Banks and Institutions
ICBC launches its digital yuan services
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, one of the world’s largest banks in terms of funds under management, is launching its digital yuan services. Users now have the ability to deposit and withdraw funds, make payments via QR code, and send funds peer-to-peer to anyone. Other major Chinese companies are also weeks away from launching their own services.
Source : TheBlockCrypto
IRS begins hunt for tax evaders
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has decided to strike hard in the hunt for tax evaders. Indeed, a U.S. federal court has authorized them to demand from Kraken and its subsidiaries information about some of their customers over the period 2016-2020 who have made at least $20,000 in transactions and who may have failed to comply with current tax laws.
Other players in the cryptoasset ecosystem have also been targeted by similar federal requests, demonstrating the growing willingness of authorities to catch up with tax evaders.
Source : Coindesk
Goldman Sachs makes its first trades in cryptocurrencies
Goldman Sachs is making its first trades in cryptocurrencies, in addition to formalizing the establishment of a Bitcoin desk. In a memo sent to their staff, Goldman Sachs announced that trades have been correctly made on two types of Bitcoin-related derivatives.
Source : TheLoadStar
Second sale of NFTs announced by Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s has announced a second round of NFTs sales that will take place from June 3 to 10. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Sevens Foundation, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting new art media, such as NFTs.
This announcement comes less than a month after the first sale of an NFT, “The Fungible” by anonymous artist Pak, for $17 million.
Source : TheBlockCrypto
S&P Dow Jones launches new indices linked to cryptoassets
S&P Dow Jones Indices is launching new cryptocurrency indices in an effort to integrate digital currencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, into Wall Street trading floors.
Source : Reuters
The new indices, S&P Bitcoin Index, S&P Ethereum Index and S&P Crypto Mega Cap Index, will measure the performance of related digital assets.
More cryptocurrencies are expected to arrive later.
VanEck urges SEC to launch its Bitcoin and Ethereum linked ETFs
The investment company VanEck insists with the SEC in order to be able to launch ETFs, especially based on Bitcoin and Ethereum. To achieve its goal, Van Eck has partnered with the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). This would allow retail investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum, and thus encourage their adoption.
Source : Journal Du Coin
That being said, it is unlikely that the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) will rush to make its decision, as it has up to 240 days to make its ruling.
Cryptoactive ecosystem
Launch of Uniswap V3
Version 3 of the Uniswap protocol has been released. New smart contracts support some interesting features: first of all, the commissions on the platform become variable: from now on, it is possible to ask for 3 commissions for pool creators, depending on the volatility of the assets. Another feature allows to provide liquidity only if the two elements of a pair remain within a certain limit, which is intended to solve the problem called “impermanent loss”. These changes could establish Uniswap as the undisputed leader in this market.
Source : Uniswap
1inch launches its wallet on iOS
Balancer is also releasing its version 2. Two new features are introduced: first, all the funds of the liquidity pools will now be placed in a single portfolio, which will greatly reduce the transfer costs between assets placed in the platform. Another addition is the possibility to automatically place unused funds from the pools in other decentralized finance protocols, in order to generate capital gains.
Source : Coindesk
Block.one to launch new currency exchange site
Block.one, the company behind the EOS blockchain, is receiving $10 billion in funding to launch a new currency exchange site, “Bullish.” Among the investors are Mike Novogratz and Peter Thiel. The vast majority of the funding comes from Block.one itself, including $9 billion in Bitcoin but only $200 million in EOS.
Source : Coindesk
A new definition of NFT added by Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster has added a new definition of NFT to its dictionary, and has announced that it will be auctioning off an animated NFT of the definition this week, on the OpenSea marketplace. The definition reads, “A unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted or subdivided, that is stored in a blockchain and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership (as of a specific digital asset and the specific rights associated with it.” Net proceeds from the sale will be donated to Teach For All, an organization that aims to combat educational inequality around the world.
Source : Coindesk
Galaxy Digital acquires BitGo
Galaxy Digital, a financial asset manager specializing in cryptocurrencies, has announced the buyout of BitGo for the fourth quarter of 2021. With this buyout, Galaxy Digital will be able to benefit from over 400 institutional clients and over $40 billion in assets under custody, allowing them to complement their already existing offering for their clients, giving them access to all-in-one service.
Source : Newswire
Technology
A new Bitcoin update begins
A new update for Bitcoin has begun its acceptance stage. Taproot is a new technology that replaces the classic Bitcoin signatures in ECDSA format. Among the benefits of Taproot, faster processing of transactions, better privacy and especially smart contracts via a language called tapscript. The update is already in the Bitcoin code since January, but for it to be deployed, 90% of miners must accept it, and currently only 30% have reported this acceptance.
Source : Cryptonews
New hacks in the DeFi ecosystem
The hacks come and go in the DeFi ecosystem. This week, Spartan Protocol on BSC suffered a $30 million loss due to a flash loans attack. As for Rari Protocol ont Ethereum, an attack via a smart contract resulted in the theft of $11 million in crypto assets.
Source : Coin Telegraph
Figures of the week
531, 2 million
Traffic on the exchanges’ sites in April is nearly at its all-time high from January 2018 (531.7 million visits), with 531.2 million.
One trillion
Tether has surpassed one trillion dollars in traded volume in 24 hours.
7.94 million
The number of active addresses in one day on the Ethereum blockchain reaches its absolute maximum, at 7.94 million.
