quite evident from the reading of RSI which stood at the 51 mark.

Uniswap (UNI)

Key points:

• UNI has been currently trading in a consolidated price zone.

• A few technical indicators gave mixed signals while MACD revealed bears had full control.

What you should know - At press time, UNI hovered near its support of $5.718 after a recent uptick, caught between mixed technical signals and cautiously optimistic sentiment. While fear has receded, a breakout either way hinges on broader market trends, DEX usage, and UNI's role in the evolving DeFi landscape. Traders who want to go long can find the current trading price to be a good entry point. A short price tick can be expected in the near future as per the reading of the MACD indicator.

 Aptos (APT)

Key points:

• Aptos has been getting less attention from the traders of late. This can be seen from the fall in its volume post-15-January.

• Its price action has been much less volatile as compared to its competitors.

What you should know - Aptos’ correlation with Bitcoin has weakened in recent times. This can be seen from the fact that the APT token didn’t exactly mimic the volatility of the king coin. In fact, its volume has taken a toll post 15 January. The market seems to be taking a breather in the current times. A breakout above the resistance of $11 could see the token go up to its next resistance at $14. But