skip to Main Content
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 76,695.55 0.25%
vested-xor
Vested XOR (VXOR) $ 3,405.08 99,999.99%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,932.78 1.05%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.01%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 198.33 0.47%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 595.85 0.99%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999932 0.03%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 0.550001 1.37%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.198599 3.01%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,934.47 1.07%

0x Price Hits Two-Year High on Hopes Falling Ethereum Fees Will Spur DEX Trading

Hopes the bottleneck on the Ethereum blockchain might now ease have sent tokens associated with decentralized exchanges – known as DEX tokens – soaring, with the token of the 0x exchange (ZRX) rallying to a two-year high on Friday.

  • CoinDesk data shows ZRX surged 40% from $0.61 to $0.97 – the highest level since October 2018 – in early morning trading.
coindesk-zrx-chart-2020-08-21
ZRX price action over past seven days
Source: CoinDesk
  • The rise comes just days after stablecoin provider Tether made plans to launch its USDT token on layer-2 scaling solution OMG Network and take some of the load off Ethereum.
  • As most decentralized exchanges run on Ethereum, this is good news for the exchanges and their tokens.
  • For example, analysts hope Tether’s move will bring down average transaction fees, which recently reached a record high of $6 last week.
  • Ethereum-based DEXs like 0x and also Kyber Network (KNC) are vulnerable to network congestion on Ethereum as high fees reduce trading activity.
  • “Any reduction in ETH transaction costs due to tether’s migration on the OMG network is a huge win for DEX trading,” Denis Vinokourov, head of research for crypto prime broker Bequant, told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat. 
  • While KNC is only up by 3% it has also surged 900% year to date. Other prominent DEX coins such as Aave’s LEND have gained 3,000%, while ZRX has increased by 300% YTD.
  • ZRX may, therefore, be catching up with its peers as it still has plenty of ground to cover, Vinokourov said.
  • Glassnode data shows that as of Thursday, the mean fee per Ethereum transaction was $3.17 – significantly higher than the $0.55 seen in July.
2020-08-21-14-20-48
Ethereum transaction fees spiked to a new ATH last week
Source: Glassnode
  • It remains to be seen whether Ethereum fees will fall back to July levels – this uncertainty may help explain why the ZRX price has pulled back to $0.75 just as CoinDesk was going to press.

Disclosure

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Loading data ...
Comparison
View chart compare
View table compare
Back To Top