Tezos and Bybit Introduce Crypto Cards, Coinbase Launches Universal App, and Other Crypto Industry Developments

We have compiled the most significant news from the crypto industry over the past two weeks.

Tezos and Bybit to Launch Crypto Cards

The Tezos Foundation will release an on-chain payment card in collaboration with Baanx and Mastercard on Etherlink, an Ethereum-compatible L2 solution for Tezos with a transaction finality of approximately 500 ms.

Baanx and Mastercard have already launched a product for 1Inch and are preparing releases under the MetaMask and Revolut brands.

The debit card supported by the Tezos Foundation will be accepted by over 110 million merchants.

According to Baanx’s Chief Commercial Officer Simon Jones, such products could replace online banking and assist those without accounts at financial institutions.

A similar initiative for Argentine citizens was announced by representatives of the Bybit exchange.

Visa, a competitor to Mastercard, postponed its plans to integrate digital assets at the start of 2023 following a series of bankruptcies in the industry. However, by April, the company announced it was seeking developers for such projects.

In September, Visa launched a pilot for merchants to use the USDC stablecoin on the Solana network. The firm began testing the use of the “stablecoin” on the Ethereum blockchain two years earlier.

In January, Visa enabled the conversion of cryptocurrencies to fiat money on cards directly from wallets like MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet.

Coinbase Launches Universal App for Simplified Digital Asset Management

Coinbase introduced a universal web application, providing a single platform for viewing and managing the entire cryptocurrency portfolio, including tokens, NFTs, and DeFi. Users can connect multiple wallets.

With this new offering, the company aims to bring all its 100 million clients on-chain.

“They will be able to perform all major financial operations on the network, whether buying or trading,” commented Sid Coelho-Prabhu, Senior Director of Product Management at the exchange.

In June, Coinbase released the “smart” Coinbase Wallet with support for gas-free transactions. 

Separately, it was revealed that the company’s venture arm invested $1 million in a new flatcoin project SPOT based on Base.

Developers plan to create an alternative to stablecoins that combines the characteristics of commodity money and peer-to-peer digital assets.

The flatcoin aims to address issues of centralized “stablecoins” such as inflation, long-term capital preservation, and reliance on intermediaries. The asset is designed to track the cost of living rather than being pegged to fiat, like stablecoins.

SPOT is a derivative of Ampleforth (AMPL) with low volatility, designed for less drastic price changes. When AMPL’s rate changes significantly, SPOT’s quotes adjust only slightly.

SPOT is created by reorganizing AMPL’s price volatility into two perpetual derivative assets: SPOT, which is less volatile and intended for safer storage, and stAMPL, which is more volatile and intended for increased risk.

Reports: OKX Chooses Malta as EU Headquarters and Plans to Exit Nigeria

Bitcoin exchange OKX has chosen Malta as its EU hub to comply with the new regional MiCA regulation, citing the jurisdiction’s “softer regulatory nature.” This is according to sources cited by CoinDesk.

In May 2023, the organization stated that France would be its preferred hub. OKX’s local unit received registration from the French AMF in December.

The exchange is seeking candidates for several key positions in Malta, including Head of Compliance, Chief Operating Officer, and Head of Internal Audit.

Separately, it was revealed that OKX decided to cease operations in Nigeria.

The platform’s representatives cited “recent changes in local laws and regulations” as the main reason for discontinuing services in the country.

The exchange set August 16 as the deadline for access to its functions. Afterward, users will only be able to access the platform for fund withdrawals or position closures.

Kraken Institutional Expands into the UK and Australia

Kraken Institutional began offering custodial services to clients in the UK and Australia. 

The organization plans to extend the service to the EU, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands by the end of the year.

The exchange launched a custodial service for Kraken Institutional in March this year. 

A month later, the company introduced its non-custodial wallet.

Tether Hires Chainalysis’ Chief Economist

USDT stablecoin issuer Tether hired Chainalysis’ Chief Economist Philip Gradwell to improve communication with regulators.

The specialist is tasked with interacting with US regulatory bodies, including the New York Attorney General. His duties will also include “quantitative assessment of Tether’s economy.”

Gradwell worked at Chainalysis for the past six years.

“Philip’s experience will provide an even better understanding of our indispensable role in supporting the dollar,” explained Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.

Previously, Tether and Chainalysis partnered to develop a system for monitoring secondary market activity. 

According to the press release, this pertains to “transactions occurring within the broader USDT ecosystem outside of limited liability organizations that directly buy and sell the stablecoin.” 

Tether emphasized that the company “actively fights illegal activity in the industry,” collaborating with 124 law enforcement divisions in 43 jurisdictions.

Compound’s CEO and CTO Depart to Launch Their Own DeFi Protocol

Compound CEO Jayson Hobby announced his resignation and launched a new DeFi protocol, Legend, with CTO Geoffrey Hayes and Vice President of Products Mykel Pereira.

Compound CEO Jayson Hobby announced his resignation and launched a new DeFi protocol Legend with Compound CTO Geoffery Hayes and Compound Vice President of Products Mykel Pereira. He said he wanted to bring the next 100M users onchain by building the world’s best DeFi interface.…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 12, 2024

The specialists have united to attract 100 million users on-chain by creating “the world’s best decentralized finance interface,” according to Hobby. The top manager worked on the project for the past five years.

In June, Compound founder Robert Leshner established Superstate, an RWA project for investing in US government bonds.

Key Metrics of the DeFi Segment

The total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols increased to $97.5 billion. Lido remains the leader with $33.2 billion. EigenLayer is second ($15.5 billion), and Aave holds third place ($13 billion).

TVL in Ethereum applications rose to $58.8 billion. Trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX) over the past 30 days increased to $117.7 billion.

Uniswap continues to dominate the non-custodial platform market, accounting for 49.9% of total turnover. The second DEX by trading volume is PancakeSwap (17.1%), with Ramses (6.7%) taking third place. 

Curve (3.7%) fell to sixth place, overtaken by Aerodrome (5.7%) and Dodo (4%).

Also on ForkLog:

• Hong Kong’s ZA Bank to become a partner bank for stablecoin issuers.
• BlockFi to begin compensation payments by the end of the month.
• Polygon team announces the date for converting MATIC to POL.
• TON developers to “bridge” to Bitcoin and launch an L2 protocol using Polygon technologies.
• FTX and CFTC agree on a $12.7 billion compensation payout.
• Uniswap browser extension now available to all users.
• SEC ends investigation into BUSD.
• Worldcoin Foundation launches a preliminary version of World Chain.

Weekend Reading Suggestions

On July 16, the market was stirred by Mt.Gox’s transfer of $6 billion worth of bitcoins to Coinbase and unidentified addresses. Mt.Gox will distribute a total of 138,985 BTC valued at ~$8.74 billion. Analysts suggested that the sale of these assets could pressure the market, though some believe such concerns are exaggerated.

ForkLog separately presented an on-chain analysis of the impact of ETF flows, Mt.Gox payouts, and Federal Reserve actions from Glassnode specialists.