Crypto markets have continued their consolidation for another day but decentralized finance markets are hitting record levels again as Ethereum collateralized crypto savings rates approach double figures while ETH gets a golden cross. 

Ethereum Golden Cross
Ethereum prices themselves have managed to cling on to $190 today following a brief dip overnight. ETH is close to the cracking the psychological $200 barrier which may even occur before the end of the week.
Prices are now back to early November levels as a golden cross forms on the daily time frame. The 50 day moving average has just reached the slower moving 200 day indicator and will cross it today.
This is a long term trend reversal signal that last occurred in April 2019 when Ethereum was similarly priced. Following the cross came a 90% surge in prices to top out over $350.
ETH prices 1 year – Tradingview.com
ETH Based DeFi Savings Surging
There are several things to be bullish about with Ethereum at the moment and DeFi is one of them. Although still an embryonic industry, this financial freedom is continuing to attract investment through extremely attractive savings rates.
Dai is a crypto collateral backed dollar pegged stablecoin based on Ethereum. It offers a savings rate (DSR) that is based on lending and borrowing demands
MakerDAO, which governs the mechanism, is an autonomous platform which dynamically adjusts the supply of Dai to maintain the one dollar peg, keeping it stable. Dai issuance is also controlled by anyone who wishes to borrow it from the system by depositing ETH or other crypto assets as collateral.
The interest rate that is applied to this newly created Dai is called the Stability Fee while the DSR is used to manipulate the demand for Dai.
The Dai Savings Rate has recently increased to 8.75% which is awarded to those who deposit ETH as collateral and hold onto Dai in smart contracts and dApps such as Oasis.
This absolutely trounces any interest rates from high street banks, most of which are turning negative. The average in the US last year was a paltry 0.09% according to these figures. Meanwhile president Trump has awarded billions of dollars in tax breaks for banks which are putting their customers deeper into debt.
The total USD value locked in DeFi has also just hit a new high at $920 million as ETH prices have increased. Defipulse.com also reports that there is a record 65 million Dai locked into the system.

Fun fact: Dai Locked in #DeFi has more than doubled since the introduction of @MakerDAO’s Dai Savings Rate (DSR). pic.twitter.com/TWgy3yu7RO
— DeFi Pulse (@defipulse) February 4, 2020

The popularity of DeFi is growing fast as people realize they don’t need a bank to hold and profit from their money. With this growth will come a greater demand for Ethereum which will result in prices heading back in the right direction.
When will DeFi markets hit $1 billion? Add your comments below. The post appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.