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  • Spotify Trials Feature Allowing Artists to Promote Their NFTs

    Spotify Trials Feature Allowing Artists to Promote Their NFTs

    Key takeaways:

    • Spotify, the leading music streaming company, is reportedly testing out a new feature that lets artists promote NFTs on their profiles
    • The music industry giant says the feature could roll out to all users if the feedback accumulated in the trial phase is positive
    • Spotify won’t sell NFTs directly; instead, users will be taken to third-party NFT marketplaces

    Spotify is testing letting artists promote NFTs on their profiles

    Music streaming giant Spotify is trialing a new feature that lets artists promote their non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on their profiles, according to a report from Music Ally. The feature is currently in the early stages of development, available only to a limited number of Android users from the US. Per the report, popular artists and NFT enthusiasts Steve Aoki and The Wombats are participating in the testing phase.

    Allowing Spotify users to support their favorite artists via merchandise and ticket purchases has long been available on the platform as a way for artists to establish extra income sources. Now, the company is examining the viability of doing the same for NFTs. It is worth noting that Spotify is not looking to directly sell digital collectibles, but will instead redirect interested users to external NFT marketplaces.

    The NFT feature might receive a platform-wide rollout if the user metric data and feedback collected in the trial phase turn out favorable. “We routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve artist and fan experiences. Some of those tests end up paving the way for a broader experience and others serve only as an important learning,” a Spotify representative explained to Music Ally. 

    The news of Spotify testing out new NFT features comes about two months after the streaming giant announced it is looking for an experienced backend engineer who could leverage Web3 technologies and a senior manager capable of identifying potential moonshot projects. At the time, the specific job descriptions led many to speculate whether Spotify is preparing for a push into NFTs. 

    This is not the Swedish music company’s first foray into the world of blockchain. Spotify had previously collaborated with Facebook (now Meta) on the Diem stablecoin project, intrigued by the possibility of cutting out the middle man between fans and artists.

  • Coinshift Closes $15 Million Series A Led by Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, Alameda Ventures

    Coinshift Closes $15 Million Series A Led by Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, Alameda Ventures

    Sheridan, United States, 17th May, 2022, Chainwire

    Cash management company announces roadmap to build cutting-edge multichain treasury infrastructure for Web3

    Coinshift, leading treasury management and infrastructure platform that enables DAOs and crypto businesses to manage cash reserves, announced its $15 million series A funding round and its roadmap for building a novel full-service treasury management solution in the industry.

    The series A funding round is led by Tiger Global and joined by Sequoia Capital India, Ryan Hoover (Founder of Product Hunt and the  Weekend Fund), Alameda Ventures, Spartan Group, Ethereal Ventures, Alpha Wave Capital, Hash key Capital, Quiet Capital, Polygon Studios, Volt Capital and 300 and more angels and operators in crypto and fintech.

    Coinshift has undergone rapid growth since its launch in June 2021, managing more than 1000 safes, $1.3 billion in assets, and $80 million in payouts for organizations like Consensys, Messari, Biconomy, Uniswap, Perpetual Protocol, Balancer and many others.

    Coinshift Founder and Chief Executive Officer Tarun Gupta, commented, “Today, a new chapter of the Coinshift journey begins. We are unveiling a glimpse into our platform’s second version, through which we share our vision to build the most sophisticated multichain treasury infrastructure for Web3. The fact that our investors have returned to participate in a series A funding round is a testimony to the quality of our platform and the timely solution we offer to fill the current needs in the market.”

    Coinshift’s version 2 was built and designed in close collaboration with the industry’s leading Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). Coinshift’s version 2 will allow users to manage multiple Gnosis Safes for multiple chains under one organization to enable significant time saving and transparency in treasury operations. The major architectural change between Coinshift version 1 and Coinshift version 2 is that users can add multiple safes to a single organization across multiple chains, whereas in version 1, one safe address was tied to one organization, in Coinshift’s feature-rich version 2 architecture, treasury managers and sub-DAO committees will be able to efficiently consolidate all their safes across networks and seamlessly visualize overall treasury balances. In addition, users will have global access to payees, labels, budgets, reporting, and advanced access level control between safes.

