The kind of fundamental developments that sent a coin to the moon in 2017 had already started to lose their potency by the time 2018 came around. As the year wore on, we started to see partnership announcements and technical developments go unnoticed, when once the mere rumour of them was enough to positively impact the price of a coin.
And while 2019 will probably see an extension of this trend, I can’t help but think of the number of times I’ve seen a coin pump 50% in a week, only to go and check the project’s Twitter page and see that they’ve just implemented a new tech update.
By that time I’m too late, and whatever anticipation was being speculated on has turned into news, and is now being sold.
So in the spirit of experimentation, here’s a few upcoming technical updates due in the coming weeks.
Aeternity (AE) – First Mainnet Hardfork
Aeternity has three hardforks scheduled over the next year as it completes its migration from Ethereum. The date for this hardfork is only a few days away, but I include it on the basis of Aeternity’s previous volatility, exemplified in this chart from the last seventy days. Volume has been climbing all through February, from $10 million to $50 million.
Hardfork Date: February 20th
IOST (IOST) – Mainnet Launch
Just over a week away from mainnet, the IOST token price has shown signs of life with 4% growth in the past seven days. A summary of what the IOST mainnet promises to bring can be found here in a tweet from co-founder Jimmy Zhong.
Mainnet Launch Date: February 25th
Ethereum (ETH) – Constantinople Hardfork
The previously delayed Constantinople hardfork is scheduled for the end of the month. Block rewards will be reduced from 3 to 2 ETH, and the difficulty bomb will be delayed for another year, among other tweaks.
At time of writing ETH is up 8% for the week, with Constantinople ten days away.
Hardfork Date: February 27th
CyberMiles (CMT) – 15 Million Users’ Data Uploaded to Blockchain
A huge migration is set to take place at the end of February as the 5Miles mobile app uploads all of its customers accounts onto the CMT blockchain. Once launched, 5Miles clients will be able to transact independently across the chain. 5Miles is a ‘mobile marketplace’ where users buy and sell various items and services.
Launch Date: February 28th
Theta Token (THETA) – Mainnet Launch
Theta Token is another project set to leave Ethereum for its own mainnet. A look at THETA’s weekly chart shows a token at just about break even, but zooming out to the monthly view reveals that something has been building with THETA for a while.
Mainnet Launch Date: March 15th
QuarkChain (QKC) – Mainnet 1.0
QuarkChain was one of the darlings of the ICO period, and big things were expected from this highly rated project. Big things might still be on the horizon, and we may find out more about QuarkChain when the mainnet lands at the end of March.
Read more on what’s in store for QKC fans in 2019. The coin price has been falling all quarter, and all month. But that trend reversed for the first time this week as the coin regained 6% of its value. Volume jumped from $1 million to $6.8 million in the last few days.
Mainnet Launch Date: March 31st