Despite the recent sell-off quickly wiping $2 billion from the total value locked in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, Chinese demand for DeFi appears to be growing. Daily searches for ‘DeFi’ on the popular Chinese social media platform WeChat spiked to a new all-time high on September 2 of nearly 900,000 — nearly doubling the previous record of 500,000. On September 7, Chinese journalist Colin Wu reported that many local exchanges were suffering from liquidity issues amid wholesale withdrawal from customers looking to cycle funds into DeFi protocols. Wu posted…
Month: September 2020
Blockchain powered ‘Smart Brain’ to govern China’s new ‘Aerospace City’
Singapore-based blockchain data firm CyberVein has become one of 12 firms participating in the construction of China’s Hainan Wenchang International Aerospace City. Construction commenced last month, with the site previously hosting a satellite launch center. Described as “China’s first aerospace cultural and tourism city,” it will be a hub for the development of aerospace products and support services intended for use in Chinese spacecraft and satellite launch missions. The 12 million square-meter facility will host the country’s first aerospace super-computing center, and will focus on developing 40 technological areas including…
The number of active DAOs is up 660% since 2019
The growth of active decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) is accelerating, increasing from 10 last year to around 76 today, according to DeepDao founder and CEO Eyal Eithcowich. DeepDAO provides insights and analysis into decentralized autonomous organizations, with the platform recently launching a new interface allowing users to better probe the health and wealth of DAOs. The platform’s data shows that a large assets under management (AUM) figure does not necessarily indicate the health and good governance of a DAO. For example, mStable is the top-ranking project by assets under management…
How to provide liquidity to cryptocurrency exchange
A trading venue’s liquidity represents how easily a trader can use the platform to exchange one asset for another. If a trader sends a market order to buy or sell an asset and the venue can’t find enough buy or sell orders to complete the transaction at a reasonable price, the venue is likely struggling with low liquidity — and the trader is likely to take their future business elsewhere. Venues that provide adequate liquidity and competitive market pricing tend to experience a rewarding cycle, with traders who find their…
YouTube pulls the plug on another crypto livestream
Crypto YouTuber Sunny Decree recently saw his livestream cut short by YouTube, with the platform stating the video had violated its ‘harmful and dangerous policy.’ According to a Sept. 5 tweet from Sunny Decree, the video-sharing platform halted his most recent livestream on his English language channel — based in Switzerland, the content creator also records in German — and warned him a second offense would result in a one-week suspension of service for livestreaming, uploading, and posting. Source: Twitter Decree’s channel has been targeted by YouTube before. In December…
‘I was wrong about Bitcoin’
Gold bug Peter Schiff, who has often spoken out against Bitcoin, may be admitting that there’s at least some flaw in his predictions after acknowledging the coin did not “collapse” as gold rose to a new all-time high last month. In a Twitter exchange with Tyler Winklevoss, which began Sept. 6, Schiff traded words with the Gemini co-founder regarding Bitcoin’s rise to a yearly high of more than $12,000 on Aug. 17 and its dip under $10,000 just last week. While Winklevoss predicted the digital asset’s baseline for all future…
Could Russia lead Eastern Europe’s crypto boom?
Not unlike many other jurisdictions around the world, Russia has come to recognize the potential benefits and risks flowing from cryptocurrencies by taking its first step to define and codify digital assets. The new Russian legislation dubbed “On Digital Financial Assets” sets a clear direction for the treatment of cryptocurrencies by authorities and how both individuals and businesses can handle them in everyday practice. Nevertheless, the new legislation may give pause to payments companies and fintech companies keen on expanding into the Russian market. While the approach of the Russian…
DeFi ain’t just about tokens, quality use-cases to overcome challenges
Blockchain technology is disrupting every sector of the global economy with its limitless opportunities and innovative products. Decentralized finance is one of the sectors that has been trying to shake the traditional financial ecosystem. The multitude of DeFi applications emerging all over the fintech space has provided solutions, such as lending, staking, exchange of derivatives, among others. The current craze is justified, as DeFi attempts to build an alternative to the rigid banking systems. Also, government regulation (or lack thereof) and a flawed financial infrastructure have allowed DeFi projects to…
Electrum Bitcoin wallet still plagued by known crypto phishing attack
Two Electrum software wallet users have recently reported the loss of large sums of Bitcoin (BTC). One victim described the disappearance of 1,400 BTC, totaling $14,595,000 at press time, while another claimed 36.5 BTC, worth $380,512, as stolen. The events appear connected to a long-standing phishing scam affecting Electrum users since 2018. “Users need to be careful when dealing with their own keys, particularly when they are holding the keys to a wallet with a large amount of cryptocurrency as it makes them attractive to hackers,” Jason Lau, the chief…
The DeFi revolution is like cooking a recipe
In the last two months, the decentralized finance industry has seen a dramatic surge of interest, as new platforms promising to disrupt the way people manage their money, transact, earn and entertain themselves have launched in rapid succession in recent months. Much of this growth has been catalyzed by the meteoric rise of DeFi lending platforms like MakerDAO and Aave, which together now compose more than 40% of the DeFi market. But a wave of new DeFi products that are targeting practically every traditional and digital industry is now making…