Author Archives: Danzig

Google’s Gemini AI is coming to the sidebar in Docs, Drive, Gmail, and more – The Verge

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The right sidebar in Googles Workspace apps is now the center for a lot of Googles AI plans. The company announced today at its I/O developer conference that it is bringing Gemini 1.5 Pro, its latest mainstream language model, to the sidebar in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Gmail. Itll be the same virtual assistant across all of those apps, and the key bit is that itll know about everything you have saved everywhere.

The idea seems to be to use Gemini to connect all the Workspace apps more seamlessly. According to Aparna Pappu, the general manager and VP of Workspace, Google users have long been trying to hack Gemini to do complicated, multi-app things: send an email based on the data theyre looking at in Sheets or add a reminder to respond to the email they were currently looking at. And since Gemini has access to all of your documents, emails, and files, it can answer questions without forcing you to switch apps.

In a briefing with press ahead of I/O, Pappu gave the example of searching for information about a New York Knicks game. I could ask something like, what time do doors open for the Knicks game, and Im not looking for information from the web, which is going to give me generic information. I want information from my ticket, which happens to be a PDF in my email somewhere. Gemini can find that information, and Pappu said early users are quickly learning to use it as a way to find things more quickly.

Among early testers, Pappu said, a popular use case has been receipts. Rather than dig through your email, your files, and everything, you can just ask Gemini to find and organize all your receipts from across your Google account. And lets say you hit on the prompt that says Put my expenses in a Drive folder, she says, from there Gemini can put them all into a Sheet.

In keeping with so many of Googles announcements at I/O, the Workspace team seems to be focused on using Gemini to help you get stuff done and do stuff on your behalf. Pappu talked about how popular Gmails Help me write feature has been, especially on mobile, where people dont want to type as much. By grounding the model in your data and not the entire internet, Google hopes it can also begin to mitigate the models tendency to hallucinate and make other mistakes.

At least for now, the new sidebar isnt for everyone: its available now to some early testers and will roll out to paid Gemini subscribers next month. But Pappu did say Google is looking at how it could use on-device models to bring the capabilities to more users over time, so your days of hunting through Google Drive to find that old PDF may finally be coming to an end. Eventually.

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Google's Gemini AI is coming to the sidebar in Docs, Drive, Gmail, and more - The Verge

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Today’s AI models are impressive. Teams of them will be formidable – The Economist

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On May 13th OpenAI unveiled its latest model, GPT-4o. Mira Murati, the companys chief technology officer, called it the future of interaction between ourselves and the machines, because users can now speak to the AI and it will talk back in an expressive, human-like way.

The upgrade is part of wider moves across the tech industry to make chatbots and other artificial-intelligence, or AI, products into more useful and engaging assistants for everyday life. Show GPT-4o pictures or videos of art or food that you enjoy and it could probably furnish you with a list of museums, galleries and restaurants you might like. But it still has some way to go before it can become a truly useful AI assistant. Ask the model to plan a last-minute trip to Berlin for you based on your leisure preferencescomplete with details of which order to do everything, given how long each one takes and how far apart they are and which train tickets to buy, all within a set budgetand it will disappoint.

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Today's AI models are impressive. Teams of them will be formidable - The Economist

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Project Astra is the future of AI at Google – The Verge

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Ive had this vision in my mind for quite a while, says Demis Hassabis, the head of Google DeepMind and the leader of Googles AI efforts. Hassabis has been thinking about and working on AI for decades, but four or five years ago, something really crystallized. One day soon, he realized, We would have this universal assistant. Its multimodal, its with you all the time. Call it the Star Trek Communicator; call it the voice from Her; call it whatever you want. Its that helper, Hassabis continues, thats just useful. You get used to it being there whenever you need it.

At Google I/O, the companys annual developer conference, Hassabis showed off a very early version of what he hopes will become that universal assistant. Google calls it Project Astra, and its a real-time, multimodal AI assistant that can see the world, knows what things are and where you left them, and can answer questions or help you do almost anything. In an incredibly impressive demo video that Hassabis swears is not faked or doctored in any way, an Astra user in Googles London office asks the system to identify a part of a speaker, find their missing glasses, review code, and more. It all works practically in real time and in a very conversational way.

Astra is just one of many Gemini announcements at this years I/O. Theres a new model, called Gemini 1.5 Flash, designed to be faster for common tasks like summarization and captioning. Another new model, called Veo, can generate video from a text prompt. Gemini Nano, the model designed to be used locally on devices like your phone, is supposedly faster than ever as well. The context window for Gemini Pro, which refers to how much information the model can consider in a given query, is doubling to 2 million tokens, and Google says the model is better at following instructions than ever. Googles making fast progress both on the models themselves and on getting them in front of users.

Going forward, Hassabis says, the story of AI will be less about the models themselves and all about what they can do for you. And that story is all about agents: bots that dont just talk with you but actually accomplish stuff on your behalf. Our history in agents is longer than our generalized model work, he says, pointing to the game-playing AlphaGo system from nearly a decade ago. Some of those agents, he imagines, will be ultra-simple tools for getting things done, while others will be more like collaborators and companions. I think it may even be down to personal preference at some point, he says, and understanding your context.

Astra, Hassabis says, is much closer than previous products to the way a true real-time AI assistant ought to work. When Gemini 1.5 Pro, the latest version of Googles mainstream large language model, was ready, Hassabis says he knew the underlying tech was good enough for something like Astra to begin to work well. But the model is only part of the product. We had components of this six months ago, he says, but one of the issues was just speed and latency. Without that, the usability isnt quite there. So, for six months, speeding up the system has been one of the teams most important jobs. That meant improving the model but also optimizing the rest of the infrastructure to work well and at scale. Luckily, Hassabis says with a laugh, Thats something Google does very well!

A lot of Googles AI announcements at I/O are about giving you more and easier ways to use Gemini. A new product called Gemini Live is a voice-only assistant that lets you have easy back-and-forth conversations with the model, interrupting it when it gets long-winded or calling back to earlier parts of the conversation. A new feature in Google Lens allows you to search the web by shooting and narrating a video. A lot of this is enabled by Geminis large context window, which means it can access a huge amount of information at a time, and Hassabis says its crucial to making it feel normal and natural to interact with your assistant.

Know who agrees with that assessment, by the way? OpenAI, which has been talking about AI agents for a while now. In fact, the company demoed a product strikingly similar to Gemini Live barely an hour after Hassabis and I chatted. The two companies are increasingly fighting for the same territory and seem to share a vision for how AI might change your life and how you might use it over time.

How exactly will those assistants work, and how will you use them? Nobody knows for sure, not even Hassabis. One thing Google is focused on right now is trip planning it built a new tool for using Gemini to build an itinerary for your vacation that you can then edit in tandem with the assistant. There will eventually be many more features like that. Hassabis says hes bullish on phones and glasses as key devices for these agents but also says there is probably room for some exciting form factors. Astra is still in an early prototype phase and only represents one way you might want to interact with a system like Gemini. The DeepMind team is still researching how best to bring multimodal models together and how to balance ultra-huge general models with smaller and more focused ones.

Were still very much in the speeds and feeds era of AI, in which every incremental model matters and we obsess over parameter sizes. But pretty quickly, at least according to Hassabis, were going to start asking different questions about AI. Better questions. Questions about what these assistants can do, how they do it, and how they can make our lives better. Because the tech is a long way from perfect, but its getting better really fast.

