PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($5,933): +0% / -18%
- ETH ($126): +1% / -4%
- LTC ($37): +3% / -11%
- XRP ($0.16): +8% / -15%
- Crypto Market Cap ($168B): +0% / -12%
- BTC Dominance: 65%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Bitcoin's hashrate has declined 45% since reaching all-time highs in February. The decline in the drop of BTC led many miners to shut off unprofitable mining with the hopes of re-entering when prices increase. With difficulty so low right now, some miners are switching back and forth between bitcoin cash and bitcoin. Both blockchains will see a block reward reduction during the next month and a half; BCH is expected to halve around April 8 and BTC on May 13. Link.
- Chinese payments platform Alipay has filed a number of patents that provide more details on China's planned central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan. The currency will use the functionality of a blockchain-based currency for tracking payments and linking them to identities, but it will not be decentralized. Alipay will likely be able to operate as a commercial bank and will be a secondary issuer of the currency. Other Alipay patents include the ability to restrict accounts suspected of illegal activity as well as wallet functionality dependent on user behavior and social ID. Link.
- A new report from CoinTracker has found that the top four cities by average crypto portfolio size are all in the San Francisco Bay Area. The average crypto portfolio in San Francisco is roughly $55,000, followed by Palo Alto with $39,000, Oakland with $35,000, and San Mateo with $30,600. 79% of US crypto wealth is held in bitcoin (50%) and ether (29%). Link.
- US Courts granted an injunction preventing Telegram from issuing GRAM tokens. The SEC has alleged that Telegram's 2018 ICO was an unregistered securities offering. The US courts sided with the SEC and said that since Telegram intended for the Gram tokens to reach the secondary market, they were disqualified from any exemptions. The Telegram decentralized network (TON) was supposed to launch in Q4 last year, but investors agreed to push the launch date until April 30th while the company works through the SEC lawsuit. If the network isn't launched by April 30th investors will have the option to redeem 72% of their invested capital. Link.
- Users can now migrate and back up data to Storj Lab's decentralized cloud storage service called Tardigrade. The open source network currently has 19 petabytes of available capacity across thousands of nodes run by individuals and partners globally. When a file is uploaded it is encrypted and split into 80 fragments distributed across separate nodes, but reconstructing the file only requires about 29 pieces. There are currently about 3,000 users on the platform. Link.
- Ripple, Coinbase and Binance were granted six month license exemptions in Singapore. Singapore adopted new legislation in January - called the Payment Services Act (PSA) - requiring crypto companies to get specific financial licenses to operate. But the country has allowed some specific payment service companies to continue operating without those licenses or a limited period of time. Link.
- Coinbase's Commerce platform, which enables merchants to accept payments in crypto, has passed $200 million in total transactions since it launched in February 2018. Coinbase works with over 8,000 merchants. Bitcoin is the most frequently used cryptocurrency, though stablecoins like USDC have been growing materially in usage. Link.
- Binance announced a crypto debit card issued by Visa. The card works just like a debit card and is connected directly to a user's BTC and BNB holdings in their Binance account. The Binance Card will be accepted by more than 46 million merchants globally. Link.
- Fintech giant Revolut is launching in the US, but won't support crypto trading to start. The neobank currently has over 10 million users in Europe. Link.
- South Korea's largest bank, KB Kookmin, is launching crypto custody services for bitcoin and ether. The bank would be the first major player in the region to enter the crypto space. Link.
- Coinbase Wallet now allows you to interact with DeFi projects such as Compound and dYdX directly through the app; some of these projects allow users to earn interest on their crypto holdings. Link.
- Blockchain analytics startup Coin Metrics raised a $6 million Series A round from investors including Highland Capital, Fidelity, and Coinbase Ventures. Coin Metrics was founded in 2017 and provides blockchain network and exchange data to institutional clients. The company plans to use the capital to grow its marketing and sales team. Link.