DWF Weekly: Crypto Snapshot
Bitcoin Dips But Whales Are Undeterred As Accumulation Continues
Despite Bitcoin’s price dipping below US$26,000 and erasing any gains made by the short bull run from the ruling over Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF, BTC whales are undeterred by the price reversal, and are instead taking the opportunity to accumulate more Bitcoin. Data by crypto analytics firm IntoTheBlock showed that whale addresses holding 0.1% of the bitcoin supply further increased the amount of BTC held by a total of US$1.5 billion in the second half of August. Furthermore, inflows to centralized exchanges dipped greatly but the accumulation continued, suggesting that the whales are intending to buy and hold the asset.
Mantle Network Partners With Axelar For Enhanced EVM Interoperability
Mantle Network, the Optimistic rollup-based Layer-2 network, has partnered with Axelar, a full-stack interoperability layer for web3 that secures cross-chain communications, for interoperable network communication across EVM chains. This functionality means that developers building on the Mantle Network can utilize Axelar’s General Message Passing (GMP) function to call smart contracts from another EVM chain and vice versa to move digital assets like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) between chains, allowing for increased composability across multiple networks.
Chainlink Welcomes Folks Finance As Its Latest Members Of BUILD Program
Folks Finance, an upcoming decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that enables the lending, borrowing, trading, and management of digital assets, has joined the Chainlink BUILD program which provides its members with enhanced access to Chainlink’s services and technical support to accelerate their growth within the Chainlink ecosystem. For Folks Finance, this means being able to access automated price feeds and Chainlink’s alpha and beta product releases. In exchange, 3% of their total native token supply will be made available to Chainlink’s service providers.
More Than Half Of Turkey Now Holds Cryptocurrencies, Says KuCoin’s Latest Report
Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin stated in its latest released report, “Understanding Crypto Users”, that the adoption of cryptocurrencies amongst the population in Turkey has increased from 40% to 52%. The survey was based on a sample size of 500 and reflects similar comparisons with other countries that are experiencing a problem with increased inflation, and which have begun turning to digital assets to hedge their asset worth. Bitcoin is unsurprisingly the dominant cryptocurrency in terms of preference, but Ethereum and other altcoins also occupy a significant amount of 45%.
Kava Chain Integration With Fireblocks Opens Cosmos DeFi To Institutions
Kava chain, a Layer-1 blockchain that combines the development prowess of Ethereum with the interoperability of Cosmos, has integrated with Fireblocks to allow institutional investors to access the Cosmos DeFi network. The latter is known for its direct custody services to build new blockchain-based products and manage digital asset operations, plus it also caters to institutional crypto operations. With the integration, users on both platforms can custody Kava-native assets and engage in DeFi opportunities on Cosmos.
PlayMuse NFT Marketplace Launches On The Open Network
PlayMuse, a decentralized media service that enables content creators via music, podcasts, and video blogs, has officially launched on The Open Network with public accessible services. The platform previously sold NFTs linked to the platform to raise funds, and holders are able to earn while holding on to their digital assets. With the official launch, users can enjoy features such as linking multiple wallets to a single account, utilizing an NFT collection generator that allows users to create collections immediately, and an events section where creators can issue NFT tickets and use an in-built scanner for seamless event access.
Approval By Japanese Regulators Grant EOS Foundation Access To Japanese Crypto Markets
The EOS token has been approved for listing and trading in the Japanese cryptocurrency markets by the Japan Virtual and Crypto Asset Exchange Association, and will be slated to launch on the BitTrade exchange for trade in mid-September. Thanks to the efforts of the EOS Network Foundation, the organization that coordinates financial and non-financial support to grow the EOS network, in navigating the stringent regulations and screening processes, the token passed the scrutiny of the regulators and are already seeing a surge in popularity and usage amongst Japanese users on the EOS network.