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Project Astra is the future of AI at Google - The Verge

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Google demos out AI video generator Veo with the help of Donald Glover – Mashable

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Google, with the help of creative renaissance man Donald Glover, has demoed an AI video generator to compete with OpenAI's Sora. The model is called Veo, and while no clear launch date or rollout plan has been announced, the demo does appear to show a Sora-like product, apparently capable of generating high-quality, convincing video.

What's "cool" about VEO? "You can make a mistake faster," Glover said in a video shown during Google's I/O 2024 livestream. "That's all you really want at the end of the day at least in art is just to make mistakes fast."

Credit: Mashable screenshot from a Google promo

Speaking onstage in Hawaii at Google I/O, Google Deepmind CEO Demis Hassabis said, "Veo creates high quality 1080p videos from text image and video prompts." This makes Veo the same type of tool, with the same resolution as Sora on its highest setting. A slider shown in the demo shows a Veo video length being stretched out to a little over one minute, also the approximate length of a Sora video.

Since Veo and Sora are both unreleased products, there's very little use trying to compare them in detail at this point. However, according to Hassabis, the interface will allow Veo users to "further edit your videos using additional prompts." This would be a function that Sora doesn't currently have according to creators who have been given access.

Mashable Light Speed

What was Veo trained on? That's not currently clear. About a month ago, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan told Bloomberg that if OpenAI used YouTube videos to train Sora, that would be a "clear violation" of the YouTube terms of service. However, YouTube's parent company Alphabet also owns Google, which made Veo. Mohan strongly implied in that Bloomberg interview that YouTube does feed content to Google's AI models, but only, he claims, when users sign off on it.

What we do know about the creation of Veo is that, according to Hassabis, this model is the culmination of Google and Deepmind's many similar projects, including Deepmind's Generative Query Network (GQN) research published back in 2018, last year's VideoPoet,Google's rudimentary video generator Phenaki, and Google's Lumiere, which was demoed earlier this year.

Glover's specific AI-enabled filmmaking project hasn't been announced. According to the video at I/O, Glover says he's "been interested in AI for a couple of years now," and that he reached out to Google and apparently not the other way around. "We got in contact with some of the people at Google and they had been working on something of their own, so we're all meeting," Glover says in Google's Veo demo video.

There's currently no way for the general public to try Veo, but there is a waitlist signup page.

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Google demos out AI video generator Veo with the help of Donald Glover - Mashable

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The SF Bay Area Has Become The Undisputed Leader In AI Tech And Funding Dollars – Crunchbase News

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Theres been much talk of a resurgent San Francisco with the new technology wave of artificial intelligence washing over the software world. Indeed, Crunchbase funding data as well as interviews with startup investors and real estate industry professionals show the San Francisco Bay Area has become the undisputed epicenter of artificial intelligence.

Last year, more than 50% of all global venture funding for AI-related startups went to companies headquartered in the Bay Area, Crunchbase data shows, as a cluster of talent congregates in the region.

Beginning in Q1 2023, when OpenAIs ChatGPT reached 100 million users within months of launching, the amount raised by Bay Area startups in AI started trending up. That accelerated with OpenAI raising $10 billion from Microsoft marking the largest single funding deal ever for an AI foundation model company. In that quarter, more than 75% of AI funding went to San Francisco Bay Area startups.

AI-related companies based in the Bay Area went on to raise more than $27 billion in 2023, up from $14 billion in 2022, when the regions companies raised 29% of all AI funding.

From a deal count perspective, Bay Area companies raised 17% of global rounds in this sector in 2023 making the region the leading metro area in the U.S. That is an increase over 13% in 2022.

The figure also represents more than a third of AI deal counts in the U.S., and means the Bay Area alone had more AI-related startup funding deals than all countries outside of the U.S.

Leading Bay Area-based foundation model companies OpenAI, Anthropic and Inflection AI have each raised more than $1 billion or much more and have established major real estate footprints in San Francisco.

OpenAI has closed on 500,000 square feet of office space in the citys Mission Bay district and Anthropic around 230,000 square feet in the Financial District.

From a leasing standpoint, [AI] is the bright spot in San Francisco right now, said Derek Daniels, a regional director of research in San Francisco for commercial real estate brokerage Colliers, who has been following the trends closely.

By contrast, big tech has been pulling back and reassessing space needs, he said.

According to Daniels, the citys commercial real estate market bottomed out in the second half of 2023. While the San Francisco office space market still faces challenges, there is quality sublet space which is also seeing some demand for smaller teams, he said. And some larger tenants who have been out of the picture for office space of 100,000 square feet or more are starting to come back.

Fifty percent of startups that graduated from the prestigious startup accelerator Y Combinators April batch were AI-focused companies.

Many of the founders who came to SF for the batch have decided to make SF home for themselves, and for their companies, Garry Tan, president and CEO of Y Combinator, said in an announcement of the accelerators winter 2024 batch.

YC itself has expanded its office space in San Franciscos Dogpatch neighborhood adjacent to Mission Bay. We are turning San Franciscos doom loop into a boom loop, Tan added.

Of the batch 34 companies that graduated in March from 500 Global, another accelerator, 60% are in AI. Its next batch is closer to 80% with an AI focus, said Clayton Bryan, partner and head of the global accelerator fund.

Around half of the companies in the recently graduated 500 Global batch are from outside the U.S., including Budapest, London and Singapore. But many want to set up shop in the Bay Area for the density of talent, events and know-how from hackathons, dinners and events, he said.

Startup investors also see the Bay Area as the epicenter for AI.

In the more recent crop of AI companies there is a real center of gravity in the Bay Area, said Andrew Ferguson, a partner at Databricks Ventures, which has been actively investing in AI startups such as Perplexity AI, Unstructured Technologies, Anomalo, Cleanlaband Glean.

The Bay Area does not have a lock on good talent. But theres certainly a nucleus of very strong talent, he said.

Databricks Ventures, the venture arm of AI-enhanced data analytics unicorn Databricks, has made five investments in AI companies in the Bay Area in the past six months. In total, the firm has made around 25 portfolio company investments since the venture arm was founded in 2022, largely in the modern data stack.

Freed from in-person office requirements during the pandemic, many young tech workers decamped from the expensive Bay Area to travel or work remotely in less expensive locales. Now, some are moving back to join the San Francisco AI scene.

Many young founders are just moving back to the Bay Area, even if they were away for the last couple of years, in order to be a part of immersing themselves in the middle of the scene, said Stephanie Zhan, a partner at Sequoia Capital. Its great for networking, for hiring, for learning about whats going on, what other products people are building.

Coincidentally, Sequoia Capital subleased space to OpenAI in its early days, in an office above Dandelion Chocolates in San Franciscos Mission District.

Zhan presumes that many nascent AI companies arent yet showing up in funding data, as they are still ideating or at pre-seed or seed funding, and will show up in future funding cycles.

While the Bay Area dominates for AI funding, its important to note the obvious: Much of that comes from a few massive deals to the large startups based in the region, including OpenAI, Anthropic and Inflection AI.

There is a lot of AI startup and research activity elsewhere as well, Zhan noted, with researchers coming out of universities around the globe, including cole Polytechnique in Paris, ETH Zrich and the University of Cambridge and Oxford University in the U.K., to name a few. Lead researchers from the University of Toronto and University of Waterloo have also fed into generative AI technology in San Francisco and in Canada, Bryan said.

While the U.S. has a strong lead, countries that are leading funding totals for AI-related startups outside of the U.S. are China, the U.K., Germany, Canada and France, according to Crunchbase data.

