Several months ago, in the title of an article, I referenced Tezos possibly having the most honest chart in crypto. It was a tongue-in-cheek comment inspired by how the blockchain’s native token, XTZ, hadn’t been swept up in the crypto mania we witnessed last year. So much so that it has also jokingly been referred to as a stablecoin.
Indeed, in 2021 Tezos underperformed its main peers in the 2nd-3rd generation smart contract segment. It was up just over 300% during the year, while more recent entrants like ADA and SOL were up around 1500% and 12000%, respectively. Even ETH, which made the bulk of its parabolic price appreciation in 2017, also outperformed XTZ, closing 2021 up more than 400%.
Interestingly, the main themes of 2021 in crypto have been: DeFi (decentralised finance), NFTs (non-fungible tokens), proof-of-stake (a far greener consensus algorithm to bitcoin’s proof-of-work), and Ethereum’s high fees. Meanwhile, Tezos has been steadily ticking along, a proof-of-stake smart contract platform by design, with on-chain governance, thriving DeFi and NFT ecosystems, and far cheaper fees.
Why recapitulate all this now in February of 2022? With crypto seemingly in the depths of a bear market that has seen much of the space giving back all of 2021’s gains and more. Well, honestly, it’s because Tezos still looks like the most honest chart in crypto, which is quite remarkable. It seems to give a view of the ebb and flow in crypto market sentiment that filters much of the thrill on the way up and the abject fear on the way down.
XTZ’s price history only goes back to the latter part of 2018. Nevertheless, it describes a gentle upward slope characterised by relatively orderly higher-lows and higher-highs. The COVID-19 crash of March 2020 barely registers on a weekly chart. And even now, with many of its rivals setting weekly lower-lows, XTZ looks to have established weekly support at $3.05. Food for thought. And perhaps a useful indicator of a broader market reversal? It’s worth keeping an eye on that $3.05 level.
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