Increasing Stablecoin Usage
Diar has recently released some interesting statistics about Stablecoins.
According to the data analytics site, the number of transactions on stable coins have increased by more than 1000% since September.
This period also marked the end of times when the majority of Tether (USDT) would sit on exchanges.
This might be the result of other Stablecoins entering the market recently and Bitfinex implementing Tether neutrality.
According to the report TrueUSD, Paxos Standard, USD Coin and Gemini Dollar saw a combined on-chain movement exceeding $5 billion since September which is the time most of these stable coins came into existence.
With the sudden increase of transaction, one must wonder what is driving this increasing number of transactions.
Some have speculated that these reflect movements of transaction between exchanges while others think that these are users securing their digital assets into less volatile digital assets.
Interestingly enough the report pointed out that TrueUSD had the most on-chain transaction followed by USDC with PAX coming last.
However, it must be noted that the total value transferred by PAX is higher than those transferred by USDC.
Another interesting bit of information is the fact that Gemini Dollars are mostly held by Huobi which have around 65% of total circulating supply while with OKEX following at number 2.
This is a positive sign that stablecoins are usable unit of exchange.
Ethereum Software Client Upgraded In Preparation For Constantinople Hard Fork
A major Ethereum software client announced a special release of its software in preparation for the much anticipated Constantinople upgrade.
The hardfork was agreed upon by Ethereum core developers that decided to execute the hardfork at block 7,080,000.
Geth which is on for the three original implementation of the Ethereum protocol is releasing version 1.8.20 which is a special release that will enable the Constantinople hard fork.
The upcoming Constantinople hard fork comprises five separate Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPS) in order to smooth out the transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm.
The said hard fork will fundamentally change the Ethereum blockchain which means the new hard fork will not be backward compatible from its previous fork.
All nodes of the network will be required to update with the entire system.
The decision to execute the hard fork in the said block follows an earlier decision not to implement a hard fork in the year if major issues are discovered during the testing phase of the project.
The cause of the delay was a discovery of a consensus issue during an upgrade trial on the Ropsten Testnet in October of 2018.
Gemini Mobile App Now Available
Through a blog-post released in medium, Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss has recently announced the launch of Gemini Mobile App that will enable its users to access Gemini’s platform on the go.
Users of the mobile application will be able to buy, sell, send and receive cryptocurrencies.
Aside from these basic functionalities, the app also enables the users to monitor crypto market prices, monitor and organize their portfolios, set price alerts and set recurring buy orders.
The app also offers buy a basket of cryptocurrencies that is available on Gemini which they call “The Cryptoverse.”
It seems that the Gemini team has followed the example of other cryptocurrency exchanges who has made their jump to mobile platforms such as Robinhood, Square, Coinbase and even Binance which is widely considered one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world by trade volume.
Gemini’s mobile app is available in Apple’s App Store and Androids Google Play marketplace.
Despite current market woes Gemini keep themselves busy developing blockchain and cryptocurrency related projects.
Last September, the crypto firm released its own stablecoin dubbed as the Gemini Dollar.
The new digital asset is touted to be the first fully regulated stablecoin which has been approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Moreover It has also acquired insurance coverage for customers’ hot wallet funds making them one of the few exchange that offers insurance for digital assets held in their exchange.
Venenzuela Unilaterally Converting Pension Balances To Petro
According to a blog site located in Venezuela, pensioners now in the country are receiving their pensions in Petro, the cryptocurrency that was released by the Nicolas Maduro’s regime.
Petro is said to backed by oil and claimed raised billions of dollars in token sales.
However, these claims cannot be substantiated as the issuer has not made available clear proof of these claims are true.
Pensioners usually get their monthly sum in bolivars which are sent through their banks which can be withdrawn in fiat from a local branch.
However, it seems that the government have converted resident’s bolivars to Petros after sending the funds.
Although the intent to pay pensioners with Petro was announced early in the year, what bothers most people is the fact that the conversion was made after the government deposited fiat to online wallets of pensioners, withdrawing it and converting it to Petro without the approval of the pensioners.
To make matters worse, Petro is not widely accepted with wild price swings against the bolivar.
Square’s Cash App Now The Most Downloaded Financial App
There is a new king of the hill in financial mobile app in Google Play store and its name is Cash App by Square.
This is particularly exciting news for the whole cryptocurrency space as its founder and CEO Jack Dorsey is a firm believer in blockchain technology and its first application cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin.
He is such a firm believer in bitcoin that revealed that he spend $2.5 million of this personal funds to fund a start up working on the Lightning Network Bitcoin Scaling Solution.
It has been reported that Square is planning to open source its cold storage solution for digital assets.
This gives the impression that the company understands the importance of decentralization under the leadership of their crypto friendly leader, Dorsey.
This is complete contrast to other payment service providers who usually use proprietary software and ordinary databases to process their transactions which are prone to single point of failure and give too much power to a centralized entity.
Dorsey is also one of the most widely used social network in the world, Twitter, and has been seen speaking publicly about his belief in blockchain technology and its use cases.
This new milestone puts Cash app at a higher growth rate compared to other similar financial applications such as Paypal and Venmo.
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