London-based Stability AI kicked off the generative AI moment before ChatGPT with its text-to-image models in August 2022. Open source model developer Mistral AI, based in Paris, has raised large amounts led by Bay Area-based venture capital firms Lightspeed Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz.

And in China, foundation model company Moonshot AI based in Beijing has raised more than $1 billion.

Still, the center of gravity in the Bay Area is driven by teams coming out of Big Tech or UC Berkeley and Stanford University who have a history of turning those ideas into startups, said Ferguson.

The unique congregation of Big Tech companies, research, talent and venture capital in the Bay Area has placed the region at the forefront of AI.

The valuation of the AI companies and some of the revenue by the top end of the AI companies is driving that population migration, said 500 Globals Bryan. At a recent AI event at Hana House in Palo Alto, California, he found it interesting that most people were not originally from the Bay Area. Everyone now wants a direct piece or an indirect piece of that value that is going into AI.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias

Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the Crunchbase Daily.

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The SF Bay Area Has Become The Undisputed Leader In AI Tech And Funding Dollars - Crunchbase News

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Android is getting an AI-powered scam call detection feature – The Verge

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Google is working on new protections to help prevent Android users from falling victim to phone scams. During its I/O developer conference on Tuesday, Google announced that its testing a new call monitoring feature that will warn users if the person theyre talking to is likely attempting to scam them and encourage them to end such calls.

Google says the feature utilizes Gemini Nano a reduced version of the companys Gemini large language model for Android devices that can run locally and offline to look for fraudulent language and other conversation patterns typically associated with scams. Users will then receive real-time alerts during calls where these red flags are present.

Some examples of what could trigger these alerts include calls from bank representatives who make requests that real banks are unlikely to make, such as asking for personal information like your passwords or card PINs, requesting payments via gift cards, or asking users to urgently transfer money to them. These new protections are entirely on-device, so the conversations monitored by Gemini Nano will remain private, according to Google.

Theres no word on when the scam detection feature will be available, but Google says users will need to opt in to utilize it and that itll share more information later this year.

So, while the candidates who might find such tech useful are vast, compatibility could limit its applicability. Gemini Nano is only currently supported on the Google Pixel 8 Pro and Samsung S24 series, according to its developer support page.

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Android is getting an AI-powered scam call detection feature - The Verge

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GPT-4o delivers human-like AI interaction with text, audio, and vision integration – AI News

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OpenAI has launched its new flagship model, GPT-4o, which seamlessly integrates text, audio, and visual inputs and outputs, promising to enhance the naturalness of machine interactions.

GPT-4o, where the o stands for omni, is designed to cater to a broader spectrum of input and output modalities. It accepts as input any combination of text, audio, and image and generates any combination of text, audio, and image outputs, OpenAI announced.

Users can expect a response time as quick as 232 milliseconds, mirroring human conversational speed, with an impressive average response time of 320 milliseconds.

The introduction of GPT-4o marks a leap from its predecessors by processing all inputs and outputs through a single neural network. This approach enables the model to retain critical information and context that were previously lost in the separate model pipeline used in earlier versions.

Prior to GPT-4o, Voice Mode could handle audio interactions with latencies of 2.8 seconds for GPT-3.5 and 5.4 seconds for GPT-4. The previous setup involved three distinct models: one for transcribing audio to text, another for textual responses, and a third for converting text back to audio. This segmentation led to loss of nuances such as tone, multiple speakers, and background noise.

As an integrated solution, GPT-4o boasts notable improvements in vision and audio understanding. It can perform more complex tasks such as harmonising songs, providing real-time translations, and even generating outputs with expressive elements like laughter and singing. Examples of its broad capabilities include preparing for interviews, translating languages on the fly, and generating customer service responses.

Nathaniel Whittemore, Founder and CEO of Superintelligent, commented: Product announcements are going to inherently be more divisive than technology announcements because its harder to tell if a product is going to be truly different until you actually interact with it. And especially when it comes to a different mode of human-computer interaction, there is even more room for diverse beliefs about how useful its going to be.

That said, the fact that there wasnt a GPT-4.5 or GPT-5 announced is also distracting people from the technological advancement that this is a natively multimodal model. Its not a text model with a voice or image addition; it is a multimodal token in, multimodal token out. This opens up a huge array of use cases that are going to take some time to filter into the consciousness.

GPT-4o matches GPT-4 Turbo performance levels in English text and coding tasks but outshines significantly in non-English languages, making it a more inclusive and versatile model. It sets a new benchmark in reasoning with a high score of 88.7% on 0-shot COT MMLU (general knowledge questions) and 87.2% on the 5-shot no-CoT MMLU.

The model also excels in audio and translation benchmarks, surpassing previous state-of-the-art models like Whisper-v3. In multilingual and vision evaluations, it demonstrates superior performance, enhancing OpenAIs multilingual, audio, and vision capabilities.

OpenAI has incorporated robust safety measures into GPT-4o by design, incorporating techniques to filter training data and refining behaviour through post-training safeguards. The model has been assessed through a Preparedness Framework and complies with OpenAIs voluntary commitments. Evaluations in areas like cybersecurity, persuasion, and model autonomy indicate that GPT-4o does not exceed a Medium risk level across any category.

Further safety assessments involved extensive external red teaming with over 70 experts in various domains, including social psychology, bias, fairness, and misinformation. This comprehensive scrutiny aims to mitigate risks introduced by the new modalities of GPT-4o.

Starting today, GPT-4os text and image capabilities are available in ChatGPTincluding a free tier and extended features for Plus users. A new Voice Mode powered by GPT-4o will enter alpha testing within ChatGPT Plus in the coming weeks.

Developers can access GPT-4o through the API for text and vision tasks, benefiting from its doubled speed, halved price, and enhanced rate limits compared to GPT-4 Turbo.

OpenAI plans to expand GPT-4os audio and video functionalities to a select group of trusted partners via the API, with broader rollout expected in the near future. This phased release strategy aims to ensure thorough safety and usability testing before making the full range of capabilities publicly available.

Its hugely significant that theyve made this model available for free to everyone, as well as making the API 50% cheaper. That is a massive increase in accessibility, explained Whittemore.

OpenAI invites community feedback to continuously refine GPT-4o, emphasising the importance of user input in identifying and closing gaps where GPT-4 Turbo might still outperform.

(Image Credit: OpenAI)

See also: OpenAI takes steps to boost AI-generated content transparency

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.

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Tags: ai, api, artificial intelligence, benchmarks, chatgpt, coding, developers, development, gpt-4o, Model, multimodal, openai, performance, programming

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GPT-4o delivers human-like AI interaction with text, audio, and vision integration - AI News

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Bitcoin Price Linked To Binance Vs Coinbase Battle, Quant Reveals – TradingView

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A quant has explained how there appears to be a relationship between Coinbases spot volume dominance vs. Binances and the Bitcoin price.

Bitcoin Has Been Reacting To Binance/Coinbase Volume Changes

In a CryptoQuant Quicktake post, an analyst discussed the dynamics in the cryptocurrency market that arise out of the battle happening between Binance and Coinbase for spot volume dominance.

The quant shared a chart below that shows how this war for dominance has played out over the past decade.

As the graph shows, Binance has been the much more dominant of the two platforms when considering the spot volume. The exchange is hosting five times as much volume as Coinbase.

The analyst notes that the difference between the two would be even higher when considering the BTC-FDUSD pair, which isnt included in the data depicted in the above chart.

Despite the much lower spot volume, Coinbase still hasnt been irrelevant in the market. For example, the platform is the custodian for Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like BlackRocks IBIT and Grayscales GBTC.

