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Binance donates more than 20,000 units of personal protective equipment to hospitals in Ukraine

July 22, 2020 – Binance Charity, the world’s first blockchain-powered donation platform, donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to Ukrainian medical staff who are at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus disease. Four Ukrainian hospitals received help from the Binance Charity Foundation: Kiev City Hospital No. 4, Kiev City Hospital No. 5, Bila Tserkva City Hospital No. 2, and Poltava Regional Laboratory Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

In total, Binance Charity donated more than 11,000 medical protective suits, 6,000 medical masks, and 6,000 medical respirators. The charity event was held with the support of Rotary Kyiv International.

“Binance Charity is dedicated to improving the transparency in the donation process and to supporting communities in need via cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. As a leading blockchain-empowered charity platform, we take it as a priority to unite the blockchain community and fight this global crisis together,”

said CZ (Changpeng Zhao), CEO of Binance.

Due to the help of Binance Charity, more than 4,000 medical personnel received quality PPE. To date, more than 54,000 cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Ukraine and more than 10,000 Ukrainians are currently being hospitalized in hospitals. In total, more than 13 million cases of diseases have been confirmed in the world, the largest number of cases observed in the United States, Brazil and India.

“Through Binance Charity’s Crypto Against COVID campaign, Binance Charity uses its platform to raise cryptocurrency donations and have it spent primarily on buying medical supplies for the countries that are affected the worst by the virus. Three months after the launch of the Crypto Against COVID campaign, 24 countries and more than 1.5 million units of personal protective equipment have been delivered around the world. On behalf of Binance, we express our deepest gratitude to all of our medical staff for their valiant work in the fight against the Coronavirus,”

said Helen Hai, Head of Binance Charity.

Oksana Tjupa, head of the public organization Rotary Kyiv International added: “We would like to thank Binance for supporting the medical staff in Ukraine. This is really tangible help to the health system, as well as a huge contribution to the fight against the epidemic in Ukraine. Our joint initiative is a real way to support the real heroes of our time: medical workers.”

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About Binance

Binance is the world’s leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com

About Binance Charity

The Binance Charity Foundation (BCF) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of blockchain-enabled philanthropy towards achieving global sustainable development. Binance Charity aims to transform philanthropy by developing the world’s first decentralized charity foundation to build a future where blockchain technology can be used to end all forms of poverty and inequality, advance sustainable development and ensure that no one is left behind. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.charity/

About Rotary International

Rotary International is an association of Rotary clubs worldwide. Rotary clubs are non-religious and non-political charitable organizations that are open to all, regardless of nationality, race, religion, or political opinion. There are over 35,000 clubs with over 1.2 million members worldwide.

Media Contacts:
pr@binance.com

Graphic assets: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Hgp1RIWhWSadci_VOOD2BEv-M2-mGlnA

July 24, 2020
Top 3 Coins to Watch – Week 30

It’s the beginning of Week 30 and we have again prepared a selection of top 3 coins expected to benefit from increased attention in the following weeks. May it be releasing new upgrades, burning large amounts of tokens, or even just establishing new partnerships, all these events have the potential to drive the prices of the underlying digital asset up. This week’s selection includes one cryptocurrency exchange native token and two blockchain interoperability projects.

1. Binance Coin (BNB)

Binance Coin is a native token of the Binance Chain, launched and operated by the popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance. If users utilize BNB to pay for exchange, withdrawal, and listing fees they can enjoy significant discounts.

Buy/Sell BNB

Binance’s 12^th Quarterly Token Burn Was the Largest Burn to Date

The Binance Coin team has recently conducted a BNB token burn for the period of April 2020 to June 2020. This was the 12^th quarterly BNB token burn and the largest BNB burn in the history of Binance’s coin. The team has destroyed 3,477,388 BNB tokens, worth a total of $60.5 million at the time of burn. The outstanding amount of burned coins was a result of the increased spot, margin, and futures trading volumes.

