On The Pulse - Edition #011
Welcome to On The Pulse, with Maui.

Hey everyone, welcome back to this week's edition of 'On The Pulse.' Thanks as ever to all who have subscribed and are reading this via email. If you're currently browsing, please consider subscribing! If you find today's newsletter valuable, please recommend it to a friend and feel free to suggest topics or ask questions on my Twitter @jordymaui.

This week, i’ll be teaching you all about decentralised exchanges & swapping crypto using them alongside digging into the headlines mainly dominated by laws, regulations and ETF news. So, let’s crack on:

Lesson of the Week: "Decentralised Exchanges (DApps & Swaps)"

This week, we're diving into the world of decentralised exchanges (DEXs) and swap DApps, exploring how they revolutionise crypto trading and provide users with greater control over their assets. DEXs allow users to trade cryptocurrencies directly from their wallets without the need for a centralised exchange, providing benefits such as increased privacy, security, and censorship resistance. Ultimately, it’s the way we stay ‘on chain’ and owning our crypto assets (not your coins, not your crypto - as we say!)

💡 Understanding DEXs:
Decentralised exchanges operate on blockchain networks, enabling peer-to-peer trading of digital assets through smart contracts. These platforms facilitate automated transactions, where users can swap one cryptocurrency for another without relying on a central authority. Notable DEXs include Uniswap, SushiSwap, and PancakeSwap, each offering unique features and trading pairs for their layer one counterpart.

🌐 Advantages of DEXs: 
DEXs offer several advantages over centralised exchanges, including lower fees, greater liquidity, and reduced counterparty risk. Additionally, DEXs promote financial inclusion by providing access to trading opportunities for users worldwide, regardless of geographical location or regulatory constraints.

📈 The Rise of Swap DApps:
Swap DApps, such as Uniswap and Jupiter, are decentralised applications built on blockchain networks that facilitate token swaps using liquidity pools. These platforms enable users to trade tokens directly from their wallets, with transactions settled instantly through smart contracts. Swap DApps have gained popularity for their user-friendly interfaces, competitive pricing, and wide range of supported tokens on each chain.

🔍 Top DEXs Across Major Layer Ones:

1. Ethereum (ETH): Uniswap & SushiSwap are the leaders on Ethereums network, offering a vast selection of tokens and robust liquidity.

2. Solana (SOL): Jupiter and Raydium are prominent DEXs on the Solana blockchain, providing fast and low-cost token swaps.

3. Avalanche (AVAX): Trader Joe is the popular DEXs on the Avalanche network, offering efficient trading and a diverse range of AVAX assets.

4. Binance Smart Chain (BSC): PancakeSwap is a dominant DEX on Binance Smart Chain, known for its high-speed transactions and yield farming opportunities.

These decentralised exchanges provide users with seamless trading experiences and access to a wide range of assets across different blockchain networks. Whether you're a DeFi enthusiast or a beginner in the crypto space, exploring DEXs can offer valuable insights and opportunities for growth.

Major Headlines: "The Weekly Roundup"

This week the headlines are focused on criminal charges, SEC investigations and the listing of both ETF & ETNs, get stuck in below:

🛑 Kucoin & it’s founders face criminal charges for Money Laundering:

KuCoin, a major cryptocurrency exchange, along with its founders, is under fire as they face criminal charges related to money laundering violations. The charges allege that KuCoin knowingly facilitated illegal transactions and failed to implement adequate anti-money laundering (AML) measures. This development has significant implications for the crypto industry, highlighting the ongoing regulatory challenges and the need for exchanges to prioritize compliance. Read more about the KuCoin violations and its founders here.

📉 Ethereum labelled as a security by the SEC - War begins:

The SEC is once again revisiting the question of whether ETH should be classified as a security. This ongoing debate has significant implications for the entire cryptocurrency market, particularly for Ethereum and its ecosystem. While Bitcoin has been deemed a commodity by the SEC, the classification of ETH remains uncertain, raising concerns among investors and stakeholders. The outcome of this deliberation could impact the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies and influence investor sentiment towards Ethereum. Stay updated on the SEC's decision regarding the security classification here.

📢 Blackrock declares ETH-ETF has very little interest: 

BlackRock's proposal for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) faces challenges as there appears to be limited demand from investors. Despite the growing interest in Ethereum and its potential as an investment asset, the response to BlackRock's ETF initiative has been lukewarm to say the least. This hesitation reflects concerns surrounding the regulatory landscape, market volatility, and investor sentiment towards cryptocurrency ETFs but mainly ETH. The outcome of BlackRock's ETH ETF proposal could provide insights into the broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies within traditional finance. Read more into the article here.

🇬🇧 London Stock Exchange to list BTC ETN listing by May: 

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is set to list exchange-traded notes (ETNs) tied to cryptocurrencies, marking a significant step towards mainstream adoption of digital assets. These ETNs will provide investors with exposure to cryptocurrencies without the need to directly hold or manage them - the same concept as the Wall Street ETFs. The move by the LSE reflects the growing interest in cryptocurrencies among traditional investors and institutions. Read more about the London Stock Exchange's plans to list crypto ETNs here.

Maui’s Weekly Analysis of Charts

Dive into the pulse of the crypto market with me for a quick overview. If there are elements you don’t understand here, don’t worry – feel free to ask me questions on Twitter. Interested in a specific chart analysis? Let me know! I’ll also be holding weekly polls based on your suggestions. Anyway, here are this week’s charts:

₿ BTC (Bitcoin):

• Recent Price Action: Over the last 7 Days, $BTC is back up 12% after last weeks lows got a lovely strong bounce from $61,000 to $71,000.