Coin98 Integrates WalletConnect Into The Wallet To Enable Non-EVM Asset Transfers
Coin98, a decentralized exchange that provides users with liquidity across multiple blockchains, has officially integrated WalletConnect into the platform, allowing users to transfer EVM and Non-EVM assets in and out of the Coin98 super application. WalletConnect is a protocol used by many for its multi-chain support functionality, and its V2 protocol allows users to instantly connect with all networks that the application supports, instead of having to log in manually. The integration is seen as another positive improvement in the user experience for Coin98 users.
Radix Babylon RCnet Version Three Goes Live Before Mainnet Launch
Radix, a public decentralized ledger built to support decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, has released its third test network, RCnet V3, for developers to test out features and builds before they are released on the upcoming Babylon mainnet. Between RCnet V2 and V3, more stabilization enhancements and tweaks have been added to improve the user experience, as well as V3-compatible Radix wallets and developer tools. Minor changes have also been implemented to the Scrypto programming language used in Radix, and a Babylon Stokenet will also be created when the Mainnet goes live.
Jasmy Is Launching Its Own Layer-2 Scaling Solution Network
The Jasmy platform, a blockchain platform that democratizes data by combining blockchain and IoT technology to provide data security, has announced that it will be launching its own
blockchain called Jasmy chain, which is a Layer-2 scaling solution built atop the Ethereum network. The key features of the network will include account abstraction which is natively integrated into their Optimism stack-based technology, along with a Web3 operating system that incorporates the Jasmy AI engine to become an intelligent decentralized network. The Layer-2 network will maintain more efficient data transaction speeds and costs while adding the mentioned new features to address the needs of its users.
Oraichain Kicks Off AI x DeFi Hackathon In Conjunction With DoraHacks
Oraichain, an AI-powered oracle that links artificial intelligence APIs to smart contracts and applications, has organized an inclusive hackathon which focuses on bringing artificial intelligence and decentralized finance together. The hackathon is organized in conjunction with DoraHack, and it will open for submission in October, with the judging and closing dates taking place in early December. The event presents an opportunity for AI developers to integrate their expertise into the field of blockchain technology to create products and solutions that improves the user experience. Winners will win a total of $30,000 in ORAI tokens with funding provided by the Oraichain DAO treasury.
SupraOracles Launches Bridgeless Feature That Eliminates Need For Bridges
SupraOracles, a cross-chain intra-layer oracle that enables automation across Web2 and Web3 via scalable smart contract interoperability, has launched a novel innovative feature called HyperNova that allows Layer-1 blockchains to interact directly via cross-chain communication and consensus. This feature allows blockchains to connect interoperably without the need for a centralized bridge, and uses SupraOracles’ Moonshot consensus algorithm to understand the cryptographic signatures of interacting chains. This arguably improves the scalability of the network and could play a key role in enabling cross-chain DeFi uses.
DWF Labs Will Be Sharing Market Insights At TOKEN2049
DWF Labs will be present at this year’s TOKEN2049 event in Singapore, where their focus will be on market insights and the direction of the crypto market. The event, which is one of Asia’s notable Web3 events, will be bringing leaders and key opinion individuals into the island from 13th to 14th September. Andrei Grachev, the Managing Partner of DWF Labs, will be speaking onstage during those two days where he will share his insights into the current state of the crypto market and opine on its impending changes.
Social Recommendation Tako Protocol Raises $2 Million In Pre-Seed Round
Tako Protocol, a decentralized platform which aims to build an open social recommendation infrastructure protocol for Web3 social networks, has successfully raised over US$2 million in pre-seed funding from a number of investors which include firms such as Mask Network, DWF Ventures, UOB Venture, Signum Capital, and AC capital amongst others. The platform aims to create the necessary infrastructure for developers to create decentralized applications (dApps) such as recommendation algorithms, advertising systems, curation mechanisms, and referral economies more efficiently. The funds will be used to start on product testing in partnership with other social networks.