There also appears to be an interesting pattern between the dominance of the American exchange and the Bitcoin spot price. The quant has highlighted this trend in the graph.

There have been a few instances where a rise in the spot trading volume of Coinbase against Binance has preceded surges in the value of cryptocurrency. Similarly, declines in the platforms dominance have seemingly led to drawdowns in the Bitcoin price.

The analyst has also discussed the trend in the volumes of the two exchanges more closely, using the spot volume ratio for them, as shown below.

The chart shows that the spot volume ratio between Binance and Coinbase had spiked to very high levels in 2023, with the formers volume being 53 times the latters. The reason behind this was the zero-fee scheme that Binance had introduced for the Bitcoin trading pairs.

However, Coinbases volume has recently risen, although the ratio remains notably in favor of Binance. This shift in the market emerged as the Bitcoin spot ETF-related news started to intensify.

The quant concludes:

The dynamics between these exchanges are complex, but the graphs show that each exchanges dominance at specific times has a direct impact on the price of Bitcoin. Its a true battle between the markets biggest players, where competition is constant, and the outcome is reflected in cryptocurrency movements.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $61,800, down 3% over the past week.

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Bitcoin Price Linked To Binance Vs Coinbase Battle, Quant Reveals - TradingView

Crypto customer scammed in alleged HK$1 million hell money scheme in Hong Kong – South China Morning Post

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Hong Kong police have arrested three workers at a currency exchange shop after a customer was allegedly shown stacks of hell money before transferring about HK$1 million worth of cryptocurrency.

The forces technology crime division on Wednesday arrested three men, aged between 31 and 34, on suspicion of obtaining property by deception and confiscated 3,000 hell banknotes, a safe and a note counting machine at a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Hell banknotes are a form of ceremonial paper money that is burned as an offering to ancestors or deities in traditional Chinese culture.

Police said they received a report from a man, 35, on April 12, claiming he had been unable to retrieve cash after selling about HK$1 million worth of the digital currency Tether, or USDT, at a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui that day.

An investigation subsequently found that the suspects allegedly showed the victim stacks of hell banknotes with a face value of HK$500 and persuaded him to transfer about HK$1 million worth of USDT to a cryptocurrency wallet provided by them.

After receiving the virtual currency, the suspects made multiple excuses, declined to hand over cash as agreed and abruptly left the scene.

A person convicted of fraud under Hong Kong law is liable to up to 14 years imprisonment, while someone charged with obtaining property by deception faces up to 10 years behind bars.

The force urged residents to choose reputable cryptocurrency exchange shops when conducting transactions and to carefully inspect banknotes for security features.

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Crypto customer scammed in alleged HK$1 million hell money scheme in Hong Kong - South China Morning Post

Cryptocurrency Warning: Avoid These 3 Failing Names – InvestorPlace

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Following the fourth Bitcoin (BTC-USD) halving on Apr. 19, we arent seeing the explosive growth promised by many experts in the field, which is why investors are now looking for cryptos to avoid rather than buy.

Experts agree that Bitcoins halving will raise prices. The slower number of new coins entering circulation after previous halvings caused Bitcoin prices to rise significantly higher.

SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci predicts Bitcoin might reach $200,000 within a year following the split. Ark Invests Cathie Wood is even more bullish. She believes Bitcoin may reach $1 million and alter wealth management. So does Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square (NYSE:SQ).

Yet Bitcoin might not be alone. Although it is a store of value, Ethereum (ETH-USD) might rise in value because it boasts upgrades such as Dencun, which introduces proto-danksharding with EIP-4844. According to Ethereum, it is a way for rollups to add cheaper data to blocks.

No such luck when it comes to the cryptos to avoid we will explore. The first name is in a legal battle with a key U.S. regulator, which could affect the sector. The second is the largest exchange but is in legal trouble in many countries. Well conclude with a meme coin to profit from.

Source: Shutterstock

Ripple (XRP-USD) makes it easier to exchange cash and digital currencies. It is targeting a total addressable market projected to grow at 7.3% annually between 2023 and 2032 and eventually reach $356.5 trillion, according to Allied Market Research.

However, despite its potential, a long-burning issue investors need to take into account when dealing with XRP is the case between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs.

Last year saw a big development when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple did not break securities laws when it sold XRP to exchanges and let regular people invest, but did break the law when it sold tokens directly to institutions. As it was a partial win, Ripple gained 96% after the decision. Unfortunately, those wins were lost on Dec. 20 as Solana (SOL-USD) passed XRP to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency on the crypto market.

Whats more, as a part of the final decision in the SEC case, Ripple can potentially suffer a $1.95 billion fine. That could result in a drop from its current price of $0.5051, which is up a modest 18% in 2024.

Stuart Alderoty, Ripples top legal officer, says the issue could be resolved in 2024, making it one of the cryptos to avoid right now.

Source: Shutterstock

Over 170 million people use Binance (BNB-USD), the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. However, its legal issues, especially in the U.S., put pressure on BNB, the cryptocurrency coin used to trade and pay fees on the exchange.

As part of its deal with the Justice Dept., Binance left the U.S. market and paid off big debts to FinCEN, OFAC, and foreign asset tracking agencies.

So far, Binance is also unable to reenter the U.K. market due to regulatory issues. Meanwhile, a Binance executive arrested in Nigeria is now on trial after reports of involvement in major crimes.

In Canada, Binance has been fined many times for breaking anti-money laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism rules. This includes a $4.4 million fine for helping with many big acquisitions without being registered.

However, Binance is still coming up with new ideas in the coin area. Binance Wallet has recently started to accept Bitcoin Atomic ARC-20 assets, which will make it easier to do NFT deals.

Nevertheless, the court battles, especially in the U.S., will continue to dampen BNBs outlook.

Source: Shutterstock

Shiba Inu (SHIB-USD) finishes off our discussion on cryptos to avoid, and it might seem strange, considering, the 166% gain this year. But this is one of the biggest meme coins around, which means its time to take profits.

The meme coin is mostly appealing because of its community and the possibility of future gains. It doesnt have a strong use case or value outside of the speculative market, which sometimes will rally for the odd Elon Musk tweet. For risk-averse investors, its better to invest in Ethereum and Solana instead.

Ethereum has integrated proto-dank sharding with EIP-4844 to Dencun. Less data to analyze and regular memory deletion to clear up space make transactions more efficient. The network should eventually handle 100,000 transactions per second. Meanwhile, the Scourge phase addresses Ethereum network control and economic inequality. MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) Burn in ePBS and Proposer-Builder Separation decentralizes transaction addition and reduces validators influence on transaction selection.

Solana has been enhancing its infrastructure to streamline transactions and stabilize the network. Firedancer, a new validation client, should speed up network transactions. Tests showed it could handle 0.6 million to 1 million transactions per second.

SHIB did power the CoinDesk 20 index to major gains this year. However, investors might want to wait for a tweet from Elon Musk about his next Shiba Inu puppy for the next bump in price, and thats something no one can predict.

On the date of publication, Faizan Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.

Faizan Farooque is a contributing author for InvestorPlace.com and numerous other financial sites. Faizan has several years of experience in analyzing the stock market and was a former data journalist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. His passion is to help the average investor make more informed decisions regarding their portfolio.

