Monero overview: XMR/USD struggles to stay above DMA50 ahead of the hard fork

• The coin has lost ground in sync with the rest of the market.
• The network is getting ready for another anti-ASIC hardfork.

Monero prepared ‘Beryllium Bullet’ major release to be installed by users ahead of a protocol update scheduled on March 9. The update aims to make the Monero network ASICs resistant and prevent the coins from being mined on these devices.

“In addition and to reiterate, users, merchants, services, pool operators, exchanges, and any other members of the Monero ecosystem should upgrade to and subsequently run v0.14 in order to be sufficiently prepared,” the company wrote in its official Twitter account.

According to the latest report published by a private researcher known as “MoneroCrusher,” ASIC miners are used to mine over 82% of all Monero coins, while a number of active ASIC0miners in Monero network amount to 5,400 units, which is about 85% of the whole network.

After the research results were published, Monero’s lead developer Riccardo Spagni promised to implement hardforks every 90 days to fight ASIC miners.

Currently, Monero (XMR), the 13th largest coin with the current market value of $837M is changing hands at $48.64, off the Sunday’s high reached at $56.35. The price dipped back below DMA100 at $50.16 and the psychological $50.00 handle. Currently, it is supported by DMA50 at $47.00. A sustainable move lower will unleash the bearish potential with the next aim as low as $38.00 (December 15 low).

XMR/USD, 1D chart