PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD

- BTC ($6,790): +14% / -6%
- ETH ($143): +13% / +9%
- LTC ($40): +8% / -4%
- XRP ($0.18): +9% / -7%
- Crypto Market Cap ($191B): +13% / 0% /
- BTC Dominance: 65%

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO

- In one of the largest acquisitions in the space to date, Binance has acquired CoinMarketCap, the popular aggregator for exchange volume and crypto pricing data which drew over 207 million visitors in the past 6 months. Sources have said the deal occurred between $300 million to $400 million. Binance is reportedly shifting CoinMarketCap away from an ad-based model to a subscription model. Link. 

- Games with crypto at their core but mainstream appeal have seen increasing usage since Covid-19. War Riders, a Mad Max-esque adventure using NFTs, has seen a 70% spike in new users and increased time spent in-app. Lucid Sight, which brought Star Trek onto the blockchain, has seen session times increase up to 60 minutes, from 20 minutes before Covid-19. Even messaging apps like Kin and Status have seen increase in installs and time in app. Link. 

- Stabelcoins saw record transaction volume of over $90 billion in the first quarter of 2020, and increase of 8% from the previous quarter. Total transaction volume for stablecoins was $250 billion in 2019. Link. 

- 11 class action lawsuits were filed in New York this week against a number of crypto companies and token issuers, for violating securities laws. Lawsuits were filed against Binance, Civic, TRON Foundation, KuCoin and their founders. The lawsuits allege violations of US federal and state securities laws against issuers of digital tokens, as well as the crypto exchanges that sold to people based in the US. Link. 

- In a continued effort to decentralize MakerDao's governance system, The Maker Foundation has relinquished all control of its governance token, MKR, to the governance community. Only MKR holders can now vote on the fate of the network. MakerDao is best known for producing Dai, a dollar-pegged stablecoin that is backed by Ether and BAT reserves rather than fiat. Link.

- The central bank of France is experimenting with the use of a digital euro in settlement procedures. They want to show how traditional interbank settlements an be carried out using a central bank digital currency and better understand its effects on financial stability and monetary policy. The central bank is taking applications for experiments and proposals to start testing various use cases. Link.

- Binance is launching a new crypto-to-crypto exchange in South Korea called Binance KR. Link.

- Hackers managed to infect nearly 2,000 - 3,000 Microsoft SQL servers with crypto malware. Entities across health care, aviation, IT, telecoms and education in China, India, South Korea, Turkey and the U.S. have all been affected. Link. 

- UK challenger Revolut has expanded its crypto offerings to all of 7 million of its users. Some users have complained that the company is charging a significant premium relative to spot price. Link.

- Crypto custodian Anchorage will now support XRP, making it the 19th digital asset currently supported by the platform. Link.

- Crypto exchange ShapeShift now allows US-based customers to buy BTC and ETH with a debit card. The new platform doesn't require account verification to purchase crypto; ShapeShift says that since transfers occur P2P and the exchange doesn't custody customer funds, it doesn't need KYC. Link.

- YC-backed CoinTracker is bringing its portfolio tracking and tax reporting platform to more users. The company has partnered with companies like bitcoin rewards platform Lolli, bitcoin security firm Casa, crypto finance protocol Compound, and trading platform Crypto.com so their users can easily report their taxes. CoinTracker already has an existing integration with TurboTax. Link.

- PayPal is hiring an AML and Blockchain Strategy director for their Global Financial Crimes division. Link.

- General Motors has filed a patent for a "Decentralized Distributed Map Using Blockchain". GM is looking to use blockchain tech to dynamically map around a car in real-time using car sensors and navigation maps; blockchain tech is expected to reduce costs. Link.