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Top Travel Platforms Accepting Cryptocurrency for Your Crypto-Fueled Vacation – 88355 – Luxury Travel Magazine

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As the intersection of digital finance and lifestyle trends continues to grow, the concept of "crypto-fueled vacations" is gaining traction among travelers who prefer to utilize their cryptocurrency holdings for transactions. Here we want to review some of the top travel platforms that accept cryptocurrency, offering insights on how to seamlessly integrate digital currencies into your travel planning.

Founded with a vision to bridge the gap between travel and blockchain technology, Travala stands out as a pioneer in the crypto travel space. This platform allows travelers to book flights, hotels, and experiences using various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and their native AVA token. What makes Travala particularly appealing is its user-friendly interface and partnerships with major travel service providers, which ensure a wide selection of travel options.

CheapAir was one of the first online travel agencies to accept Bitcoin payments back in 2013. Since then, it has expanded its cryptocurrency acceptance to include Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. CheapAir provides a comprehensive booking experience, allowing crypto-savvy travelers to pay for flights, hotels, and car rentals across a global network.

Through a partnership with Travala, Expedia also entered the crypto space, albeit indirectly. Expedia Partner Solutions leverages the Travala platform to provide crypto-payment facilities for booking hotels. This collaboration enables users of Travala to access Expedia's extensive inventory, combining convenience with cutting-edge payment technology.

Destinia is another notable travel booking platform that caters to the cryptocurrency community. It accepts Bitcoin and other digital currencies as payment for a wide range of services, including flights, hotels, and car rentals. Based in Spain, Destinia is known for its innovative approach to travel, offering competitive prices and a flexible payment portal.

Focusing exclusively on cryptocurrency transactions, Bitcoin.travel is a travel agency that allows tourists to book their trips using Bitcoin. The platform is straightforward, providing links directly to the service providers for booking flights, hotels, and car rentals. While it operates on a smaller scale compared to giants like Travala or Expedia, Bitcoin.travel is highly valued within the crypto community for its commitment to blockchain technology.

To make the most of these platforms, travelers need to understand the dynamics of cryptocurrency in the context of travel. The volatility of digital currencies can affect pricing and planning. Therefore, it's advisable to monitor the market and make bookings when the value is stable. Additionally, consider the security aspects of transactions, ensuring that all payments are made through secure, encrypted channels.

For those who need to convert cryptocurrency into fiat or other digital currencies while traveling, platforms like the Ka.App provide a reliable solution. The Ka.App allows users to convert their crypto holdings easily, supporting a range of cryptocurrencies. This can be particularly useful for travelers who might need to switch between different forms of digital currency to use specific travel services that accept only certain types of coins.

When planning a vacation using cryptocurrency, the reliability of the service provider is paramount. Travelers should ensure that the platforms they use not only accept their preferred crypto but also provide secure and transparent transactions. Websites like Trustpilot and similar consumer review platforms can be excellent resources to check the credibility and customer service quality of these travel agencies.

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Top Travel Platforms Accepting Cryptocurrency for Your Crypto-Fueled Vacation - 88355 - Luxury Travel Magazine

Cryptocurrency: Top Meme Coin Gainers to Continue Rallying in May – Watcher Guru

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The cryptocurrency realm houses diverse memes, coins, and tokens ready to be explored by the masses. Half of such tokens have been launched in Jest, but they have managed to outpace their leading crypto contemporaries. Such tokens have encapsulated the worlds attention with heavy user momentum and flow.

These tokens have been performing exceptionally well recently and are capable of delivering stellar returns to their holders. Here are the three top gainers in the meme token arena that are set to rally 200% in May.

Also Read: Cryptocurrency: 3 Coins That May Spike By 200% This Month

Floki Inu, a leading meme token, has recently rallied to a record high. Per CoinMarketcap, Floki Inu has gained 10% in the last 24 hours, trading at $0.00019 at press time. The portal shares that the token was launched by Shiba Inu and Dogecoin enthusiasts, loosely inspired by the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Since its inception, the token has struck deals with leading crypto giants, including Chainlink, TradedJoe, and ApeSwap.

Per CoinCodex, Floki Inu may continue to gain momentum by riding in the current bull wave. The platform shares that the FLOKI may spike by 230% by the end of May to trade at $0.000642.

According toour current Floki Inu price prediction, the price of Floki Inu is predicted to rise by 232.05% and reach $0.000642 by June 13, 2024. Per our technical indicators, the current sentiment is bullish, while the Fear & Greed Index is showing 66 (greed). Floki Inu recorded 16/30 (53%) green days with 10.29% price volatility over the last 30 days.

Pepe took the cryptocurrency world by storm last night, surging nearly 96%. Based on the viral green frog meme on the internet, Pepe continues to deliver lucrative returns to its holders. The token currently sits at $0.0000104, up 90% in the last month.

Per CoinCodex, Pepe is also set to undergo a massive price surge, helping the token breach new price milestones. The token has already dropped a zero from its price and will continue to ascend to new highs to establish its dominance in the space.

Also Read: BRICS Ditches US Dollar, Settles $4 Billion Trade in Local Currencies.

According toour current Pepe Coin price prediction, the price of Pepe Coin is predicted to rise by 229.55% and reach $0.00003297 by June 13, 2024. Per our technical indicators, the current sentiment is bullish, while the Fear & Greed Index is showing 66 (greed). Pepe Coin recorded 20/30 (67%) green days with 18.34% price volatility over the last 30 days.

A dog-based meme token launched on Solana, DogWifHat, or WIF has come a long way since its launch. The token touched a $3 mark in March, after which it fell to trade around $2.50$2.90 price levels. At press time, the token has reclaimed its $3 mark, showing the world how robust the coin truly is.

Per CoinCodex, DogWifHat may spike nearly 200% to trade at a new all-time high price pedestal of $10.

Also Read: Currency: What To Expect From The US Dollar Today

According toour current Dogwifhat price prediction, the price of Dogwifhat is predicted to rise by 230.04% and reach $10.26 by June 13, 2024. Per our technical indicators, the current sentiment is bearish, while the Fear & Greed Index is showing 66 (greed). Dogwifhat recorded 16/30 (53%) green days with 8.78% price volatility over the last 30 days.

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Cryptocurrency prices: Check rates of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin, BNB – NewsBytes

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What's the story

Bitcoin has lost 1.19% in the last 24 hours, trading at $61,897.42. It is down 1.15% from last week. The second most popular token, Ethereum, has dropped 1.21% from yesterday and is trading at $2,906.85. From previous week, it is down 3.92%. The market capitalization of Bitcoin and Ethereum stands at $1,219 billion and $348.73 billion, respectively.

BNB is trading at $570.26, which is 3.46% down from yesterday and a 2.47% fall since last week. XRP's price today is $0.55 after falling down 1.30% in the last 24 hours. Compared to last week, it is 4.08% down. Cardano and Dogecoin are trading at $0.44 (down 2.09%) and $0.11 (down 3.73%), respectively.

Solana, Polka Dot, Shiba Inu, and Polygon are currently trading at $144.15 (down 2.94%), $6.48 (down 2.41%), $0.000022 (down 3.01%), and $0.66 (down 2.1%), respectively. Looking at the weekly chart, Solana has fallen 2.09% while Polka Dot is down 8.09%. Shiba Inu has gained 0.11% of its value in the last seven days whereas Polygon has declined 5.41%.

Looking at the 24 hourly movement, the top five gainers are Lido DAO, TRON, Chiliz, THORChain, and Ethena. They are trading at $1.96 (up 2.30%), $0.11 (up 2.14%), $0.11 (up 1.98%), $5.45 (up 1.75%), and $0.88 (up 1.73%), respectively.