The company also recently launched Binance Options and Binance Leveraged Tokens, looking to further increase its market share. Furthermore, Binance made two notable acquisitions in Q2 2020: the cryptocurrency prices and exchange volumes data aggregator CoinMarketCap and payments solution Swipe. You can read more on the company’s milestones in Q2 2020 in their quarterly highlights post.

2. ICON (ICX)

ICON is a blockchain technology and network framework that serves as an interconnecting blockchain between various independent blockchains, allowing them to interact with each other. The platform represents the next generation of decentralized applications (DAPPs) and has numerous use cases in the banking, teaching and healthcare sector. The project’s underlying coin is called ICX.

Buy/Sell ICX

ICON to Release Upgrades to its Governance System

The ICON project has recently deployed the first upgrade in a series of upgrades and updates concerning the platform’s governance system and token standards. The update, which includes changes to features like the number of delegating spots, staking, multiple unstaking periods and P-Rep private key dualizing, has already been released on Pagoda and Yeouido on July 14. The upgrade will hit exchanges on July 20, while the mainnet update is scheduled for one week later, July 27. At that time the team will also release the updated versions of ICONex Chrome, ICONex Mobile and ICON Tracker. More information on the project’s roadmap can be found in their Medium post from July 1.

3. Cosmos (ATOM)

Similarly to ICON, Cosmos is an interconnecting blockchain, that allows its users to interoperate with multiple projects, dApps, and cryptocurrencies hosted on unrelated network environments.

Buy/Sell ATOM

Cosmos Upgrades its Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol

At the heart of Cosmos project is the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol, a TCP/IP-like messaging protocol that carries out the trustless exchange of data and tokens between any of the supported blockchains. At the end of Week 30, on July 27, the Cosmos team will release its Stargate Testnet, which includes tweaks to the crucial IBC. According to the developers, the Stargate upgrade is the largest upgrade to date and as such it brings lots of improvements to the platform. They worte:

“Introducing Stargate, the largest Cosmos upgrade yet. Stargate will enable higher transaction throughput, cross-chain transactions, accelerate UI development, and so much more.” An overview of how the network’s upgrade will take place can be found here.

July 20, 2020
PayPal to Launch Its New Crypto Service in Partnership with Paxos
- PayPal has picked Paxos to provide cryptocurrency liquidity for their future crypto buying and selling feature
- PayPal will become the second large customer of the Paxos’ recently launched Crypto Brokerage
- Exchanges Coinbase and Bitstamp have also been rumored to be pursuing a deal with online payments giant
According to two sources familiar with the topic, PayPal has partnered with New York-based Paxos to launch its cryptocurrency buying and selling feature. This newly established corporate relationship could be officially revealed to the public as soon as this week. When PayPal finally rolls out cryptocurrency purchases it will become one of the most influential mainstream payments companies to do so, joining the company of less mainstream payment providers like Square and Robinhood.

Paxos Crypto Brokerage Launched Just Last Week

Paxos is a U.S.-based cryptocurrency company, which fully complies with the U.S. regulatory framework and even holds a trust charter issued by the state of New York.

The firm launched Paxos Crypto Brokerage just last week and their service turned out to be a major success, signing its first deal with the American division of the U.K.-based fintech giant Revolut in the first few days. Paxos Crypto Brokerage, which for now offers cryptocurrency buying and selling, while also facilitating crypto holding and transacting, makes it easy for businesses to integrate these cryptocurrency services into their own products. Aa a fully qualified custodian, Paxos is allowed to hold gold and digital assets on behalf of institutional investors.

In a recent blog post, Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla stated that the launch of the crypto brokerage could significantly boosted crypto adoption. He also revealed that the firm will need to scale up its itBit exchange to meet the demands of new clients. Cascarilla wrote:

“We’re even more excited that this [launch f Paxos Crypto Brokerage] enables a major tipping point for the adoption of cryptocurrency. Instead of having to seek out new services and brands, consumers can access crypto through the brands and applications they trust – from fintech apps to banks to brokers to ecommerce brands.”

