On The Pulse - Edition #009
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 covering a lesson on what Smart Contracts are, telling you all about new ATH’s for BTC and covering news like ETH’s new upgrades!

Lesson of the Week: "Smart Contracts"

Smart contracts are like the digital backbone of blockchain networks. They're kind of like vending machines: you put in the money (or whatever the contract needs), and when the conditions are right, they automatically dispense the product (or execute the agreement). They're written in code and kick into action when certain conditions are met, without the need for a middleman. So, in a nutshell, smart contracts are like the vending machines of the digital world, making transactions automated, transparent, and secure.

📜 Understanding Smart Contracts:
Smart contracts are essentially computer programs stored on a blockchain that automatically execute actions when specific conditions are met. These conditions are predefined by the parties involved in the contract and are immutable once deployed on the blockchain. Smart contracts can facilitate a wide range of transactions and agreements, from simple payments to complex financial instruments.

💡 Key Features and Benefits:
One of the key features of smart contracts is their self-executing nature, which eliminates the need for intermediaries, reduces the risk of fraud, and ensures the timely execution of transactions. They also offer transparency, as the terms of the contract are visible to all parties on the blockchain. Additionally, smart contracts are highly secure, as they are encrypted and decentralised, making them resistant to tampering or censorship.

🌐 Use Cases and Applications: 
Smart contracts have numerous use cases across various industries, including finance, supply chain management, real estate, and healthcare. They can be used to automate processes such as payments, asset transfers, identity verification, and more. For example, in the finance industry, smart contracts can be used to facilitate peer-to-peer lending, automate insurance claims processing, or execute complex financial derivatives. Most famously however, they are also used for NFT collections & artworks being deployed on Ethereum.

🔒 Challenges and Considerations:
Despite their potential benefits, smart contracts also present challenges and considerations. One of the main challenges is ensuring the security and reliability of the code, as bugs or vulnerabilities in smart contracts can lead to financial losses or exploitation. Additionally, legal and regulatory issues surrounding smart contracts, such as jurisdictional concerns and the enforceability of code-based agreements, need to be addressed to ensure their widespread adoption.

🚀 Future Outlook:
As blockchain technology continues to evolve, smart contracts are expected to play an increasingly important role in reshaping various industries and business processes. With advancements in blockchain scalability, interoperability, and privacy, smart contracts have the potential to revolutionise the way agreements are made and executed globally, paving the way for a more efficient, transparent, and decentralised future.

Major Headlines: "The Weekly Roundup"

This weeks major headlines are crazy as ever, let’s get into them one by one:

🥳 Bitcoin continues to make new All Time Highs: 

Bitcoin's on fire, smashing through all-time highs like it's never going to stop. With institutions jumping on board and more of the retail markets embracing the crypto world, Bitcoin's proving itself as the ultimate digital gold. Every new high just adds to the excitement, drawing in even more people looking to catch the wave. It's like watching a runaway train with no brakes and we’re all here for it. To keep an eye on BTC’s price action, use coinmarketcap! here.

⏳ The SEC Delay Ethereum ETF Decision:

The SEC has delayed making a decision on BlackRock's request for an Ethereum ETF. They want more time to look into it and get input from the public. Approving crypto ETFs, especially for Ethereum, is tricky. While they've okayed ETFs for Bitcoin futures, ones for Ethereum's actual coins are a different story. The SEC wants to hear what people think before moving forward. This decision could have a big impact on the crypto market. Read more here.

🎮 Sappy Seals announce Open World Tech Demo: 

Sappy Seals are inviting holders of their NFTs and tokens to an exclusive playtest of their Open World Demo, which boasts the capability to accommodate thousands of players simultaneously on screen! This initiative promises an immersive gaming experience and offers a unique opportunity for token holders to engage with the project firsthand. Whether you hold $WIF or $MOG tokens, or any of their NFTs, you're eligible for access to this exciting event, showcasing the potential of blockchain-based gaming.

⚙️ Major Ethereum ‘Dencun’ Upgrade coming today: 

Ethereum, the major blockchain network, is set for an upgrade known as Dencun. This upgrade has the potential to significantly reduce transaction fees on Layer 2 blockchains operating on Ethereum. If successful, users could enjoy cheaper and faster transactions when interacting with Ethereum and its associated projects. Again, although it’s mainly for the layer 2s it does promise to reduce gas fees on the layer one as well. You can read more - 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 continues its surge with gains of 10% this week, and another new all time high of $73,600.