The biggest losers of the day are dogwifhat, Helium, Akash Network, JasmyCoin, and Jupiter. They are trading at $2.91 (down 10.83%), $4.84 (down 9.70%), $4.43 (down 7.99%), $0.011 (down 6.36%), and $1.08 (down 6.20%), respectively.

DeFi, short for decentralized finance, is an umbrella term for global, peer-to-peer financial services on public blockchains. Some of the prominent DeFi tokens are Avalanche, Chainlink, Internet Computer, Dai, and Uniswap. They are trading at $32.18 (down 1.13%), $12.88 (down 4.59%), $11.99 (up 0.51%), $0.99 (up 0.02%), and $6.86 (down 1.82%), respectively.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptocurrencies that do not possess the property of fungibility, meaning they cannot be exchanged for one another like other tokens. Internet Computer, Render, Immutable, Stacks, and Theta Network are some of the popular NFT tokens. They are currently trading at $12.01 (up 0.86%), $10.15 (down 8.74%), $2.03 (down 6.38%), $1.91 (down 5.45%), and $1.94 (down 2.71%), respectively.

The current global crypto market cap is $2.24 trillion, a 2.28% increase over the last day. The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $75.44 billion, which marks a 3.6% increase. Last month, the global crypto market cap was $2.39 trillion, compared to $1.94 trillion three months ago.

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6 Altcoins To Consider Buying For The Next Bull Run In 2024 – Forbes

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A bull run is defined as a period where the majority of investors demand outweighs supply, market confidence hits a peak and prices rise. If in a given market you witness prices quickly climbing, it could be a sign that the majority of investors are becoming bullish and are optimistic about the price increasing further and may mean that youre looking at the starting point of a bull market. Bitcoin Halving appears to be fueling the next bull run to happen in 2024.

Investing in the best altcoins can be rewarding as they offer diversification and potentially higher returns. However, it is important to approach the altcoin landscape with caution and do a thorough research. Understanding the development team, technology, community and use case of altcoins are vital factors for making informed decisions.

Additionally, it is essential to be updated on market trends and regulatory changes for navigating the ever-evolving cryptocurrency landscape. By evaluating these key factors, investors can make strategic decisions when considering altcoin investments. Let us see some altcoins to consider buying for the next bull run in 2024.

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Market cap: $352.50 billion

Ethereum is one of the biggest altcoins on the crypto market. Of the almost $2.16 trillion that portrays the total market capitalization of the 20,000-plus crypto assets, more than 17% is held in ETH. It is a distributed computing network where users can use the blockchain to run dApps and host smart contracts.

Ethereum critics point to high fees for running transactions. However, ETH is here to stay with thousands of apps and other altcoins powered by its blockchain.

Market cap: $59.55 billion

Solana gained popularity among crypto investors helped by its lightning-fast transaction speeds along with low fees. It is a blockchain platform that is highly focused on overcoming the challenges of speed and scalability faced by many existing blockchains.

On March 4, 2024, it surged by approximately 7% in 24 hours, surpassing the BNB coin and securing a higher rank among the top five cryptocurrencies. Solana has jumped nearly 16.60% in the last seven days.

On May 2, 2024, it surged by approximately 10.12% in 24 hours, but BNB coin surpassed and secured a higher rank among the top five cryptocurrencies due to Solana being down by 8.85% in the last seven days.

The surge in SOL brought the digital asset to its highest point in two years, reaching levels last observed in April 2022 which was three months after the culmination of the bull cycle in 2021.However, it dropped slightly and landed on the fifth slot, with BNB regaining dominance shortly after on March 4.

Market cap: $0.1294

Dogecoin is a dog-inspired crypto and the original meme token. True to its fame, it has been one of the most highly volatile yet rewarding investments. As of May 2, 2024, DOGE is up by 4.56% in the last 24 hours and is trading at $0.1295.

Over the years, this meme coin has been criticized for offering a small-scale real-world utility, a centralized holder base, and an unlimited supply. However, it is tricky to debate these criticisms; DOGE has gained ground in network usage over the past year, as it has been up by around 65.35%. On top of that, its tough to deny the gigantic community support with the support of industry-notable celebrities such as Elon Musk. I think this crypto is here to stay for a very long time.

Market cap: $8.94 billion

Cosmos (ATOM-USD) is in charge of solving some slow transactions and high-cost problems. It emerged with Tendermint (software) to create an interconnected network of blockchains. ATOMa native token of Cosmos, is a decentralized network that provides developers with open-source tools to create their own interoperable blockchains. Cosmos is working to become the internet for blockchain.

The Cosmos ecosystem permits blockchains to willingly share tokens and data across all the blockchains in the system. One of its essential roles is to secure the Cosmos Hub and regulate the network of the ATOM tokens obtained via a proof-of-stake algorithm.

A recent report by the Cosmos blog focuses on the steadiness of Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) volume and close connections that assure high diversity in tokens and, in turn, higher liquidity. The interchain ecosystem is an area where blockchains act as joined blocks that communicate via the IBC protocol, where developers can run their rare chains as different blocks with different practicality.

Market cap: $2.53 billion

Kaspa cryptocurrency was launched in the year 2021 with its implementation of the GHOSTDAG protocol, working on blockDAG for fast confirmation and high block rates. The Kaspa community projects it as a cryptocurrency that unfolds the blockchain trilemma which will stabilize security, speed and scalability. In the year 2023, this project encountered transformational developments including the switch to state-of-the-art ASIC miners.

In addition, Kaspa had planned listings on exchanges and launched ideas like the Kaspium mobile wallet and Wrapped Kaspa. It has very aspiring plans for the time ahead including sophisticated smart contract functionalities, Rusy Kaspa Testnet 11 public and exceeding ten blocks per second.

Market cap: $3.92 billion

Stellar (XL,-USD) is a decentralized, public blockchain that presents developers with tools to create experiences that are more likely cash than crypto. It can be a great altcoin to add to your investment portfolio in this bull run given its accountability for peer-to-peer connecting the worlds financial system.

The biggest aim of Stellar is to make money move easily and fast. The network is cheaper, faster and more energy-efficient than most systems based on blockchain. Lumens behave as mediators for transactions and keep a smooth running system. Its strength is its security. With XLM holders holding the keys, it makes the network more secure for transactions.

Stellar has lately launched some very amazing features such as Soroban and spread Lumens into positive projects through its Community Fund. Additionally, through the compassionate side of the project via Stellar Aid Assist, it has already helped those in need by sending over $2 million to them.

Note: The market capitalization is taken from CoinMarketCap as of May 2, 2024.

Market Demand: Altcoins are initially driven by market demands. Investors are more likely to invest in altcoins that have a higher growth potential. Factors that contribute to the market demand for altcoin are consumer sentiments, market trends and investors confidence.

Regulatory Policy: The regulatory policies that can play a very important role in the development and growth of altcoins. Regulatory bodies or governments can impose restrictions on the usage of cryptocurrency, which definitely affects the demand for it.

Technology: The primary or basic technology behind an altcoin is also a factor that affects its growth and development. Altcoins that have unique features or innovative technology are more likely to gain popularity among others.

Competition: Competition is huge in the world of the cryptocurrency market and it can also affect the growth and development of altcoins. Altcoins offering similar features might struggle to gain market share.

Economic Conditions: It is another factor that can affect the altcoins growth and development. For instance, in times of economic uncertainty, investors are more likely to invest in altcoins as an economic instability or hedge against inflation.