    “With Coinshift’s version 1, our team has done an incredible job of building a sophisticated mass payouts platform. With our version 2, we are taking a massive leap forward to enable DAOs of any size, to manage their treasury. But we’re just getting started, and we are excited for the opportunity that lies ahead as we work toward building the most sophisticated next-generation cryptocurrency treasury management platform.”

    Investor Quotes

    Tiger Global: ​​“We’ve been impressed by the pace of product development at Coinshift since we met Tarun and the team. It’s clear there is a huge need for crypto native treasury management and payments, and we are excited to back Coinshift as they roll out the next iteration of the platform,” said Alex Cook, Partner, Tiger Global.”

    Alameda Ventures: “Excited to observe Coinshift leading the infrastructures to bring simple, flexible, and efficient DAO/treasury management tool into a wider audience.” said Adam, partner, Alameda Ventures.

    Notable individual investors include:

    • Ryan Hoover (Founder of Product Hunt and the Weekend Fund)
    • Sandeep Nailwal — Co-Founder and COO, Polygon
    • Shiva Rajaraman — VP at Opensea
    • Prabhakar Reddy — Founder of FalconX
    • Scott Belsky — CPO Adobe and Founder of Behance
    • Lenny Rachitsky — Previously Product Manager, Airbnb
    • Utsav Somani — Founder at Iseed and Head of Angelist India
    • Shaan Puri — Previously Director of Product, Twitch

    About Coinshift

    Coinshift is leading treasury management and infrastructure platform that enables DAOs and crypto businesses to manage cash reserves, general financing, and overall risk. Coinshift provides a single and easy-to-use solution that facilitates and manages treasury operations in an efficient manner. Coinshift is built on the Gnosis Safe, allowing clients to utilize its core pay-out features to manage payments, engage in collaborative multi-signature transactions, and save up to 90 percent on gas fees. We extend Gnosis Safe functionality with additional reporting features, on Ethereum and Polygon, allowing users to save time and reduce operational and gas costs.
     

    Contacts

    CEO

    • Tarun Gupta
    • Coinshift
    • tarun@multisafe.finance
  • BitMEX Launches Spot Exchange with Support For Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Several Other Coins

    BitMEX Launches Spot Exchange with Support For Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Several Other Coins

    BitMEX, most commonly known as one of the pioneers in the cryptocurrency derivatives trading space, has launched its own spot market offering. The company is celebrating the expansion of its core services with a $1 million giveaway for spot trading users.

    Key takeaways:

    • Users can buy and sell seven cryptocurrencies on the BitMEX Spot exchange, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), ApeCoin (APE), Uniswap (UNI), Polygon (MATIC), Chainlink (LINK), and Axie Infinity (AXS). All spot cryptos on BitMEX are available in USDT (ERC-20 variety) trading pairs.
    • According to the company’s blog post, support for additional digital currencies along with BitMEX’s own BMEX token is coming in the next few months.
    • To commemorate the launch of spot markets, BitMEX will distribute $1 million in crypto and merchandise to traders via a “Sweepstakes” promotion that started on May 17 and will run through July 17.
    • The exchange will also be giving away BMEX tokens as a reward for newly registered users and highest volume spot traders.
    • BitMEX launched in 2014 and quickly rose to become the most widely used crypto derivatives platform, in large part due to being the first company to offer perpetual swap contracts. Since then, the platform has lost a large chunk of its market share to Binance, FTX, and other competitors.
    Create BitMEX Account
  • ENF Begins Delivering On Its Pledge To Revive The EOS Blockchain

    ENF Begins Delivering On Its Pledge To Revive The EOS Blockchain

    Yves La Rose, CEO of ENF, has made it abundantly clear that the community-driven EOS Network Foundation (ENF) doesn’t want Block.one to be any part of the EOS blockchain network.

