Since the summer of 2020, decentralized exchanges (DEX) have been all the rage and in 2021 developers and investors continue to flock to the sector due to the ease of listing and buying into new projects.
While the method has proved fruitful for many projects, the price performance for iExec RLC (RLC), a blockchain-based decentralized cloud computing network that recently listed on several centralized exchanges, shows that CEX listings still carry the most weight when it comes to initiating price movements.

RLC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of RLC has surged 430% to $16.50 since rising off its May 4 low at $3.16.
Centralized exchange listings ignite the rally
Momentum for RLC kicked into high gear following the May 4 announcement that it would be listed on Coinbase, the top U.S. exchange by volume, which recently made waves in the traditional financial markets following its direct listing on the NASDAQ.

CTSI, RLC, MIR & TRB are launching on https://t.co/bCG11KMQ6s & in the iOS & Android apps within the next 15 mins. You may need to update your app to buy, sell, convert, send, receive or store CTSI, RLC, MIR & TRB. We will update when all are fully live. https://t.co/4C3BS8fiUs

— Coinbase (@coinbase) May 6, 2021

On May 5 it was also revealed that the RLC would be listed on the Huobi and Bithumb exchange, bringing further legitimacy and trading volume to the token.
The project received another boost of attention following the May 6 announcement of the official start of the iExec developer rewards program in which $1 million has been allocated to “inspire developers to discover the opportunities for innovation made possible with the iExec $RLC protocol.”
Monday’s price breakout to new record highs was initiated after the following tweet that highlighted iExec’s participation in the EU-backed Data Cloud project:

iExec recently announced its position as a technology provider in the EU-backed project DataCloud, with 16 other partners @BoschGlobal, @SINTEF, @KTHuniversity, Klagenfurt Univesity, @JOT_Internet, @MOGTechnologies, @UBITECH_GR & @Tellu_AS

More details in an article coming soon: pic.twitter.com/eIwNQvYsEb

— iExec (@iEx_ec) May 10, 2021

Follow up tweets that detailed iExec’s involvement in the ‘Trusted compute’ working group within the Ethereum (ETH) Alliance, Google’s confidential cloud computing program, the Confidential Computing Consortium and its collaboration with IBM further helped provide a further boost to RLC on May 10.
VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for RLC on May 9, prior to the recent price rise.
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.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. RLC price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro
As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for RLC reached a low of 48 on May 8 before quickly pushing into the dark green zone for a score of 84 on May 9, just two hours before its price rallied 120% over the next day.
After securing partnerships with some of the biggest cloud computing providers in the industry and listing on the largest centralized exchanges in the cryptocurrency market, iExec RLC looks well-positioned for further growth as mainstream investors look for real-world blockchain use cases to invest in and more money finds its way into the growing cryptocurrency ecosystem.
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