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Support strategies by avoiding decisions made with emotions involved and create an effective investment plan that involves target prices for entry and exit. You must stay abreast of market events and news but also limit your social media consumption which many times encourages greedy behavior. Let us see altcoin investment strategies for the next bull run.

Risk management is the initial step every trader needs to think and learn while strategizing their investment plans, but it is the step that is generally overlooked until its very late. Investors need to manage risk productively by calculating how much is affordable to risk on an all-inclusive investment and then stick to it by using a stop-loss order to limit losses when the market is not in your favor.

As we are aware that the crypto market is highly unpredictable and volatile. It is highly recommended to steer clear of the temptation to spring into buying on the very first sign of a rally with all your savings. Carefully evaluate how much youre willing to invest in other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum and also in altcoins.

While investing in altcoins, you may benefit by considering industries that have high potential and divide your portfolio between them. For example, 30% to Real World Assets, 20% to AI, 10% to Layer-2s etc. Then consider rupee-cost averaging into your position in order to benefit from any dips.

One of the major errors in investing is not being aware of when to take profits. This is accurate, especially for crypto, where the market is highly volatile and driven by social media, overnight sensations, emotion and greed. As prices increase, set realistic targets for gaining profits and cling to them. A well-disciplined approach to profit targets can protect you from unexpected market downturns.

If you have no clue where you want to exit, then scaling out is the best strategy by using rupee-cost averaging to sell. For example, sell 25% altcoin at price points 1 and 2 each, etc. This will help assure you take profits while still benefiting from further upside.

Many investors look to altcoin for higher risk-reward assets while considering BTC and ETH as blue-chip cryptocurrencies. Given the high risk of altcoins, investors should consider restricting them to a mini portion of their portfolio. The reward opportunity is higher. So, investors still have the potential for fair gains without over-granting and exposing them to excessive downside.

Remember that any gains can be temporary and many altcoins are not fit for long-term buy-and-hold portfolios. The majority of altcoins usually fall out of favor between market cycles and downturns of 95%.

This means its crucial to have a logical exit strategy with your targeted price set before you enter the trade. So, if investors want to consider a portfolio with altcoins then settle it with a mixture of high-cap cryptos and altcoins to ease volatility.

Its a very bad decision to invest based on hype or fear of missing out (FOMO). Cryptocurrency is a unique asset class because every transaction is recorded on a chain for public display. It means you have enough information and tools available to help you make informed decisions, instead of having to shift through the tea leaves like in many other markets.

Below are a few free tools you can use:

Use the above tools to conduct thorough research into a projects fundamentals, market position and team. You can also do this by conducting a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. Always challenge your thesis and look for reasons why a project will crash, rather than information that confirms your existing bias.

Explore Our Top Cryptocurrency Picks

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6 Altcoins To Consider Buying For The Next Bull Run In 2024 - Forbes

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium: Key to Predicting Cryptocurrency Trends? – West Island Blog

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Delving into the mysterious world of Bitcoin, a prominent analyst has illuminated some fascinating trends and potential predictors nestled within the famed cryptocurrencys movement. Most notable among these is the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium, which, according to said analyst, could well hold the golden key to savvy predictions for where Bitcoin is going next.

Lets start at the beginning: what is this Bitcoin Coinbase Premium? Its essentially a gauge, a tracking system that methodically records the price difference of Bitcoin listed on two high-profile cryptocurrency exchanges, namely Coinbase (measured in USD) and Binance (measured in USDT).

By far, one of the most intriguing aspects of this Premium is its ability to show whether Bitcoins price on Coinbase is higher than it is on Binance. A positive figure, or positive premium, indicates that the cryptocurrency is more popular, and thereby sizzling hot property, on Coinbase than it is on Binance. Demand outstrips supply and buying pressure dominates over selling, pushing the price upward. Conversely, a negative figure, or negative premium, suggests that those in the know are selling off their Bitcoin shares on Coinbase, hence driving the price lower.

Its a rich tapestry of intriguing metrics and trends woven into a cryptic, yet compelling, landscape. Where it becomes even more interesting is when we focus on the behaviors of two specific player pools: US-based institutional entities and more globally distributed users. Both prefer different platforms the former favoring Coinbase, and the latter, Binance, making the Premiums ebb and flow an insightful barometer into their buying and selling tendencies.

The analysts careful exploration into the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium over the past two years paints an even more vivid picture. The line chart distinctly shows a pattern where the buying pressure from these institutional entities reached a peak at the same time as the price ceiling. However, the peak has been steadily declining since, moving closer to the neutral zero line.

But wait, theres more. This investigation has also unearthed a fascinating if not curious, recurring pattern. Over the past two years, whenever the indicator has stumbled into negative territory and then bounced back, Bitcoins price has mirrored this plunge and subsequent rebound, like an ever-faithful reflection following a pattern etched into the stone.

Rewind to just earlier this year: this same pattern gently unfolded, with one marked difference. This time when the indicator swiveled back from descent to ascent, Bitcoin launched into a rally, breaking its all-time high.

Zoom onto the present scenario: the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium is slowly subtending a downtrend and remains positive, albeit still not venturing into the negative territory. It seems like Bitcoin is currently on a wait and see moment. So, if history bears to repeat itself, a further dip is required, reaching the reversal point before a potential rebound happens.

As for Bitcoins price, the journey has seen its shares slide under the $61,000 mark, only to find solace in a swift recovery, bouncing back to more than $62,700 in just one day.

Could this be a forerunner of a drastic rally or the prologue to a slow decline? Only time holds the answers, and cryptowatchers will be paying keen attention to the movements of the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium, ready to glean potential clues as to Bitcoins coyly unpredictable trajectory.

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Cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic Down More Than 3% Within 24 hours – Investing.com UK

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Benzinga - by Benzinga Insights, Benzinga Staff Writer.

Ethereum Classic's (CRYPTO: ETC) price has decreased 3.51% over the past 24 hours to $25.41, continuing its downward trend over the past week of -8.0%, moving from $27.74 to its current price.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Ethereum Classic over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are Bollinger Bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.

The trading volume for the coin has increased 6.0% over the past week while the overall circulating supply of the coin has increased 0.69% to over 147.05 million which makes up an estimated 69.79% of its max supply, which is 210.70 million. The current market cap ranking for ETC is #31 at $3.74 billion.

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2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic Down More Than 3% Within 24 hours - Investing.com UK

May’s Premier Cryptocurrency Picks: Surging Ethereum, Hump Token, and BlockDAG – The Merkle News

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Mays Hottest Crypto Leaders: BlockDAG Surges, ADAs New Rival, and Bold Ethereum (ETH) Price Predictions Revealed!

In the evolving landscape of the cryptocurrency market, projects like Ethereum, Hump Token, and BlockDAG are drawing investor attention due to their unique growth prospects. Ethereum continues to solidify its position above the $3,000 mark, signaling a positive market sentiment. Hump Token, offering an alternative to Cardano, is rapidly gaining traction with those seeking quick returns.

BlockDAG, a leading Layer 1 solution, is advancing with its accelerated mainnet launch and making notable pre-launch strides through significant presales and extensive global marketing efforts. As it readies the release of its X1 Miner App, which aims to boost global mining efficiency significantly, BlockDAG is setting up remarkable growth.

Ethereum is experiencing a resurgence, maintaining a steady position above $3,000 following a recent price correction, similar to Bitcoins movements. Positioned well above its 200-day exponential moving average, Ethereum shows signs of a solidifying trend. Technical assessments indicate critical resistance levels at $3,165 and $3,200, suggesting potential growth towards $3,500 if these thresholds are surpassed.