    Addressing the media, he stressed, “Through multiple first-hand statements in their investigation, Wired established that Block.one was intentional in their pursuit of greed. After failing to deliver on multiple promises, the EOS community rejected Theranos / Elizabeth Holmes’ like behavior and established its own path with a set of community-driven values at its core. With the EOS Network Foundation now at the helm, we’ve proven ourselves to be capable of executing and are steadfast in our commitment to enhancing our ecosystem and putting the EOS token holders first.”

    Built using open-source technology originally developed by Cayman Island-based company Block.one, the EOS Network was once heralded as the most efficient blockchain network in existence. The project’s native EOS token was once ranked among the seven-largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, but everything came tumbling down as Block.one became embroiled in a whirlwind of lawsuits and regulatory inquiries.

    Yves La Rose and the ENF community believe in the potential of EOS Network; their grievance is with Block.one, and rightfully so. Despite raising a staggering $4.1 billion through the ICO, Block.one’s development efforts failed to match, contributing to the EOS token’s decline to all-time lows.

    Block.one’s Indifference Toward EOS

    Things started extremely well for EOS Network. The project had a great plan, a robust roadmap, and an experienced team. Block.one promised a network that is fully decentralized and highly scalable ecosystem alongside near-zero fees. Riding the hype, Block.one raised $4.1 billion via its ICO, still the largest ICO in crypto history. During the ICO, Block.one released 900 million tokens into the market.

    The ICO was a hit, and EOS Network was all set to disrupt the market. However, at this point, the tables turned. Back in December 2017, Brendan Blumer, the CEO of Block.one, had promised to allocate $1 billion from the ICO through EOS VC to develop the underlying technology further and support new projects building on EOS. According to ENF, much of the funds raised during the ICO have already been invested in unrelated projects, leaving EOS on the verge of extinction. 

    Shortly after the ICO, allegations started to float about irregularities like wash trading and vote trading. On top of it, several media outlets reported that the majority of the stakes in the EOS Network were owned by Chinese companies, leading to more confusion among EOS’ early backers. At nearly the same time, the US SEC charged Block.one for raising funds for unregistered security, eventually agreeing to a settlement of $27.5 million. 

    Development activity on the EOS Network came to a sudden halt after Block.one’s lead developer Dan Larimer and most of his team left the company in 2019. By this point, Block.one had sidelined the EOS Network and was busy with other projects such as the crypto exchange Bullish – which derives liquidity in part from the proceeds of the infamous ICO. Moreover, Block.one faced another legal blow in 2020 when investment firm Crypto Assets Opportunity Fund (CAOF) filed a class-action lawsuit accusing it of failing to deliver on the promises it made during the ICO.

    After years of neglect, the EOS community came together, thus forming the EOS Network Foundation, or ENF, in 2021. As expected, ENF has already started reviving the ecosystem through strategic partnerships, new investments, and publishing a result-oriented roadmap. 

    Earlier this year, 6.5 million EOS tokens were transferred to ENF’s official account, intended to rebuild the network to meet existing market standards. Additionally, ENF recently launched an extensive Blue Paper to address the shortcomings of EOS Network’s components, including wallets, SDKs, and existing UI/UX standards. 

  • Coinbase Bankruptcy Woes Highlight The Importance of Non-Custodial Crypto Wallets

    Coinbase Bankruptcy Woes Highlight The Importance of Non-Custodial Crypto Wallets

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    In traditional finance, institutions are often deemed “too big to fail” and will avoid bankruptcy in certain ways. That doesn’t necessarily apply to crypto institutions, no matter how big they may be. Coinbase has been in hot water lately due to dropping revenue and dwindling stock prices, and users might not get their money back if things go awry.

    Coinbase is a rocky boat

    Most people who have heard of cryptocurrency in their life will also know the name Coinbase. It is one of the many global trading platforms where users can acquire crypto assets through popular and convenient payment methods. Moreover, the company supports dozens of cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies, making it a crucial industry gatekeeper. Coinbase has supported millions of users since its inception and generated billions in trading volume.