Paxos Comes out as the Winner of the PayPal Deal

According to sources, PayPal has chosen the newly launched Paxos Crypto Brokerage to provide crypto liquidity and other services for the implementation of cryptocurrency buying and selling features. This makes PayPal the second huge customer of the nascent brokerage.

Previously, the other firms, including the cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Bitstamp have been mentioned as potential PayPal partners. The San Francisco-based Coinbase, which otherwise maintains a very good and long-lasting relationship with PayPal, apparently didn’t manage to get the deal. The same goes for European Bitstamp, which provides crypto services to Revolut in the U.K.

Range of Crypto Services offered by PayPal Remains Unclear

Both Paxos and PayPal declined to comment on the news, therefore it remains unclear when and to which extent PayPal will roll out its crypto services. A few days ago was reported that PayPal disclosed that it is working on offering cryptocurrency buying and selling to 325 million of its and Venmo’s (which is PayPal’s subsidiary) users in a letter to the European Commission. However, according to CoinDesk, only a portion of the users will have access to the crypto features at launch.

The latest developments in the fintech industry show that cryptocurrency services are slowly becoming a must-have feature of challenger-bank applications looking to grow their revenue and userbase.
July 20, 2020
New Crypto Wallet App Guarda is Live
Guarda is making available the new version of the crypto wallet app.

The fully redesigned app is bringing a slew of exciting new features to crypto users supporting more than 45 blockchains and over 10.000 tokens, including ERC-20, ERC-721, BEP-2, TRC10, TRC20, WAVES, OMNI, and EOS.

Considering Guarda Wallet’s wide range of supported assets, it is the best noncustodial wallet for ERC20 tokens and other coins, allowing for easy asset management from one place.

The Guarda Wallet is versatile and can be accessed from the various operating system:
- Desktop: MacOS, Windows, Linux
- Mobile: iOS and Android
- Web: Web browsers
Exchange and Fiat Gateway

The built-in trading option integrated with Guarda Wallet allows users to exchange cryptocurrencies between them, buy or sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many others without ever leaving their wallets. The users also able to buy crypto directly from within their wallet by using their Mastercard or Visa bank card.

Mobile Wallet Properties

Easy Cross-Platform Synchronization

The new version of the wallet allows you to access and manage all your funds regardless of the app or device you are using. That’s because either you have a mobile or a desktop wallet, all versions of Guarda Wallet can be synchronized between each other.

Ledger Compatibility

From Guarda’s interface, you can easily connect to your Ledger wallet, import your accounts, and manage the crypto funds stored in the hardware wallet. You can still get the security of an offline wallet, but also have the flexibility to manage and make trades via Guarda.

Paper Wallet Import

Although secure, sometimes paper wallets can get inconvenient. Therefore, with Guarda, users can integrate their paper printed keys with the online wallet and use it with ease.

Private ZEC Transactions

Guarda, in collaboration with the Zcash Foundation, has created a non-custodial shielded wallet specifically for ZEC.

So, the Private Zcash Wallet from Guarda’s mobile app now supports the generation of private Zcash transactions just as well as public transactions.

Staking Functionality

Not many multi-crypto wallets support staking. However, Guarda makes things convenient for crypto owners, as they do not have to own multiple separate wallets to be able to stake their favorite cryptos.

Updated version of mobile Guarda Wallet app also includes staking functionalities for a number of assets, including Callisto, Tezos, Komodo, Cosmos, Tron, and EOS (stake CPU and NET).

The New Implementations

Guarda Wallet is launching the updated version of its iOS and Android mobile apps, adding new features that will better the process of wallet management and make things much more convenient for the user.