• Weekly Forecast: With ETF and exchange outflows slowing down and strong bounces across the board, it’s likley we see inflows begin to pick back up and old levels be broken through to new highs.
  
  Dips are made for buying & hopefully many of you managed to catch the healthy pullback as Bitcoin returns to the $70k+ areas and funding looks healthy across the board. For me, the king is making a return this week and we see big inflows and new ATHs while altcoins chop.

♦ ETH (Ethereum):

• Over the past 7 days, Ethereum has bounced back up 7% from the lows of $3,000 to $3,600.

• Weekly Forecast: As I said in the BTC analysis, it seems as though alts may become fairly choppy while the king runs, so ETH will be looking to reclaim $3,800 or ultimately chop sideways.

I’d love to see a positive continuation with Ethereum and reclaim $3,800 and a push to old highs but with the current market conditions, i’d lean more towards chop and consolidation this week.

Bitcoin Dominance (BTC.D) chart is chopping around again with seemingly more strength after dips last week, hence our lean towards BTC pumping while alts chop and bleed a little.

As always, i’ll mention this: BTC.D up = Money is in Bitcoin, alts bleed or stay stagnant. BTC.D down = Money flowing into alternative coins & bitcoin ranges or bleeds out.

Now, let’s give an update on the altcoins we’re still looking at each week.

This week - due to things remaining fairly similar, I will not be updating anything or our targets. Things remain the same, I am still buying the below altcoins & still targeting the same highs!

/ AVAX (next height target of $70, buying more/bids at $34 or lower.)
Reached $65 before retracing, still showing strength - buying anything lower than $50 on AVAX with current targets still in sight.

/ SOLANA (next height target of $200, buying more/bids at $105 or lower.)
Took a major hit after breaking through $200, buying anything below $170 for SOL at these stages and now chasing new all time highs.

/ INJ (next height target of $54, buying more/bids at $32 or lower.)
After a very strong retrace to $34, we’re buying more INJ here in the range in order to continue accumulating before all time high break outs.

/ SEI (next height target of $1.30, buying more/bids at $0.63 or lower.)
After dipping to $0.75 and having a strong bounce, we’re looking to also accumulate at these prices awaiting a breakout to the upside of our target.

/ MAVIA (next height target of $12, buying more/bids at $4 or lower.)
Despite pullbacks, prices only fell as low as $5.20 so we will look at also accumulate here and aim for higher targets, strong positions around the board.

/ RNDR (next height target of $12, buying more/bids at $6 or lower.)
With the NDIVIA conference ongoing and RNDR speaking soon, our dips to $10 seem the local low is in and we continue aiming for much higher than $12.

/ LINK (next height target of $24, buying more/bids at $17 or lower.)
Bids hit, support holding strong - we accumulated more LINK at $17 awaiting its time to rise, strong hold for a rally at some point during the bull.

/ MATIC (next height target of $1.50, buying more/bids at $0.98 or lower.)
Another one where bids hit & we we’re able to capitulate the bounce, accumulating more MATIC at lows of $0.93 before bouncing again.

/ NEAR (next height target of $10, buying more/bids at $3.50 or lower.)
With $6 acting as a bounce and support, we’re looking to still claim highs and push above $10 for our next price target with NEAR.

/ TIA (next height target of $24, buying more/bids at $13 lower.)
Bids just about hit on TIA as its low of $12 came in, now aiming for a return to the upside and new all time highs.

If you would like me to take a look at any specific charts or go deeper into anything, please feel free to reach out to me on twitter or email!

📰 The Summary: From Crypto Trends to NFT Buzz

Each week, we will end the newsletter with a really brief TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) assessment of what’s been going on this week across Crypto and NFTs. I hope this section provides additional value for those who read!

Crypto:

• 🚀 Market Trends: After major pullbacks this week, price rallies back to highs and looks ready for another rally to all time highs.

• ⚖️ ETH labelled security by SEC: Major headline news this week as the SEC go to war with Ethereum labelling it a security.

• 🛑 Kucoin founders face charges over money laundering: The founders of Kucoin Exchange face major charges after law violations.

• 📉 ETH ETF extremely unlikely in May: After reports that the ETH ETF is seeing little demand, its highly unlikely to be released anytime soon.

• 💸 Solana makes more revenue than last 5 months combined: Largely due to memecoin mania, solana are raking in the profits.

NFTs:

• 📢 Tate brothers prepare to shill memecoins: Both tate brothers have began tweeting and preparing to shill various memecoins.

• 🔄 Memcoin WIF is narrowing a flip of PEPE: The great flippening of Solana memecoin giants is increasingly approaching as WIF surges.

• 🇬🇧 UK sets to monitor memecoins: Not the greatest of news but the UK are set to clamp down on promotions and mentions of memecoins.

• 💰 FriendTech points now trade for over $4: You’re in luck if you’ve been farming points on friendtech as they soar in value.

• 📈 MagicEden makes $15m in 30d revenue: Magic Eden continues its rise making $15m over the last 30 days.

And with that, we’re wrapped up for another week. If you have any suggestions for lesson of the week, please let me know! If you enjoyed this weeks newsletter, please feel free to support by following me on twitter @jordymaui

Until next time!