    There was a substantial buzz in the crypto community when Coinbase decided to go public on the stock market. That sentiment was short-lived among investors, as the company’s stock has been on a rollercoaster ride ever since. That is in line with the cryptocurrency markets, which have seen various ups and downs. Even so, Coinbase shares recently suffered another 15% blow, confirming interest is waning.

    Making matters worse is how the company is losing revenue. A projected $1.48 billion expected in the latest quarterly report was not met. Instead, the company generated $1.17 billion, leaving stockholders dissatisfied. Considering how the Coinbase stock lost over 70% of its value since March 2022, something needs to change. If not, the company may go bankrupt, which would trigger a cascading ripple effect throughout the crypto industry.

    With fewer users, less revenue, a decrease in monthly retail transactions, and a collapsing stock price, Coinbase is in the hot seat. The company’s performance hasn’t been aided by the fluctuating crypto prices and Bitcoin dipping below $30,000 this week. Nevertheless, company officials are not too worried, even with a $430 million loss in Q1 2022. That said, bankruptcy remains a plausible outcome, and users would get the short end of the stick if it happened.

    The Coinbase Bankruptcy Scenario

    A lot has been said about this global leading crypto trading platform in recent weeks. The company added a risk disclosure in the latest earnings report, confirming how users would not have asset protection if Coinbase files for bankruptcy. Courts can treat customer assets as Coinbase’s assets. None of this should be surprising to exchange users, as the saying “not your keys, not your coins” has always applied.

    It is the first time company officials use such strong language, though. Moreover, the disclosure confirms users would be the last in line to receive compensation should things go awry with the company. It is intriguing to see Coinbase use terms like “bankruptcy” in their earnings yet claiming they have no plans to go down that route in interviews.

    The problem here is how Coinbase is a custodian to the tune of over $250 billion. Claiming back such vast amounts of money if bankruptcy occurs would be virtually impossible. Moreover, it makes one wonder how much of these “reserves” are still in the hands of the company, despite CEO Brian Armstrong confirming “funds are safe”.

    It is good to be prepared for all scenarios and be upfront with customers. Everyone now knows their funds should not be kept at Coinbase for too long, as the search for a proper crypto wallet needs to get underway.

    Non-Custodial Wallets Are Essential

    The best way for users to store their crypto assets is through a non-custodial wallet. More specifically, such a wallet enables the user to access the private key without sharing it with anyone else, i.e., an exchange like Coinbase. For newcomers, this may seem complicated, although solutions like Ambire make everything more accessible. Furthermore, there is no need for seed phrases, as one can access wallets through an email address and password combination.

    Contrary to what one may think, the email and password combination does not require sacrificing its non-custodial approach. Ambire is an open-source project, and users can self-host their wallet, should they choose to do so. Additionally, all users who keep funds in an Ambire wallet will receive ongoing airdrops of $WALLET tokens. The $WALLET token is the governance token for deciding on Ambire development and integrations.

    The Ambire wallet solution supports Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Fantom, and Arbitrum, which are prominent among cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Additionally, users can use it together with a hardware wallet – Trezor and Ledger – and use it to access dApps, decentralized finance, and blockchain gaming. Transaction fees can be paid in stablecoins rather than ETH or BNB, a welcome addition.  With ongoing concerns over Coinbase filing for bankruptcy, it is a good time to look into non-custodial wallets. Ambire offers a solution and maintains a decentralized approach to its governance, making for an exciting combination.

  • Grayscale Launches Its First Digital Asset-Based European ETF

    Grayscale Launches Its First Digital Asset-Based European ETF

    Key takeaways:

    • Leading digital asset manager Grayscale Investments has launched its first  crypto-oriented European ETF
    • The new exchange traded fund will track the performance of companies included in the Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index
    • Grayscale is the biggest institutional holder of crypto, with close to $20 billion in Bitcoin and over $6 billion in Ethereum under management

    Grayscale’s new ETF to track the performance of the Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index

    Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest cryptocurrency asset manager, has launched Grayscale Future of Finance UCITS ETF, the company’s first European exchange traded fund (ETF). The new investment vehicle will be available to customers across Europe via the London Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana, and Deutsche Börse Xetra.