Here are some of the new features of the updated app:
- Improved and clear graphics allowing users to monitor cryptocurrency prices and price changes.
- Efficient filtering system for hiding zero-balance wallets, and many others.
- A new sorting system for transactions, that filters transactions by type, wallet, or currency.
- A new search function that enables users to navigate the transaction history via hash.
- New currencies such as RUB Russian Ruble, AUD Australian Dollar, KRW Won, CHF Swiss Franc, CZK Czech Koruna, DKK Danish Krone, NOK Norwegian Krone, NZD New Zealand Dollar, PLN Polish Zloty, SEK Swedish Kronor, TRY Turkish Lira, ZAR South African Rand, HUF Hungarian Forint, ILS Israeli New Shekel, INR Indian Rupees, HKD Hong Kong Dollar, MYR Malaysian Ringgit, SGD Singapore Dollar, BGN Bulgarian Lev, BRL Brazilian Real, MXN Mexican Peso, AED Dirham, NGN Naira, TWD New Taiwan Dollar, MAD Moroccan Dirham, RON Romanian Leu, UAH Hryvnia.
- More fiat currencies against which users can estimate the price: USD US Dollar, EUR Euro, AED Dirham, AUD Australian Dollar, BGN Bulgarian Lev, BRL Brazilian Real, CAD Canadian Dollar, CHF Swiss Franc, CNY China Yuan, CZK Czech Koruna, DKK Danish Krone, GBP Pound Sterling, HKD Hong Kong Dollar, HKR Croatian Kuna, HUF Hungarian forint, IND Indonesian Rupiah, ILS Israeli New Shekel, INR Indian Rupees, ISK Icelandic Krona, JPY Japanese Yen, KRW South Korean won, MAD Moroccan Dirham, MXN Mexican peso, MYR Malaysian Ringgit, NOK Norwegian Krone, NGN Naira, NZD New Zealand Dollar, PHP Philippine Peso, PKR Philippine Peso, PKR Pakistan Rupee, PLN Polish Zloty, RON Romanian Leu, RUB Russian Ruble, SEK Swedish Kronor, SGD Singapore Dollar, TWD New Taiwan Dollar, THB Thai baht, TRY Turkish Lira, UAH Ukrainian Hryvnia, ZAR South African Rand.
- 24/7 online chat support.
- The added Masked balance tool can be turned off.
- Tezos staking has also been implemented.
- Users can claim Gas tokens from the NEO network. The new Guarda Wallet app is eagerly awaiting for users to test out its new features!
July 17, 2020
NEM: Community-Led Public Chain with a Pluggable Private Network
The strength of the NEM foundation blockchain ecosystem remains the community, it’s a completely autonomous community-driven project that has come together to solve lingering problems that exist in the enterprise and business worlds. Many of NEM development over the years have been a product of pure community involvement and development. This is one reason following the development of the symbol network, NEM social hub was created alongside to serve the purpose of bringing together participants of the blockchain in the spirit of bonding.

Even though Symbol fuses together the world of commerce to NEM infrastructure, the community remain the epicenter of that development, to ensure this sustainability and involvement of the community, the team at NEM work to develop NEM hub a social media-like ecosystem dedicated to users, exclusively accessed by trustless proof of XEM ownership.

Anyone holding the XEM coins has the rare privilege of connecting to a vast network of people from walks of life, region, and races and who are blockchain enthusiasts themselves with a wide range of businesses and enterprises.

NEM Hub has been launched through the use of DaoMaker social mining platform, an Europe based accelerator startup in the blockchain. By simply connecting your socials into the social mining platforms, XEM holders can take part in the social activities and get rewarded for little efforts.

NEM Daomaker explanation guide for interested participants

NEM Hub hopes to power the voice of the community, help to focus much more on the enterprise growth focus of Symbol, and does not interfere with the power the community has. The Hub however empowers the community members to easily organize its efforts, voice, and validate its position among the community achieving a consensus towards the growth and direction of the NSI1 public chain. It is the hope that the community decision making powers in the development of the ecosystem remains valid and potent.

