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BNB Coin Soars 8% With 100% Boost In Trading Volume As Uniswap Arrives On

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The BNB coin is causing a stir in the crypto market with a whopping 101% 24-hour trading volume and a 9% gain on the daily chart. This surge is due to the recent announcement that Uniswap is now officially live on the BNB Chain.

Screenshot 2023 03 17 015719 1

Yesterday, the coin hit a daily high of $330, which is quite impressive, considering it started the day at a low of $301.69. 

The last time the coin experienced such a high was at the beginning of February, almost a month ago. However, the coin has spent most of the summer trading below $400.

In January 2022, the coin’s price dropped to $371.37, but it rose to a high of $408.48 in March, only to fall to $360.30 on March 14th. It later climbed up to $459.81 on April 5th. 

Unfortunately, BNB experienced a sharp drop to $216.36 on May 12th due to the de-pegging of the UST stablecoin. It then rose to $336.67 on May 25th before dropping again.

Despite these ups and downs, the coin ended the year 2022 at $245.78 and began to recover from there. Year to date, BNB has gained about 33%, and it is currently trading at $329.66, with a significant 17% gain in the last seven days. 

Additionally, the coin’s market cap also increased by 7.73% over the previous 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

BNB 1D graph coinmarketcap 1
Source: CoinMarketcap

The coin is currently facing key resistance at around $340, and if it manages to surpass it, it could experience further gains toward major resistance at $400. However, if it fails, it could drop to its support level of $289.

BNB Coin Price Driving Factor

Uniswap, the top-ranked decentralized exchange protocol by trading volume, has officially launched on BNB Chain after receiving 66% voter support. 

The deployment was proposed in February by 0x Plasma Labs, and with more than 55 million UNI token holders voting in favor, it was approved. 

The move to BNB Chain offers several significant advantages, including user growth, lower fees, and tapping into new geographical markets. 

Uniswap users can now leverage BNB Chain’s high speed and low transaction fees to trade and swap tokens across the network. 

The launch is expected to further fuel the growth of both Uniswap and BNB Chain as more users join the ecosystem to take advantage of the benefits DeFi offers.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Investors Embrace Self-Custody Amidst Unreliable Banking Sector

Cardano DeFi Taps New Peak Of Over 340M, Data Shows

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DeFi activity on the Cardano blockchain is expanding steadily as evidenced by the latest TVL figure shown by DefiLlama.

For the first time, Cardano’s total value locked has reached a new all-time high of roughly $341 million worth in ADA tokens. In USD, the value comes to be around $110 million.

The sporadic growth has been fueled by leading DeFi protocols the multi-pool decentralized exchange Minswap which has topped the charts with a TVL of nearly $40 million. Next on the rankings are Indigo and WingRiders, both of which have made equal contributions of $16 million.

The accelerated growth in TVL is attributed to the hype generated by the recent launch of the DJED stablecoin which too made it in the TVL charts, occupying the fifth position.

As reported earlier by TronWeekly Djed stablecoin was launched on the mainnet after over a year of preparation and development, following a successful security audit.

The new COTI-backed token recorded an astounding 14,500% growth on the unique addresses metric, just about a week after its launch.

In addition to that, Djed requires between 400% and 800% in collateral value to be posted before it is issued to a user.

This overcollateralized mechanism is designed to stabilize the token’s value during periods of market volatility and prevent a repeat of terraUSD, the algorithmic stablecoin linked to the Terra system’s luna token, which fell in value by over 99% in May.

Having said that, Cardano like the rest of the crypto has been hit hard by the bear market of 2022 but has seen a change of fortune on its DeFi front.

Cardano’s DeFi Hit A Milestone

A few months back, the total value locked on the network’s smart contracts hit $102 million, which was its best performance in six months. 

Recently, a proposal was brought by Cardano developers to make enhancements to cross-chain functionality for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications building on the network that went live on Feb 11.

As per the announcement post, the upgrade will be initially tested in a virtual testing environment that mimics real-world performance before it is eventually released on mainnet.