    According to a press release, Grayscale’s new ETF will track the “investment performance” of the Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index. The Index consists of companies involved in the digital economy, including exchanges, brokerages, technology developers, as well as cryptocurrency mining and infrastructure companies.

    The news of expansion in the European market comes roughly three months after Grayscale launched its US-based ETF tracking Bloomberg’s “Future of Finance” Index. Global Head of ETFs at Grayscale David LaValle had this to say about the launch of the new digital asset-oriented investment vehicle:

    “At Grayscale, we have long believed that the digital economy will be a major driver for the development and growth of the global economy. Through GFOF UCITS ETF, European investors now have the opportunity to receive exposure to the companies that are pivotal to the evolution of the global financial system.”

    LaValle added that the Grayscale team is “incredibly proud” about being at the “forefront of digital currency investing.”

    In related news, earlier this year, Grayscale launched a smart contract investment product consisting of Ethereum competitors, including Cardano, Solana, and Avalanche. At the time, the company said that the new fund was established as a response to growing investor demand for “diversified exposure.”

    According to Bitcoin Treasuries, Grayscale manages by far the largest among of Bitcoin out of any public and private company. The asset manager’s Bitcoin stash consists of over 654,000 BTC, worth just shy of $20 billion at press time. Grayscale second-largest product based on dollar amount is Ethereum Trust, with over $6 billion in assets under management.

  • How Blockchain is Bringing the Metaverse to the E-commerce Industry

    How Blockchain is Bringing the Metaverse to the E-commerce Industry

    As the world turns digital, the talk of metaverses and virtual worlds has grown to new heights, as every corporation takes a turn to include metaverses into their future plans. This obsessive need for the metaverse kicked off with Facebook’s rebranding to ‘Meta’, bringing alive the wave of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse around the globe. The sudden appreciation for these virtual worlds has set the ecosystem on a path of constant innovation, allowing users to experience everything in the real world within the metaverse. 

    With the metaverse pegged to reach nearly a trillion dollars by 2024, several corporations and industries are welcoming the idea. Over the past year or so, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have all shown interest by investing big money in the space. Additionally, projects in the gaming, real estate, fashion, and other industries have been pulling millions of customers to try out the metaverse. As the adoption rate for metaverse projects grows, even more industries will be expected to launch their virtual worlds. 

    E-commerce joins the metaverse worlds

    Agoraverse, a project built by The Lofts Business Club, is introducing a metaverse for e-commerce, becoming one of the first projects to provide a Web 3.0 immersive virtual shopping centre. The project is powered by the Solana blockchain, taking advantage of the low gas and transaction fees and faster transaction speeds than Ethereum. 

    As the first of its kind, Agoraverse aims to replicate real-world shopping experiences into the metaverse. The platform enables people to see objects in 3D, travel across the shops and test objects on their avatar, as you would by visiting a real mall or store. The Agora will feature clothing shops, furniture stores, and art shops, including NFTs and any use case that fits with the Metaverse. It will also feature mini-games & leisure areas like restaurants, bars & clubs for roleplayers and gamers. 

    Furthermore, Agoraverse couples the Solana blockchain’s decentralized qualities with the Unity Game Engine, providing high-resolution virtual reality capabilities for users. This allows users to experience amazing shops in 3D and later in virtual reality, shop for digital and material objects with their friends and family, shop anonymously while protecting their data, and test items in their private space before buying. Finally, users can also earn the native $AGORA token, which can be used within the metaverse realm. 

    To start off on Agoraverse, users simply need to connect their Solana wallet and select an area, mall, or store (called Metashops) that they’d like to check out and tour. Users will be able to buy items from the metaverse using the $AGORA token. If you buy a digital object, the NFT is sent to your wallet. If you buy a real object, the process is similar to a web 2.0 online shop, meaning you will have to fill in your address and pay with your preferred payment method, which will include cryptocurrencies.

