The sustained bullish performance from Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) has increased the confidence of crypto investors and many are now looking deeper into projects that have strong fundamentals and offer real-world use cases.
This week investors turned their attention to Theta (THETA), a decentralized network that allows users to share bandwidth and computing resources in order to stream video. In the last two months THETA price has increased by more than 350%, rallying from $0.66 on Dec.10 to a new all-time high of $3.44 on Feb.13.
THETA/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
Three reasons for Theta’s recent price growth include the project’s plan to engage with DeFi through its Theta DEX, the addition of smart contract capabilities and NFTs to its blockchain and a growing list of high-level partnerships that will help bring quality content to its video streaming network.
Community engagement via non-fungible tokens
Following the success of CryptoKitties during the 2017-2018 bull market, non-fungible tokens (NFT) have become a recurring hot topic in the cryptocurrency sector. Theta’s addition of smart contract functionality is an attempt to capitalize on this trend.
The Theta Token Minter allows users to create new TNT-20 tokens without needing any smart contract experience. This simplifies the process of minting new assets on Theta blockchain, including custom streamer assets and new DApps with their own tokens.
The token minter platform also makes it easy for users to trade and transact in their newly minted tokens.
ThetaSwap DEX bring DeFi-sized yields
Decentralized finance has rapidly become a cornerstone of the cryptocurrency ecosystem prompting projects that are serious about their long-term viability to create their own DeFi applications.
Theta joined the party by launching it’s ThetaSwap v1 decentralized exchange onFeb.4. ThetaSwap allows users to swap Theta-based TNT-20 tokens and Theta Fuel (TFUEL) in a manner similar to the user experience on Uniswap and SushiSwap.
The DEX allows NFT holders the opportunity to trade their collectibles in a simple and secure manner through the integration of the Theta Chrome wallet extension available on both the Chrome and Brave browsers.
Future upgrades to ThetaSwap will add support for wrapped tokens, including a wrapped form of Theta similar to wETH or wBTC, along with the possible addition of several stablecoins whose issuers have already expressed interest in minting TNT20 forms of their assets.
Big-name partnerships push THETA price higher
The third reason for THETA’s improving fundamentals comes from the increase in big-name partnerships.
On Feb.9 the team announced that entertainment powerhouse Lionsgate, home to popular movie titles like John Wick and The Hunger Games, would be joining the Theta ecosystem. The partnership will kick off with movie night screenings beginning in March.
Cointelegraph Markets Pro – VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. THETA price
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro shows that Theta’s price was decreasing on Feb.6 following a bullish breakout which appears to be the result of ThetaSwap’s release on Feb.5.
The VORTECS™ score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.
On Feb.9 news of the Lionsgate partnership broke and by Feb.10 the VORTECS ™ score increased to 80, a move which was followed by THETA’s current rally to its all-time high at $3.49.
Other noteworthy Theta partners include NASA, which hosts a channel that live streams rocket launches and most recently a live feed from a Mars rover. World Series of Poker has also joined with Theta and its channel offers non-stop coverage of the world poker tour.
A rising tide lifts all boats
Theta’s entrance into DeFi, the steady addition of big-name streaming partners and the strength of the current crypto bull market all point to a growing ecosystem that is only beginning to display its true potential.
With Delaware’s Department of State showing a recent filing for a Grayscale Theta Trust LLC, the altcoins price appreciation may just be getting started as Bitcoin and altcoins are increasingly catching the eye of the mainstream investor.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