Going further, the upgrade is said to bring enhanced cryptographic features to Cardano while improving cross-chain decentralized application [dapp] development on Plutus – the smart contract platform of the Cardano blockchain.

Uniswap Mobile Wallet Goes Live, But Apple’s Approval Remains Elusive

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Uniswap, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, has unveiled its latest product, the self-custodial mobile wallet application. It comes with an array of features, such as price monitoring tools and mnemonic word storage on Apple iCloud. 

Uniswap’s Latest Product, Early Release Available On TestFlight

However, the app’s launch on the Apple App Store has been delayed due to an apparent refusal from Apple to green-light its listing. At present, only a limited early release is available for users through Apple TestFlight, with no Android version yet.

Uniswap’s latest product is a completely self-custodial, open-sourced mobile app that enables users to swap tokens on Mainnet, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism networks, manage their portfolios, and connect with web3 applications on different networks simultaneously. 

The wallet also allows users to receive push notifications when transactions complete, encrypt and store their seed phrases on Apple iCloud or manually, and back up their private keys on devices using Apple’s secure enclave, which is excluded from device backups.

Despite complying with Apple’s guidelines, Uniswap has reportedly been unable to launch the mobile app on the App Store after Apple rejected its final build just days before its planned launch in December. 

Although the exchange has responded to Apple’s concerns and reiterated its compliance with Apple’s specifications, it remains stuck in limbo.

Uniswap has decided to open up its internal TestFlight app to 10,000 users, the maximum allowed without Apple’s approval, to allow the community to experience the new mobile wallet. The exchange plans to share access codes across multiple channels and time zones to reach as many members of the community as possible.

The Uniswap mobile wallet is self-custodial, open-sourced, and audited by Trail of Bits, making it one of the safest and most reliable wallets in the DeFi space. The exchange hopes that Apple will eventually green-light its launch, allowing its users to access the wallet through the App Store.

Nevertheless, Uniswap’s new self-custodial mobile wallet application is a game-changer for the DeFi ecosystem, providing users with a secure and easy-to-use platform to manage their cryptocurrency portfolios. 

Related Reading |  Here’s Why Bitcoin’s Latest Miner Capitulation Cycle Is Unique

Polygon Unveils ZK-Identity Solution, Sparking Future Integration With AI Projects

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Polygon, the Ethereum-based layer-2 scaling protocol, has launched a zero-knowledge decentralized identity solution, Polygon ID, for public use, according to its official blog post.

This identity solution offers a self-sovereign identity infrastructure stack to developers building decentralized identity solutions for users, empowering them with control over their identity and privacy. 

With it, businesses can now manage user data without the hassle of data management headaches, while users can prove they are human without disclosing personal information. 

It allows users to generate zero-knowledge proofs using off-chain credentials like diplomas, driver’s licenses, or national IDs to interact with smart contracts, offering users passwordless login, reusable credentials, and composable reputation. 

Unlocking New Possibilities With Polygon ID

Developers can leverage Polygon ID tools to integrate decentralized identity into their applications while being Web3 native. This is made available under an open-source AGPL license.

These tools unlock a wide range of use cases for developers, from Proof of Uniqueness and Immediate Onboarding to use by DAOs and Decentralized Finance (DeFi). 

It also enables portable avatars and reputation by allowing users to store and update digital assets, achievements, and progress across different games and the metaverse.

The public release of Polygon ID adds four new tools to its Toolset, including Verifier SDK, Issuer Node, Wallet SDK, and Wallet App, all made available under an open-source AGPL license. 

Blockchain Lock, an IoT device and blockchain company, is already using it to facilitate the unlocking and locking of office spaces using its trust network. Similarly, Bloock, a blockchain technology company, is building a trusted network to facilitate identity issuance to over 7,000 real estate professionals in Spain.

Polygon ID offers a fundamental change in the Internet’s trust model, making elaborate proofs like “I’m older than 18 and a citizen of the U.K.” possible without disclosing personal information. 

However, it offers tools for decentralized and private identity solutions that are worthy of the next iteration of the Internet, enabling trust and verification while maintaining the veil of privacy.