    The $AGORA native token

    The driving force of the Agoraverse is its native token, $AGORA, which is used as the main shopping currency on the platform. The token is used to rent metashops, buy items from partnered stores, and create a fully functioning shopping experience on Agora. As the Agoraverse team gets more partners and businesses to join the metaverse, the $AGORA token will offer more utility to users, allowing them to buy more virtual and material items.

    $AGORA will be released every 6 months, funds will be kept on seven different wallets, readable at any moment on the blockchain. The project is launching its presale of the $AGORA token for whitelisted wallets. A total of 8% of the total circulating tokens will be distributed to the presale investors with a 20% discount for Access Card holders (0.0104$ per token) and a 15% discount for others (0.0110 $ per token). Finally, the public sale will launch shortly after the presale with an additional 8% of the total token supply sold with no discounts. The public sale price will be 0.013 $ per token.

  • Bitcoin is the #1 Coin to Watch for the Week of May 16 – May 22, 2022

    Bitcoin is the #1 Coin to Watch for the Week of May 16 – May 22, 2022

    At the beginning of Week 20, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at a mere $1.38 trillion, which means that the valuation of all the cryptos in circulation has decreased by more than $250 billion last week. One of the main reasons for this is the UST de-peg and subsequent collapse of Terra’s LUNA, once a Top 10 cryptocurrency. Furthermore, even Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, briefly lost its $1 peg. These events served as a reminder of how risky cryptocurrency investments can be and several investors apparently decided to liquidate their crypto holdings as all Top 30 coins ended the week in red numbers, some down by more than 35%. If you are looking for best opportunities in the bearish market, here are some ideas which coins to look into. 

    3. Project Galaxy (GAL)

    Project Galaxy is a network that allows users and project developers to access on- and off-chain credentials data, which helps them build better and more secure communities. This Web3 identity platform is powered by GAL, an ERC-20 standard utility token that can be used to pay for access to credentials data and can be staked to participate in network validations. In addition, GAL is also a governance token, meaning that its holders can vote on the future of the platform. Currently, there are almost 1,7 million Galaxy ID issued on the platform.

    Buy/Sell GAL

    Can GAL reclaim $10 or even $20 valuation?

    GAL tokens entered circulation via Binance Launchpool on May 5 and were listed by Coinbase, another major cryptocurrency exchange, the next day. As it is usual for newly listed tokens, GAL initially hit the $200 price point, which is a 133x spike compared to its initial sale price of just $1.50, but then quickly retraced back to sub $20 levels. In fact, during the first five days of trading GAL price took a dive and found a bottom at the price of $2.65 on May 12. Between May 12 and May 13, however, GAL rallied by over 100% and demonstrated the largest relative recovery out of all top 100 cryptos in that time frame. At the beginning of week 20, GAL is changing hands at around $7 per token. Given the fact that this is a relatively new project that addresses a real problem in the growing Web3.0 sector, we believe that GAL still has a large potential to grow in terms of valuation. It should be mentioned that the token’s trading volume surpassed $1 billion during the first 24 hours of trading on Binance. While this is, to some extent, a consequence of speculative trading which freshly listed tokens are often subjected to, the persistently high trading volumes might also indicate that there is plenty of interest for Project Galaxy within the crypto community.

    2. Lido DAO Token (LDO)

    The Lido DAO is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization that manages the Lido liquid staking protocol by deciding on key parameters such as fees and incentives. Lido is currently the most popular staking protocol for Ethereum 2.0, Solana and Kusama, and the second largest DeFi service in terms of TVL, according to DeFi Llama. At the moment, Lido offers 3.6% APR on ETH deposits, while allowing you to retain access and liquidity of your staked assets, which can therefore additionally be utilized as loans collateral, for lending, yield farming, etc. LDO is the governance token of the Lido DAO, granting its holders rights to vote on proposals of changes to the protocol.

