Top 3 Coins to Watch October 26 - November 1, 2020

The top 3 coins to watch this week

As we move through Q4, a number of cryptocurrency projects are moving ahead with continued development, and this week’s choices are set to benefit from significant updates and announcements that should strengthen their market positions and benefit their communities. The news should also result in increased amounts of attention to each respective currency over the coming weeks.   

1. Horizen (ZEN) 

Horizen is a privacy coin that enables encrypted messaging, and incorporates supernodes and Zk-snarks technology. The project was previously known as ZenCash.

ZEN 2.0.22 testnet fork is days away 

The ZEN 2.0.22 Testnet will be activated via a soft fork that is set to take place at Testnet Block 735700. This is scheduled to occur on October 28 and helps to prepare for the Mainnet soft fork in November. ZEN 2.0.22 replaces ZEN 2.0.21-1 and incorporates security improvements, general maintenance and also helps to prepare for coming reward halving.

ZEN 2.0.21 will stop operating at Block 831936 scheduled to occur around November 17/18, while the Mainnet soft fork activation will occur around November 24/25 at Block 835968. A Block Reward Halving will take place around December 1 at Block 840000, and the team state that all exchanges, mining pools, node operators, and full node wallet users must upgrade to ZEN 2.0.22 before November 17, and you can find out more about the mandatory upgrade here.

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2. Aragon (ANT) 

Aragon in enterprise focused-project that aims to make it easy for businesses to operate decentralized organizations. Aragon operates on the Ethereum network, and acts as a virtual land where entrepreneurs and businesses are invited to interact. Aragon has its own decentralized court system designed for mediating disputes, and the ANT token is used as a means of governance by attaining common consensus through the voting decisions of token-holders. 

ANTv2 upgrade starts this week  

The ANT token is set to go through a transformation and move to the ANTv2 version which is three times cheaper to transfer and also supports gasless transfers. The token upgrade process starts on October 27, and the team outline the switch here. Community voting regarding merger proposals for the ANJ and ANT tokens will open up on the same day, and the team have extended the community review period for the merger proposals will enables all community members to take part in helping to decide the future of the two tokens. 

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3. Nuls (NULS) 

NULS is a global blockchain open-source project which is a highly customizable modular blockchain infrastructure that consists of a microkernel and functional modules. NULS provides smart contracts, cross-chain interoperability, instant chain-building, and aims to break the technical barriers of blockchain, reduce development costs, and help promote the commercial usage of blockchain technology.

A protocol upgrade is coming soon   

The team have announced that a protocol upgrade is scheduled for October 28, and follows on from a period of sustained platform development. For instance, version V1.4.2 of NerveNetwork mainnet was recently improved to fix problems with cross-chain registration and command. Upgrades with regards to the mobile Nerve wallet, and a mobile terminal for NerveDEX have also recently been completed, and node owners should keep an eye on the project’s social media channels for further updates on the proposed upgrade and be ready to switch to the new version once it’s released. 

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How did the coins perform last week?  

The seven day period generally led to positive results across the market, but the previous week's top coins to watch did not benefit from the positive market sentiment. IDEX recorded a loss of around 17%, while Binance Coin declined by 2%. Filecoin did not perform well either, falling by around 13% over the week. Over the course of the week, the total cryptocurrency market cap moved from $364B to $400B (+10%).