Twitter Community Reaction On Polygon ID

In response to this news, community members have expressed their excitement and anticipation for Polygon’s future projects. One user proclaimed themselves a “MATIC Fanatic,” while another hoped to see the solution integrated with @SynFuturesDefi in the near future. 

Yet another wondered if Polygon would be involved in AI projects down the line. The community seems impressed with its vision and range of offerings, with some even expressing amazement at the company’s ability to innovate continually. Several users also desired to see it integrated with AI projects soon.

Related Reading | 400M XRP Released By Ripple As Monthly Escrow Process 

BNB Chain’s DeFi Protocol LaunchZone Loses $700K In Liquidity Pool Hack: Report

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LaunchZone, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol built on the BNB Chain, suffered a major setback on February 27th when an unknown attacker drained over $700,000 worth of funds from its liquidity pool. 

The BNB Chain project’s official Telegram group alerted users to the attack and advised them not to buy tokens until more information was available. The hack caused panic among the project’s 44,000 Telegram channel members and 275,000 Twitter followers.

The value of LaunchZone’s native token, LZ, plummeted as the funds were drained through PancakeSwap, according to blockchain data. LZ experienced an 85% drop in price within 24 hours, falling from $0.1525 to $0.002285. 

LZ 1D graph coinmarketcap
Source: CoinMarketcap

However, the token has since rebounded and is currently trading at $0.02633. Despite the price drop, the trading volume of LZ surged by 2151.62% in the same period.

LaunchZone has not yet issued any official statements regarding the attack or provided details on how the attacker was able to exploit the protocol. 

The project’s Facebook page has also not responded to requests for comment. Investors are advised to exercise caution and await further updates from LaunchZone’s team before making any investment decisions.

The attack on LaunchZone is the latest in a series of security breaches to hit the BNB Chain ecosystem. In October 2022, the BNB Chain fell victim to a $100 million exploit that led to a hard fork. 

In February 2023, Jump Crypto, a web3 infrastructure firm, disclosed a critical vulnerability to the Binance Smart Chain team that could have allowed attackers to mint an unlimited number of tokens via malicious transfers. The Binance Smart Chain team was able to patch the vulnerability before it became public.

BNB Beacon Chain Vulnerability Discovered by Jump Crypto

Jump Crypto, a Web3 infrastructure firm, has reported discovering a vulnerability in the BNB Beacon Chain that could have resulted in the unlimited minting of arbitrary tokens. The flaw was disclosed to the BNB team privately, and a patch was created and deployed within 24 hours of the discovery. 

Jump Crypto shared a detailed report last week about the vulnerability found two days earlier, which could have caused significant financial losses. The BNB Chain comprises two blockchains, with the Beacon Chain using a BNB fork that deviates from the Cosmos SDK upstream in several ways, according to Jump Crypto. 

The vulnerability would have enabled attackers to mint an unlimited amount of BNB tokens via a malicious transfer. But the issue has been resolved by implementing overflow-resistant arithmetic methods for the SDK coin type.

Related Reading | Bridging The Gap: Uniswap DAO Weighs Security Risks Of Cross-Chain Protocols 

Phoenix Labs Takes MakerDAO To The Next Level With Spark Lend Proposal

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MakerDAO, the leader in decentralized finance (DeFi), has seen a major boost in its capabilities due to Phoenix Labs. The blockchain firm has proposed Spark Lend, a new DeFi solution built on top of the MakerDAO platform.

It will allow anyone to borrow DAI, MakerDAO’s stablecoin, at the Dai Savings Rate (DSR) and enjoy a host of new features such as cross-margin, short positions, high leverage, and many more.

Revolutionary Spark Protocol Elevates MakerDAO To New Heights

On February 8th, Phoenix Labs proposed the Spark Protocol promises to elevate the DeFi giant to new heights. By enabling a liquidity market for supplying and borrowing scalable crypto assets with variable and fixed rates. 

The proposed protocol will support EtherDAI and implement the first resilient oracles to improve Maker’s strength. It will also evolve over time, adding new features to the front end by integrating Maker’s products and the most innovative DeFi solutions.