    Buy/Sell LDO

    Lido’s popularity will likely continue growing as “The Merge” approaches

    Lido, an already very popular liquid staking service, attracted additional attention last week as it started trading on Binance. The listing sparked significant volatility in the LDO markets, fist sending the token’s price from around $2.76 to a local high of $3.50 soon followed by a steep correction to $2.25. Currently, LDO is changing hands at an even lower price of $1.45, despite the fact that Lido recently launched a new Curve Finance pool with 1 million LDO in incentives for initial depositors. However, as with GAL, we believe that there is a big upside potential when it comes to LDO price. One of the key reasons is that the liquid staking platform’s popularity will likely continue to increase in anticipation of Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake-based Ethereum 2.0 also known as The Merge. In addition, the Lido team has layed out a thorough plan on how they plan to improve their staking pools in the future. The team’s main focuses are creating a resilient Lido governance and ensuring permissionless validation on Lido. The later will be achieved by deploying two fundamental improvements: 

    Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) and Node Operator Score (NOS), which will be used for stake allocation. With such improvements, we believe that LDO will see greener days if only the demand for a liquid staking platform does not surprisingly vanish into thin air. 

    1. Bitcoin (BTC)

    Although we believe Bitcoin does not need much introduction and that all eyes would be on it even if it were not featured on our list, here is a short summary of the history and key characteristics of the first truly decentralized digital currency. The world’s pioneer cryptocurrency was launched by pseudonymous figure named Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009 and has a capped supply of 21 million coins. The decreasing miner block rewards makes the cryptocurrency scarcer with time, ensuring a deflationary nature. Bitcoin is also often referred to as the barometer of the cryptocurrency market as other assets usually follow BTC’s price performance.

    Buy/Sell BTC

    BTC dominance hits a two-month high following the recent market-wide dip

    During the most recent pullback, Bitcoin has performed better than virtually any other major cryptocurrency. The high degree of resilience of the world’s oldest crypto becomes especially evident when comparing BTC’s price movements to the price performance of most altcoins. Although Bitcoin’s market capitalization dropped from $650 billion to less than $600 billion last week, other cryptocurrencies suffered even greater losses. This means that Bitcoin outperformed the cryptocurrency market average. This translated to an increase in Bitcoin market dominance, which stands at 43.0% at the beginning of Week 20. It is worth noting that this is the highest BTC market dominance recorded since mid-March. At the same time Bitcoin is trading at a 17-month low price and struggling to keep floating above the $30,000 price mark and last week it even briefly dipped to as low as $25,400. Nevertheless, Bitcoin is still perceived as the safest crypto investment for the long run by many investors in the space. Therefore, trades scared by the Terra’s market crash and high double-digit losses accrued by most altcoin holders last week, will likely start flocking into Bitcoin. Should this shift in the acceptable perceived risk level gain momentum, Bitcoin would not be struggling to maintain a value above $30,000 or even higher.

  • More Whitelisted Members, Wider DEX Integrations, Higher Total Supply – USDD Thrives Alongside Increased and Diversified Reserve Assets

    More Whitelisted Members, Wider DEX Integrations, Higher Total Supply – USDD Thrives Alongside Increased and Diversified Reserve Assets

    Geneva, Switzerland, 17th May, 2022, Chainwire

    he TRON DAO Reserve has announced four more major players in the blockchain industry, Amber Group, Poloniex, ANKR, and Mirana following Alameda Research founded by Sam Bankman-Fried as the second, third, fourth, and fifth Members and Whitelisted Institutions to mint Decentralized USD (USDD).

    USDD is a decentralized algorithmic stablecoin launched collaboratively by the TRON DAO Reserve and top-tier mainstream blockchain institutions. USDD is pegged to the US Dollar (USD) through TRX and maintains its price stability algorithmically under the guidance of the TRON DAO Reserve. It enables access to a stable and decentralized digital dollar system that in turn assures financial freedom for everyone. The USDD protocol runs on the TRON network, is connected to Ethereum and BNB Chain through the BTTC cross-chain protocol, and will be accessible across more blockchains in the future.

