Bitcoin Price: US$ 39,742.07 (+1.29%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 2,936.93 (+1.66%)
Orca Users Swell, The Web3 Nintendo, & Cronje’s Crypto Future
- Orca, Raydium, and Serum are native Solana DEXes, with Orca being the youngest protocol out of the three. Though all 3 are DEXes, they do have their intricate differences.
- Serum is an order-book DEX, while Orca and Raydium are swap-based DEXes, similar to Uniswap. Orca stands out as it is the first to bring concentrated liquidity to Solana via Orca Whirlpool that is recently released for public use.
- Orca Daily Active Users (DAU) have seen a rapid climb to 108k, whereas older counterparts Raydium and Serum have stayed around 20k DAUs.
- Where did Orca’s growth stem from? Its growth was likely propelled by StepN’s user growth to >300k DAUs. StepN’s in-app swaps for GMT and GST route through Orca’s AMM. We’ll likely see Orca’s DAU continue to soar as StepN grows its user base.
- As more users pile in, Orca’s transactions have also grown to match figures seen on Raydium. (Serum is not included in this comparison, as it’s an order-book DEX, it will inherently result in more transaction throughput.)
- A major shakeup this week is OpenSea’s acquisition of Gem, with the intention to bring Gem’s key features to OpenSea in the future. OS has stated that Gem will continue to operate independently as a stand-alone product & brand after the acquisition. But this begs the question — will Gem face pressure to reduce support for other competitor marketplaces as time goes on? It is a shrewd move since Gem is the market leader in the aggregator space and has been consistently beating out Genie in transaction volumes and new users. Genie is not going down without a fight and has dropped hints of a token soon, possibly as a means to incentivize usage.
Goldman Sachs offers first Bitcoin-backed loan as Wall Street embraces crypto
- Goldman Sachs has offered its first Bitcoin-backed loan, in a major step forward for institutional cryptocurrency adoption on Wall St.
- A spokeswoman from Goldman told Bloomberg that the multinational investment bank had lent cash collateralized by Bitcoin (BTC) owned by the borrower for the first time in Goldman Sachs’ history. She added that the deal was particularly interesting because of its structure and 24-hour risk management.
- Such a loan allows for a Bitcoin holder to borrow fiat currency such as the US dollar, by fronting up their BTC as collateral to the bank. The underlying volatility of Bitcoin can make these loans risky — if the price of bitcoin drops too far the borrower may be required to increase their collateral, otherwise they risk getting liquidated.
‘Ready, steady, NFT:’ Ukrainian government accepts NFT donations
- Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, tweeted that the Ukrainian government will accept war effort contributions in the form of nonfungible token (NFT) donations and purchases. Via the official “Aid for Ukraine” crypto fund, individuals can donate cryptocurrency, fiat and now NFTs. So far the initiative has raised over $60 million, according to the website.
- All funds go toward supplying Ukrainians with weapons, medical gear, medical kits and other expenses outlined on the Aid for Ukraine website. Total expenses amounted to $45,103,538 by April 14. The Aid for Ukraine platform is powered by crypto exchanges FTX and Kuna, and by staking provider Everstake.
- The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is the beneficiary organization of several NFT projects including Russia For Sale, which sells Russian lands in the form of NFTs, and Holy Water, which supports local Ukrainian NFT artists, among others. Those who buy an NFT from one of the organizations will contribute directly to Ministry’s crypto wallet.
Telegram Wallet Bot enables users to send crypto in-app via revived blockchain project
- As told via a Twitter post on Tuesday, instant messaging app Telegram has rolled out crypto payments via Ton Token.
- To access the feature, users first need to download and install Telegram’s official Wallet bot, which allows them to purchase cryptocurrency by bank card, exchange and transfer to other wallets. According to the company, they can then send Bitcoin (BTC) or Toncoin to other users by clicking on the “Wallet” icon in direct messages.
- Ton stands for Telegram Open Network and was created by the namesake company in 2017 for decentralized services such as decentralized storage, anonymous networks, DNS, instant payments and others using a proof-of-stake mechanism. Cointelegraph previously reported that Telegram abandoned Ton in May 2020, following a lengthy battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Panama’s legislature approves bill regulating crypto
- Lawmakers in Panama have passed a bill that will regulate cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, in the Latin American country.
- In a Thursday tweet, Panamanian pro-crypto congressperson Gabriel Silva said lawmakers had approved the “Panama Crypto Law” following a third debate. According to Silva, the law will “help Panama become a hub of innovation and technology in Latin America.”
- According to Panama’s National Assembly, the Crypto Law is aimed at regulating “the trading and use of crypto assets, the issuance of digital value, the tokenization of precious metals and other assets, payment systems and other provisions.” However, Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo must sign the approved bill before it becomes law.
- “This will help create jobs and financial inclusion,” said Silva on the passage of the bill.
Ethereum strives to migrate into a brighter future: Report
- Ethereum 2.0 has been a highly anticipated development in the crypto industry. A recent Cointelegraph research report asks if Ethereum is still on track to defend its crown as the prime network backing the decentralized finance world.
- In a blog post in January, the Ethereum foundation stated that developers had been moving away from the Eth1-Eth2 terminology since late 2021. Instead, Eth1 will now be called the “execution layer” and Eth2 the “consensus layer.” This is not a minor twist toward more technical language. It is an attempt at expectation management due to common misconceptions.
- The switch from Eth1 to Eth2 is better thought of as a carefully engineered series of upgrades that will slowly transition the blockchain to its envisioned future. Eth2’s main chain, the PoS Beacon chain, was already launched in December 2020. The merging of Eth1 with the Beacon chain is expected in Q2 or Q3 of 2022.
BlackRock launches blockchain industry ETF, names crypto as 1 of 3 big opportunities
- BlackRock has officially launched a blockchain-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) that provides investors with exposure to the crypto and blockchain industry without needing to directly own digital assets.
- On Wednesday, the world’s largest asset manager, which currently manages approximately $10 trillion in assets, added the Blockchain and Tech ETF (IBLC) to its iShares product line.
- The $4.7 million ETF does not directly own cryptocurrencies or digital assets themselves but instead tracks an array of international companies that are involved in the industry.
- The ETF is comprised of 41 separate holdings, with the largest single holding being United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase making up 11.45% of the fund. This is closely followed by large Bitcoin (BTC) miners Marathon Digital Holdings with 11.19% and Riot Blockchain Inc., which accounts for 10.41% of the total holdings.
Maple Incorporates TRM Labs technology, continues to ensure safety is top priority
- Maple’s top priority is to ensure the safety and security of the protocol and its users. That’s why we continually audit and review our code and compliance processes. One such recent development is incorporating TRM Labs technology to ensure illegal activities have no place on the protocol.
- TRM Labs combines on-chain data and real-world investigations to identify financial crime and other harmful activities. We have taken a common-sense approach by tailoring the screening only to block wallets that are owned or associated with illegal activities such as sanctions, terrorism financing, hacked or stolen funds, ransomware, human trafficking, and child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
- These automated checks by TRM Labs are run on all wallets wishing to deposit into public pools on Maple. It is important to note that Maple has no ability to see ownership behind the wallet, and our terms of service and treatment of data and privacy do not change.
