The leading DEX Uniswap launched the third version of its protocol, Ethereum neared $4,000, Vitalik Buterin became a billionaire, and other events from the week gone by.
Ethereum price neared $4,000, Bitcoin failed to hold above $59,000
On Monday, May 3, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap surpassed the $3000 mark.
The rally lifted co-founder Vitalik Buterin into the ranks of crypto billionaires, reportedly one of the youngest.
The Ethereum price continued to rise and by Sunday, May 9, neared the $4,000 level.
Many analysts say institutional investors are behind the current rally in the asset.
The CEO of CryptoQuant Ki Young Ju noted that exchange balances in Ethereum continue to shrink, reducing the coin’s supply. The so-called has remained at consistently high levels, signaling, according to the expert, that institutions are buying the asset.
The Block Newsroom director Frank Chaparro, citing traders at off-exchange platforms, said corporations are increasing investments in Ethereum.
Back when Eth first crossed 3k, I asked traders at the market’s largest OTC desks if they thought the rally had legs. One thing they told me then was that corporate treasuries were ramping up allocations. Trend is continuing. pic.twitter.com/TD8dyHqrcI
— Frank Chaparro (@fintechfrank) May 8, 2021
Against the backdrop of the price rise of the flagship altcoins, many of the largest-cap coins posted all-time or local highs.
At the start of the week, Binance’s token BNB reached a fresh record above $670, while Uniswap traded near $45. On May 5, Chainlink reached $50, and Dogecoin — surpassed $0.70.
Ethereum Classic surged over the week, reaching new highs. The cryptocurrency ranked fourth on Messari Messari by seven-day returns, up 161%. The top two spots were also taken by forks, namely Litecoin and Bitcoin. Bitcoin Diamond rose 400%, and Litecoin Cash rose 263%.
Among the week’s weakest performers were coins from the lower end of the market cap ranking. The largest of the bottom ten, Content Value Network (CVNT), down almost 35%, sits at 801st by market cap, according to CoinGecko.
On May 3, on several exchanges began trading the new “eco-friendly” cryptocurrency Chia (XCH). At its peak, the coin’s volume-weighted price reached $1,811, but after an hour it fell to $700. At the time of writing the asset traded around $1,120.
Over the week, Bitcoin tried to hold above $59,000 but failed. At the time of writing the premier cryptocurrency traded around $57,300.
The total cryptocurrency market cap stands at $2.52 trillion, with Ethereum accounting for 17.9%. Bitcoin dominance fell to 42.7%.
Uniswap launches the third version of the protocol
On Wednesday, May 5, the launch of the third version of the Uniswap decentralized exchange protocol on the Ethereum network took place. A migration guide was published on GitHub.
ForkLog analysed the update and its implications for the DEX segment in a piece:
Bank of Russia tested a collective mining service and cryptocurrency payments
In 2020, within the regulatory “sandbox,” tested three services related to the cryptocurrency market.
The regulator said this in its annual report.
The pilot projects included a collective mining service for digital currencies, a payment service using a digital currency and a service for investing in digital currencies.
The Bank of Russia did not disclose the test results, but indicated that if successful it would approve a road map for integrating the services into the legal framework.
SEC: XRP holders launched a “crusade” against the agency
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) petitioned against XRP holders’ participation in the Ripple case. In the regulator’s view, third-party involvement would prolong the court case and require additional resources.
The SEC contends that XRP holders have launched a “crusade” against the agency, and their interests’ representative, John Deaton, founder of the Deaton Law Firm, is simply trying to build a name for himself.
S&P launched indices on Bitcoin and Ethereum
S&P Dow Jones Indices, the U.S. data provider S&P Global’s unit, launched indices based on Bitcoin, Ethereum and a basket of these cryptocurrencies.
The products under the S&P DJI brand rely on data and calculation methodology from Lukka, a New York-based firm. The companies agreed to the collaboration in December 2020.
The S&P Bitcoin Index trades under ticker SPBTC, the S&P Ethereum Index under SPETH, tracking the performance of the two preceding assets; S&P Crypto Mega Cap Index — SPCMC.
Largest Latin American online trading platform invested in Bitcoin
The Nasdaq-listed Argentine firm Mercado Libre acquired Bitcoin for $7.8 million in Q1 2021.
The largest Latin American operator of e-commerce platforms and online auctions disclosed this in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
“As part of our treasury management strategy this quarter, we purchased Bitcoin for $7.8 million, a digital asset that we disclose as part of our indefinite-lived intangible assets,” the report states.
Exodus wallet team raised $75 million in a regulated token sale
The developer of the cryptocurrency wallet Exodus raised $75 million in a regulated security token offering (STO) approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC approved the STO filing on April 8. Exodus Movement issued 2,773,229 tokenized Class A common shares on the Securitize platform under the ticker EXIT.
The security token offering (STO) proceeded under the SEC’s “A+” framework. The price of one share was $24.72.
Bitcoin symbol projected onto Bank of England and UK Parliament buildings
An unknown projected the phrase “Bitcoin fixes this” with the symbol of the first cryptocurrency onto the walls of the Bank of England and the UK Parliament.