    In light of the recent market events, the TRON DAO Reserve has increased its reserves and diversified its assets to include $82,341,872 worth of BTC, $181,643,872 worth of TRX, $295,200,000 worth of USDT, among others. There has also been a tremendous increase in TRC-20 UDSC issuance over the past week, pushing the total supply to over $2 billion, making TRON the third-largest blockchain to host USDC.

    The newly admitted Reserve Members, along with the first Member Alameda Research, are approved collaborators granted with the right to mint and burn USDD. As Members and Whitelisted Institutions, they serve as advisors and make recommendations to improve, enhance and provide general support to the USDD network. They prepare for, attend, and fully engage in Reserve discussions and member meetings. They also commit to supporting the USDD community and raising awareness about the USDD network and the use of USDD in general.

    Amber Group is a leading digital asset company operating 24/7 worldwide. They offer platforms for cryptocurrency trading and investments using digital assets. As of earlier this year, the company processed more than $1 trillion worth of crypto transactions cumulatively and managed over $5 billion in digital assets, according to Forbes.

    Poloniex is a cryptocurrency exchange that combines low trading fees with a list of over 350 supported cryptocurrencies. The exchange has heightened popularity recently with more than $100 million in average daily trading volume.

    ANKR is a decentralized Web3 infrastructure provider that helps developers, decentralized applications, and stakers interact easily with an array of blockchains. APIs and RPCs can be accessed to build DApps easily, stake on ANKR Earn, and obtain custom solutions for blockchain enterprise needs.

    Mirana is a venture, trading, and asset management firm. They invest in entrepreneurs, projects, and funds with deal sizes ranging from $50,000 to $50 million. The company believes in a decentralized and tokenized future and is looking to support builders of the new paradigm.

    “We welcome Amber Group, Poloniex, ANKR, and Mirana to join Alameda Research as Whitelisted Institutions and official Members of the TRON DAO Reserve,” said H.E. Justin Sun, Founder of TRON. “With the continued onboarding of expertise, we look forward to building the USDD network for a modern decentralized financial system on the blockchain while consolidating the value of USDD as a true settlement currency.”

    USDD has seen a massive influx of interest since launch, with over $335 million TVL in under four days. Liquidity pools for USDD continue to grow on a variety of major DEXs, including Curve, Uniswap, PancakeSwap, Ellipsis, SunSwap, and KyberSwap. Updated liquidity pool data can be found below but should not be considered an exhaustive list

    The TRON DAO Reserve website is now live, and historical token issuance records are published here.

    About TRON DAO

    TRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized Web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network has gained incredible traction in recent years. As of April 2022, it has over 92 million total user accounts on the blockchain, more than 3.2 billion total transactions, and over $8 billion in total value locked (TVL). In addition, TRON hosts the largest circulating supply of USD Tether stablecoin across the globe, overtaking USDT on Ethereum since April 2021. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. Most recently, the algorithmic stablecoin USDD was announced on the TRON blockchain, backed by the first-ever crypto reserve for the blockchain industry – TRON DAO Reserve, marking TRON’s official entry into decentralized stablecoins.

    Website | Telegram | Medium | Twitter | YouTube | Reddit | GitHub | Forum

    About USDD

    USDD is a decentralized algorithmic stablecoin launched collaboratively by the TRON DAO Reserve and top-tier mainstream blockchain institutions. The USDD protocol runs on the TRON network, is connected to Ethereum and BNB Chain through the BTTC cross-chain protocol, and will be accessible across more blockchains in the future. USDD is pegged to the US Dollar (USD) through TRX and maintains its price stability algorithmically under the guidance of the TRON DAO Reserve. It enables access to a stable and decentralized digital dollar system that in turn assures financial freedom for everyone.

    Website | Twitter | Telegram | Discord | Medium

    Contacts
    • Anjali George
    • support@trondao.org