The newly launched Symbol network will launch to create a private-public hybrid development by connecting and syncing with NSI1 public chain, strengthening all of the attributes expected and associated with the Symbol network eg Security, Interoperability amongst various chains, dapps, apps and APIs, speed and flow of data well organized.

The ease of doing business that will be achieved with the Symbol will be unparalleled when compared with other solutions existing in the blockchain. The cost is hoped to be super minimal lowering the possibility of high fees. The decentralized nature of the social hub will ensure that no one takes control of the discussion since the decision for NSI1 chain growth and development is democratic.

Symbol the enterprise-ready network on one hand will function as a private plugin for the platform while NSI1 chain will function as an ever secure public network.

About NEM NSI1 public chain

NSI1 is NEM’s original blockchain platform offering flexibility and tailored solutions through simple but powerful built in features. Its advantages stand tall amongst existing blockchain infrastructure providing the same solutions.
Performance is optimized in the NSI1 blockchain, designed and coded from scratch to ensure scalability and speed.

NSI1 can be used with any programming language ensuring flexibility and ease of development with any program.

Built on two-layered architecture providing an incredibly secure and stable platform Eigentrust++ and an incentivized public Node.
About Symbol Network

Symbol is the trusted and secured value exchange private network plugin for business enterprise, aims to smoothen business friction increasing the flow of data and innovation, improving upon the flexibility associated with tokenization of businesses.

Symbol connects developers, platforms and businesses, enabling an endless stream of possibilities, reducing the costs and complexities of existing processes and providing a platform for new businesses and innovations.
July 17, 2020
Bitcoin Remains on the Same Spot as it Tests Resistance Level Again
Key Highlights:
- Bitcoin still trying to propel through $10,000
- A clear candlestick above $245 could signal a rally for Ethereum
- Low-cap altcoins have stolen the spotlight
Bitcoin has continued to move rapidly without a clear upward or downward movement with the price not yet showing clear signs of stability. The height of the stagnation of the leading digital asset was seen after it stood at $9,000 most of the time. On that same day, Bitcoin was selling at around $9,250 in the morning, and a little while later, its price witnessed a decline to trade at $9,100. Towards the end of the day, the most valuable digital asset saw a major bull run that recovered the losses it suffered earlier.

Bitcoin sees a slight decline to close up the day.

Thankfully, the buying pressure that was much needed was felt as the coin registered a 0.13% profit to cap off the day. Removing the fact that Bitcoin has witnessed a massive price deduction as the year progressed, it is still currently showing no signs of abating as it has been trading in the downward level. As a result of the pattern around it, if the crypto suffers a decline, it records a quick surge and goes directly back to make a downward trend.

For months now, Bitcoin has failed several times to break above the resistance level, which it tried again recently. If enough buyers troop into the Bitcoin market, it would page way for the king crypto to successfully break into the $10,000 mark. If the coin falls yet again to break above the resistance mark, then it would witness another price decline that could push it back. If it fails to break the news resistance level set at $9,300, it could further make a decline to move to around $8,600.

Ethereum witness decline as altcoins witness surge

Bitcoin is not the only asset going through times as Ethereum is also going through a little spasm of low volatility. Like the way Bitcoin witnessed a small decline at the beginning of the market day on July 14, Ethereum also witnessed a 1.09% decline to begin the day as it hurried from $239 to $237. A massive buy of the second-largest digital asset saw it record a quick surge to gain around 2.11% to trade at $242. To finish the day, Ethereum quickly underwent a rapid price correction to close the day at $240.

Talking from a technical perspective, the price action that has been seen in recent days has forced a squeeze of the Bollinger bands. If past events are anything to go by, squeezes mean that there is a present stagnation in the market, and following this would be a massive break out. As it stands now, the price movement of Ethereum is currently unknown, but the lower and upper trade zone is a no go area. The obstacles are currently around the $245 and the $247 mark, respectively, and it is only the candlestick that would show the direction of the price movement.