• Weekly Forecast: As inflows from ETFs increase, the most selling pressure comes from retail & miners - which is proving insignificant as BTC continues its primed run to price discovery.
  
  Hard to give you my predications for the week as it’s mainly down to inflow numbers - so keep an eye on them. CPI data came in flat so failed to make any major change of direction on BTC and it seems as though we continue the price discovery run until the ETF taps slow!

♦ ETH (Ethereum):

• Over the past 7 days, Ethereum is up 6% following the uptrend of BTC but not seeing as much volume - for the obvious (no ETF inflows). Currently $ETH is above $4,000 which is a brilliant return to previous highs.

• Weekly Forecast: It’s likely that while the markets are grinding upwards, we see alts like ETH have runs that fluctuate in dominance and sees them fly upwards above the rest, similar to AVAX this week.

Personally, I think ETH is going to continue grinding up with the ETF rumours continuing, updates to the chain coming and general bull market narratives. The targets would certainly be $4,500 and then ATH to take things parabolic and into price discovery.

I’ve included an updated look on the Bitcoin Dominance (BTC.D) chart in order to give context to previous comments. As you can see, we are currently chopping between 51%-55% and have failed to break out on several occasions despite an ATH. In short - this is unchanged from last week despite being slightly lower at 53%. We’d hope for this chop to continue or visit the lows of the range in order to see some alts fly!

Again, 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 take a look at what we touched on last week for which altcoins i’m following, their original levels and an update on price action this week.

/ AVAX (next height target of $52, buying more/bids at $34 or lower.)
We just hit our first price target & AVAX is currently $57! - Targeting $70 next.

/ SOLANA (next height target of $200, buying more/bids at $105 or lower.)
Solana is currently hovering at $150 and we’re still holding for a larger move up.

/ INJ (next height target of $54, buying more/bids at $32 or lower.)
Another target close as $INJ hits $53 - Looking at $60 for our next target.

/ SEI (next height target of $1.30, buying more/bids at $0.63 or lower.)
Still yet to make a large move but is currently at $0.90 - looking good.

/ MAVIA (next height target of $12, buying more/bids at $4 or lower.)
Hovering at $8 MAVIA still looks a solid buy for more upside.

/ RNDR (next height target of $9, buying more/bids at $6 or lower.)
Smashing through our original targets and hitting $12, we’re holding comfy.

/ LINK (next height target of $24, buying more/bids at $17 or lower.)
Another close one hitting $22, we’re still waiting for our first target!

/ MATIC (next height target of $1.50, buying more/bids at $0.98 or lower.)
Currently wicking at $1.25, still looking for higher.

/ NEAR (next height target of $8, buying more/bids at $3.50 or lower.)
$8 target has been hit so we’re looking for the $10-$12 area next.

/ TIA (next height target of $24, buying more/bids at $13 lower.)
Still room for TIA to hit our targets, currently chopping at $18.

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: ALL TIME HIGHS… Actually this time! $73,000.

• ⏳ ETH ETF - Decision Delayed: The SEC have officially delayed the ETH ETF decision - as most came to expect.

• 💸 El Savador is in $84m of BTC profit: The president recently went to X to say the nation is earning BTC revenue on four different avenues!

• 🔍 Google Search for Bitcoin hits 2 year high: If it wasn’t known before, it certainly is now - the bull market is in full swing.

• 🪨 Blackrock now owns more BTC than MicroStrategy: After ETF inflows continue, blackrock overtakes saylors MS in BTC holdings.

NFTs:

• 🥶 Solana Memecoins Go Crazy: A crazy narrative continues as multiple memecoins hit $10m+ market caps on solana.

• 🐶 Bodoggos hit ATH as Nick goes viral (again): The NFT collection bodoggos hit a new all time high thanks to Nicks viral memes.

• 📈 Choose rich everytime - Viral Masterclass: Mentioned above, the most recent craze is memecoin $NICK - now at a $50m market cap!

• 🎮 Sappy Seals to test Open World tech demo: Sappy seals have announced the testing of their brand new, open world game.

• 🙉 BAYC NFTs reach a low of just 12ETH: Thats right, the apes that sold for millions are currently worth just a mere 12ETH…

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!