Kyber Network (KNC) bucks the market-wide downtrend with a 57% gain in January

In the crypto market volatility continues to reign supreme, and fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) run rampant. This makes it challenging for any project to rise above the noise and post positive price gains but there are a few projects that are showing strength during the current downturn. 

Kyber Network (KNC) is a multi-chain decentralized exchange (DEX) and aggregation platform designed to provide decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and their users with access to liquidity pools that provide the best rates.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a bottom of $1.18 on Jan. 6, the price of KNC has rallied 57% to a daily high at $1.87 on Jan. 27 despite the wider weakness in the crypto market.

Three reasons for the strong showing from KNC include the release of Kyber 3.0, which included a rebrand to KyberSwap, the expanding list of DEXs integrated with the Kyber ecosystem and the widespread availability of KNC on centralized and decentralized exchanges.

The release of Kyber 3.0

The most significant development driving momentum for the Kyber Network was the release of Kyber 3.0. The launch included a rebrand of the platform's exchange interface to KyberSwap and an integration with six blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, Fantom and Cronos.

We're excited to announce Kyber 3.0 transitioning Kyber from a single protocol to a hub of purpose-driven liquidity protocols catered to various DeFi use cases. This is the biggest change to Kyber's architecture incl. the new DMM & a KNC Migration proposal https://t.co/pgffnUKjsx

— Kyber Network (@KyberNetwork) January 21, 2021

On top of the integration of multiple popular blockchain networks, the Kyber 3.0 upgrade was also designed to address some of the biggest limitations in DeFi, like high gas fees and the limited access some projects get by only being available on one exchange.

Kyber has achieved its new functionality through the implementation of dynamic market makers (DMM), which allows adjustments to be made to the key parameters of a liquidity pool based on recent fee data and trade volume.

This approach helps improve concerns that have been raised about automated market makers (AMM), including reducing capital requirement, preventing front-running and mitigating impermanent loss.

Integration of new DEXs

Another for the bullish momentum driving KNC higher has been the continued integration of new decentralized exchange protocols into the Kyber Network ecosystem.

Most recently, KyberSwap integrated pools from multiple DEX protocols including ShibaSwap, DefiSwap, MMF, EmpirDEX, PhotonSwap, Morpheus, BeethovenX, Gavity, Cometh, DinoSwap and PantherSwap.

The new additions mean that the KyberSwap protocol now supports more than 40 DEXs and 31,000 liquidity pools across six major blockchain networks.

The developers at KyberSwap have also indicated that the support and integration of additional blockchain networks and decentralized exchanges is currently underway.

Related: Kyber plans to become a hub for DeFi with massive DEX upgrade

Widespread availability of KNC on exchanges

KNC also has widespread availability on exchanges across the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

As shown in the graphic above which was posted on Twitter by pseudonymous user ‘Cryptolaxy’, KNC is the second-ranked DEX token by the presence on exchanges and it is currently available on 80 separate exchanges.

The only other projects with similar availability are ZRX with 105 exchange listings and Uniswap at 76.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for KNC on Jan. 22, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for KNC climbed into the green and hit a high of 79 on Jan. 22, around 35 hours before the price increased 44% over the next three days.

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