Top 3 Coins to Watch this Week >

Smaller altcoins are the kings of the show as they have posted rapid upward price movements over the weekend. With Bitcoin and Ethereum currently showing relatively slow progress, altcoins have been gaining massive profits since the beginning of the month. Although investors are currently enjoying the profit from the altcoins, a long term price movement has gotten them extremely worried. Experts have said that if investors are patient, Bitcoin and Ethereum will enjoy in the long run.
July 16, 2020
U.K Startup is Bringing Advertising Back to the Crypto Industry

Cryptocurrencies have been growing for over a decade now, having so far reached their popularity peak in 2018 when the Bitcoin price quickly hit the $20,000 mark before crashing abruptly.

The short-lived explosion in the crypto industry came with a heavy toll for the ecosystem. Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) were quickly overtaken by low-quality projects which separated many hard-working crypto enthusiasts from their hard-earned savings, one way or another.

Rampant malicious activity in the ICO space led regulatory bodies and companies alike to take immediate action in order to protect their customers and the general public. As so, in 2019, essential ad networks like Google and Facebook advertising banned all advertising campaigns for or related to cryptocurrencies.

This broad prohibition on cryptocurrency-related advertising has hindered the growth of the digital asset space to a degree but it has also opened an opportunity for companies to innovate and to create targeted solutions that can serve the complex needs of the current emerging crypto market, while being completely scalable.

Last year, Milo McCloud & Paul Burnham seized the opportunity to fulfil this vacuum within the cryptosphere and to leverage their experience in the advertising and blockchain industries to create new and targeted products.

The two UK-based entrepreneurs launched Paradox Group, a crypto-centric advertising network providing a wide range of options for user acquisition and brand awareness, while eliminating the need for multiple advertising tools. The company boasts official advertising partners like CryptoSlate and currently provides services to industry leaders like Coingaming, Nexo, Sportsbet.io, Bitcasino, WorldMarkets, among others. Jake Daffern, founder at one of the companies helped by Paradox Group told us:

“Dealing with Paradox is a breath of fresh air. The guys set themselves apart with their natural ambition, hard-working attitude, and creativity. Milo, especially, is always thinking of ways to improve the functionality of your business using a range of tools and techniques – a true consultant in his field. The team is not afraid of a challenge and has helped me battle technical and marketing issues at ungodly hours. Anyone provided with the opportunity to work with Paradox should take it with both hands.”

What sets the Paradox Group apart

Paradox provides: CPC and CPM-based display campaigns, press releases & sponsored articles along with writing services, native ads and email sponsorships, among other options and fully-personalized customer support. It will soon offer a fully-functional marketplace and even allows clients to pay in 40 different currencies.

Paradox is able to provide tailored advertising services that generate measurable results for the client. Advertisers can easily view detailed analytics and campaign breakdowns in their personal dashboard. All of these features not only eliminate the need for the traditional ad networks, they also introduce new, industry-specific options for advertisers.

The innovative advertising company leverages a large network of contacts within the industry and relies on effective KYC procedures to vet their customers. As industry insiders, Paradox is in a unique position to perform due diligence on advertisers, a granular service that traditional advertising giants like Google or Facebook simply cannot provide.

Paradox Group – a new take on digital advertising

The great Greek philosopher Plato once said that “necessity is the mother of invention” and the Paradox Group is a perfect example of how new and creative services and business models can flourish from a lack of access to traditional options.

Moreover, Paradox Group aims to stay loyal to the values of financial inclusion and overall social improvement resonant with crypto and its community, pledging to donate a monthly fee to the Children With Cancer Foundation in the U.K and other causes while also focusing on educating their user base and overall internet about the intricacies of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and fintech.

So whether you’re a cryptocurrency-centric business looking to make a splash or a publisher looking for a more efficient and profitable way to monetize your business, Paradox Group may be the solution you’re looking for. Start your marketing plan with Paradox Group today at paradoxgroup.co.