Supportive levels at $3,100 and $3,000 offer a robust buffer against significant declines. Market enthusiasm is further boosted by endorsements from notable figures such as Ripples CEO, Brad Garlinghouse. With these factors, Ethereum presents a promising buying option for investors looking to capitalize on its expected ascent.

Within a mere week, Hump Token has seen an impressive 5000% increase, making it a strong contender as a Cardano alternative. This meteoric rise has captured the focus of a leading analyst who previously accurately forecasted Solanas fall. This expert now predicts a potential fiftyfold increase for Hump. The tokens vibrant community and active social media engagement have been vital to its swift ascent.

Anticipation is growing with the possibility of Hump Token being listed on major trading platforms, setting the stage for further impressive gains. Investors searching for high-reward prospects may find Hump Token especially appealing as it capitalizes on recent successes and the broader markets positive momentum.

BlockDAG is rapidly advancing in the crypto realm, having moved its mainnet launch forward by four months, signaling quick technological advancements. The revised roadmap emphasizes its focus on developing peer-to-peer engines and intricate algorithms for improved data handling, aiming to boost blockchain efficiency significantly.

BlockDAGs visibility was notably enhanced by a dynamic presentation at Londons Piccadilly Circus, with similar events in Tokyo and Las Vegas, highlighting its tech prowess and attracting global interest. These promotional efforts helped BlockDAG raise $25.7 million in its presale phase.

Additionally, with over 5500 miners already sold, generating over $2.5 million, and the impending launch of the X1 Miner App, BlockDAG is enhancing mining efficiency worldwide. With continued presale success and growing community support, BlockDAG is well on its way to achieving its projected $30 valuation by 2030, presenting a compelling investment opportunity for those interested in cutting-edge crypto technology.

Overall, while both Ethereum and Hump Token provide attractive opportunities within their niches, BlockDAG stands out as the strategic investment choice in the current crypto market. Its proactive development approach, effective global marketing, and solid presale results highlight its potential as a blockchain innovation leader.

As BlockDAG prepares to release its advanced X1 Miner App and an early mainnet launch, it is uniquely positioned to realize its vision of a $30 valuation by 2030, offering investors a distinctive and profitable venture in the fast-paced cryptocurrency arena.

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Disclosure: This is a sponsored press release. Please do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any projects. Read the full disclosurehere.

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May's Premier Cryptocurrency Picks: Surging Ethereum, Hump Token, and BlockDAG - The Merkle News

Cryptocurrency Immutable Down More Than 7% Within 24 hours – Investing.com UK

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Benzinga - by Benzinga Insights, Benzinga Staff Writer.

Over the past 24 hours, Immutable's (CRYPTO: IMX) price has fallen 7.64% to $2.06. This continues its negative trend over the past week where it has experienced a 7.0% loss, moving from $2.21 to its current price.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Immutable over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are Bollinger Bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.

The trading volume for the coin has increased 16.0% over the past week while the overall circulating supply of the coin has increased 0.06% to over 1.46 billion which makes up an estimated 72.84% of its max supply, which is 2.00 billion. The current market cap ranking for IMX is #37 at $3.00 billion.

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Cryptocurrency Filecoin Decreases More Than 3% Within 24 hours – Investing.com UK

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Benzinga - by Benzinga Insights, Benzinga Staff Writer.

Filecoin's (CRYPTO: FIL) price has decreased 3.46% over the past 24 hours to $5.38, continuing its downward trend over the past week of -9.0%, moving from $5.91 to its current price.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Filecoin over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are Bollinger Bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.

The trading volume for the coin has decreased 17.0% over the past week, while the overall circulating supply of the coin has increased 0.53% to over 551.58 million. This puts its current circulating supply at an estimated 28.13% of its max supply, which is 1.96 billion. The current market cap ranking for FIL is #39 at $2.97 billion.

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Making Sense of the State of Crypto in 2024 – PYMNTS.com

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There might be as many opinions about crypto as there are cryptocurrency tokens. And with tens of thousands of digital assets populating the crypto market, thats certainly a lot of opinions.

That sheer scale of noise is in part why it can be so challenging to get a clear view of the Web3 landscape something that holds true for regulators, retail investors, consumers and businesses alike.

This, as the regulatory environment surrounding cryptocurrencies is becoming increasingly complex within the U.S., with the House of Representatives voting Wednesday (May 8) to approvea resolutionrejecting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cryptocurrency accounting guidance alleged to have deterred banks from handling crypto customers.

Almost immediately, President Biden released a statement saying that he would veto the resolution if it made it so far as to reach his desk.

The Administration strongly opposes passage of H.J. Res. 109, which would disrupt the SECs work to protect investors in crypto-asset markets and to safeguard the broader financial system as explained in staffs accompanying release, SAB 121 was issued in response to demonstrated technological, legal, and regulatory risks that have caused substantial losses to consumers, said the Executive Office of the President in a Wednesday statement.

If the President were presented with H.J. Res. 109, he would veto it, the release concluded.

If you want Americans to be able to engage with digital assets safely and securely, banks which are some of the most regulated businesses in our country are probably the best way,Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in response.

Read more: This Week in Web3: Wells Notices, Crypto Payments and Usability

Still, amid regulatory and political developments, crypto still has its prominent adherents. One of whom is Block Chairman and Co-founder Jack Dorsey, a leading figure in the payments industry, who has made the bold prediction that bitcoins price could reach $1 million by 2030. As PYMNTS reported, Blocks existing $200 million investment in bitcoin grew by around 160% during the companys most recent financial quarter, $573 million.

All thats to say that Dorsey may not be the most objective source when discussing the growth of a currency with no backing. His optimistic forecast is in part based on the belief that Bitcoin will play a crucial role in the future of finance, serving as the internets native currency.

And, of course, for bitcoin or any crypto asset to reach such a valuation, the regulatory stars will need to align. A situation that continues to look unlikely, at least in the U.S.

For example, Web3 company Ripple is running into fresh SEC trouble following the April announcement of its own dollar-pegged stablecoin, as the company moves forward with its plan to expand itspayments business in the U.S.

In a Tuesday (May 7) filing, the SEC wrote, Ripples primary business continues to be, as it has been since 2013, unregistered sales of XRP. It also plans to issue a new unregistered crypto asset, arguing that Ripple has built its Web3 business by leveraging the sale of unregistered securities, and that the stablecoin project can be painted with the same brush, too.

Read more: What CFOs Should Know About the Growing Use of Stablecoins

Still, in todays post-bitcoin-ETF landscape, crypto is working hard on making further inroads into the traditional financial sector.

Big banks and financial institutions are much more interested today than they certainly were five or six years ago, when we rolled out some products for the first time,Brooks Entwistle, senior VP of global customer success and managing director atRipple, told PYMNTS this fall. You certainly almost never saw the boardroom when you brought up the topic of blockchain and especially crypto in the early days.

And this receptivity is having repercussions across the marketplace. Online brokerageRobinhood Marketson Wednesday (May 8) reported first-quarter profits that exceeded expectations, driven bystrong cryptotrading volumes boosted by positive sentiment toward the crypto industry.

However, Robinhood faces challenges in the form of aWells noticefrom the SEC, indicating potential enforcement action against the company. This development raises concerns about the future of Robinhoods crypto trading arm.

That, it seems, exemplifies the state of the crypto sector in 2024: two steps forward, and three steps back. Or maybe, it is the other way around only time will tell.

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Making Sense of the State of Crypto in 2024 - PYMNTS.com