On Friday, April 30, the artist-signed message appeared under Big Ben and on the facade of the central bank.
The projection image as an NFT has already been posted on the Rarible marketplace. At the time of writing, the highest bid for the token stood at 0.11 ETH (~$421).
Subsequently the artist, known as Fraz, continued the campaign in support of Bitcoin with new laser projections.
Media: hundreds of U.S. banks prepared to give clients access to Bitcoin
In the coming months, clients of some U.S. banks will be able to buy, sell and store Bitcoin using existing accounts. This was reported by CNBC, citing the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG).
To enable such capabilities for financial institutions, asset manager Stone Ridge’s subsidiary joined with fintech giant Fidelity National Information Services (FIS).
While FIS, which provides services to banks with nearly 300 million current accounts, will handle connectivity with financial institutions, NYDIG will provide custody and trading of cryptocurrency.
Goldman Sachs offered clients non-deliverable forwards on Bitcoin
The investment bank Goldman Sachs launched non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) on Bitcoin settled in fiat.
To hedge volatility, Goldman Sachs will use the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s services, taking positions in futures. The bank’s trading partner will be Cumberland DRW.
Media reports: PayPal plans to release its own stablecoin
The payments giant PayPal is reportedly exploring the possibility of launching its own stablecoin. This was reported by The Block, citing sources familiar with the matter.
According to the publication, the company was in talks with Ava Labs, behind the Avalanche blockchain. It is not clear what other projects PayPal has discussed.
CME Group launched micro Bitcoin futures trading
On May 3, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) launched trading of a new instrument based on the first cryptocurrency — Micro Bitcoin futures.
The new futures contract, ticker MBT, settled in cash and representing one-tenth of a Bitcoin.
NFT startup Genies raised $65 million from Coinbase Ventures and Dapper Labs
The non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Genies raised $65 million in a Series B funding round.
The round was led by venture firm Bond Capital, Mary Meeker’s firm, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Dapper Labs, Polychain, Hashkey and others.
The funds will be used by Genies to build an NFT marketplace on Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain.
Other notable developments in the growing sector this week:
- Sotheby’s will auction a Banksy artwork for Bitcoin.
- Filecoin developers unveiled a service for storing NFTs.
- ROCKI, a streaming service began selling musical tracks as NFTs.
- A Bayern Munich star will release an NFT collection.
Blogger estimated Chia mining farm costs ahead of trading launch
The Overclockers user calculated that due to rising difficulty, mining a single Chia coin with 1 TB of disk space would take more than 150 days.
A 200 TB storage would yield one coin every 18 hours. The blogger noted that calculations could be affected by “force majeure and other unforeseen circumstances.”
Team Group announced the release of SSDs designed for mining the new Chia cryptocurrency. The devices carry a record 12-year warranty.
Two variants of the T-Create Expert lineup are offered:
- with 12 petabytes (12,000 TB) of capacity and 2 TB of memory;
- with 6 petabytes and 1 TB of memory.
Tech giant Amazon unveiled a solution for mining the Chia cryptocurrency on its Amazon Web Services cloud platform. The Block reports.
The company’s brief guide outlines the features of Chia mining and offers several ways to use its cloud infrastructure for these purposes:
- Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud resources with large memory and high-frequency processors;
- Amazon Elastic Block Store with high-capacity disks and enhanced read/write capabilities;
- Large-capacity object storage and affordable Amazon Simple Storage Service for storing a large number of files.
The original AWS guide page soon became unavailable. It was not cached by Google.
Reddit users called the AWS proposal uneconomical. They noted that besides the cloud storage access fee, moving each Chia plot would cost miners $9, given a $0.09 per GB outbound data fee.
Turkey requires Bitcoin exchanges to report transactions above $1,200
Turkey-based cryptocurrency exchanges must notify the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) about user operations exceeding the limit of 10,000 lira (~$1,200). This was stated by Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan on CNN Turk.
Turkish authorities also obligedtoensure that cryptocurrency exchanges comply with AML/CFT requirements. The presidential decree by Recep Tayyip Erdogan is published in the official gazette.
ForkLog also wrote:
- eBay allowed cryptocurrency payments.
- The Canadian public company acquired 146 ETH.
- Bitcoin exchange Bitso raised $250 million at a $2.2 billion valuation.
- Goldman Sachs headed a $15 million Coin Metrics funding round.
- Elon Musk urged cautious investment in cryptocurrencies.
- A Canadian public company acquired the crypto-processing Simplex for $250 million.
- Mark Cuban: Dogecoinwill reach $1 and become “something like a stablecoin.”
- Gary Gensler urged Congress to clarify Bitcoin exchange regulation.
- Tiktoker launched a coin SCAM. Its market cap jumped to $70 million in an hour.
What else to read and watch
ForkLog published its monthly analytical report. We analyzed the main trends of April and their impact on the market.
The most notable recent events in artificial intelligence and blockchain technology are collated in the magazine’s traditional digests.
On Monday, May 3, ForkLog featured Unix/Network analyst and expert Alex Petrov. They discussed PoS and PoW, Dogecoin, Cosmos, Tron, Polkadot and overall infrastructure development.