July 15, 2020
Digital currency is being considered by the U.K. central bank
Key highlights:
- The Bank of England is exploring the creation of a digital currency
- BoE governor Andrew Bailey says a central bank digital currency could have huge implications for society
- Digital currency in a central bank should be considered and planned well
On Monday, the governor of the Bank of England discussed the possibility of having a digital currency for the U.K. central bank.

Digital currency for Britain’s central bank

As reported by Bloomberg, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey was heard mentioning the bank’s interest in issuing a central bank digital currency or CBDC during a student webinar.

“We are looking at the question of, should we create a Bank of England digital currency. We’ll go on looking at it, as it does have huge implications on the nature of payments and society. I think in a few years time, we will be heading toward some sort of digital currency,” Bailey said

Digital currency could be an advantage and should be considered

Among the vast number of central banks around the globe, the Bank of England is thus far noted to be considering the action of creating wholly digital versions of home currencies. If the U.K. central bank pursues its plan of developing a digital currency, it could give an advantage to the British pound over the other currencies such as the USD and EUR. As a member of the group of major central banks, the Bank of England is fully considering all areas before implementing the said plan. It may take some time for this development to arise.

Sarah John, the Bank of England’s chief cashier and director of notes mentioned that researching digital currencies is ‘crucial’ for central banks. She also added:

“It is absolutely right that central banks think about whether a public sector or private sector would be best to provide a digital currency going forward.” Central banks are indeed experimenting with digital currencies nowadays. The implementation takes courage and persistence, especially during the trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the governor of Bank of England said, “The digital currency issue will be a very big issue. I hope it is, because that means Covid will be behind us.”.
July 15, 2020
Cosmos, Polkadot, and Terra Team Up to Develop a DeFi Product That Promises Reliable Interest Rates
- Anchor, a DeFi savings product that promises reliable interest rates, is scheduled to launch in Q3 this year
- The capital for interest rates will derive from staking rewards
- The project will be launched on Cosmos, Polkadot and Terra blockchains first, but could scale to other PoS blockchains in the future
Three big blockchain companies, Cosmos, Polkadot, and Terra have teamed up to develop a DeFi savings product that aims to offer reliable interest rates on stablecoin deposits. The product, which will be called ‘Anchor’, was announced at the still ongoing Unitize conference on July 6th.

Anchor Launch Scheduled for Q3 This Year

According to the announcement, Cosmos, Polkadot, and Terra plan to launch Anchor across their respective blockchains already by the end of Q3 this year. Furthermore, the DeFi savings account will not be limited to these three blockchains only but will scale across other Proof-of-Stake blockchains in the future.

The joint operation’s Anchor aims to contest projects like Maker and Compound by offering a far more reliable interest rate. Do Kwon, founder and CEO of Terra, explained:

“While DeFi staples such as Maker and Compound have been revolutionary in creating fully decentralized crypto money markets, the volatility of their interest rates makes them unsuitable to be used as a household savings product. DeFi mass adoption needs the creation of a fully decentralized savings account that offers dependable APR.”

Interest is Derived from Staking Rewards

But how will Anchor be able to ensure a relatively steady interest rate, you may question. After the platform’s smart contracts receive stablecoin deposits, a portion of them will be used to acquire staking positions on compatible Proof-of-Stake blockchains. Most of the users’ passive income thereby comes from these staking rewards.

The development and operation of the joint venture will be overseen by a newly formed Interchain Asset Association (IAA), that consists of Do Kwon of Terraform Labs, Zaki Manian of Cosmos, and Jack Platts of the Web3 Foundation.

The partnered Proof-of-Stake blockchains have been otherwise very active lately. In late June, Polkadot announced a partnership with Gitcoin project, which will help in finding community support and funding. Meanwhile, the Cosmos (ATOM) network has recently seen the launch of Kava decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol on their blockchain.
July 15, 2020