According to the MakerDAO governance forum, Spark Lend, the product under Spark Protocol, is a lending market that will integrate Maker’s D3M and the PSM. The main differentiator of Spark Lend from existing lending protocols is its D3M. 

Maker already has the cheapest credit in DeFi due to the absence of third-party liquidity providers. It will further amplify this advantage by allowing anyone to borrow DAI at the Dai Savings Rate. Spark Lend will focus on highly liquid, scalable types of collateral and will not compete with markets that offer “tail assets.”

Spark Fixed Rates: Capital-Efficient Fixed Rates In DeFi

Phoenix Labs plans to efficiently deliver fixed rates in DeFi capital through Spark Fixed Rates. Spark Protocol intends to partner with fixed-rate protocols such as Deco, Sense Finance, and Element Finance to deliver this feature by the second half of 2023. 

These protocols have already done the heavy lifting, and Spark Protocol will simply plug into them to offer fixed rates to Spark Lend users.

Moreover, regarding revenue generation and scenario analysis, at the start, Spark Protocol will generate revenue mainly through variable-rate loans in its borrowing and lending market. 

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Source: MakerDAO Governance forum

Later, fixed-rate loans and other adjacent revenue streams will be added. The main factors driving protocol revenue at the beginning include the variety of pools offered, TVL, utilization rates, and interest rate curves. 

Additionally, Scenario analysis shows that Spark Protocol could achieve substantial adoption and profits once properly ratified and funded with initial start-up capital.

Nevertheless, Phoenix Labs’ Spark Lend and Spark Protocol are set to revolutionize the DeFi landscape, bringing the best rate available in DeFi, capital-efficient fixed rates, and highly secure and scalable lending solutions. The future of DeFi just got a lot brighter with Spark Lend and Spark Protocol on MakerDAO.

Related Reading | Ban On Ethereum Staking Would Be “Terrible”-Coinbase CEO

Cardano DeFi TVL Shoot Up By 100% YTD, Data Shows

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Cardano’s decentralized Finance [DeFi] activities have recorded the biggest upsurge from Jan. 31. Data from DeFiLlama showed the asset’s Total Value Locked [TVL] has doubled in the year-to-date period amid the market downturn.

As seen in the chart below, the TVL of all smart contracts on Cardano rose from $48.95 million on Jan. 1 to $108.63 million at the time of writing.

Screenshot 2023 02 08 185849
Cardano DeFi TVL Shoot Up By 100% YTD, Data Shows 6

In terms of popularity, the multi-pool decentralized exchange Minswap stands out as Cardano’s most popular decentralized application (DApp) with its TVL accounting for nearly $36 million.

Ranked second is WingRiders, an AMM DEX with $16.71 million in total trading volume.

Indigo, a decentralized synthetics trading platform, has $16.54 million in TVL, making it the third most popular DApp on Cardano.

In the past few months, Indigo and WingRiders have witnessed around a 25% boost in TVL.

The accelerated growth in TVL is attributed to the hype generated by the recent launch of the DJED stablecoin which too made it in the TVL charts, occupying the fourth position.

As reported earlier by TronWeekly Djed stablecoin was launched on the mainnet after over a year of preparation and development, following a successful security audit.

Although it is impossible to draw a clear link between the overcollateralized stablecoin and the TVL growth, a new milestone could contradict this.

Cardano’s DJED Steller Growth Might Have Acted As A Catalyst

The new COTI-backed token recorded 14,500% growth in its unique addresses just about a week after its launch.

In further positive news for the Cardano ecosystem, ADA has registered a notable spike in whale activity in 2023 as large-scale transactions to the tune of $100k have reached last year’s May levels.

Not only that, but since the beginning of 2023, 36 new whale addresses ranging between 1 million- 100 million worth of ADA have flocked into the Cardano ecosystem.

As noted by blockchain analytical platform Santiment, historical trends revealed that the last time there were this many $100k+ ADA transactions was in May, & its price jumped over 36% from the beginning of that week until its local top in early June.

An increase in whale numbers and large transactions is certainly a positive sign for the price of ADA. This is because demand for the coin rises as more whales enter the market, thus driving up its value.

Additionally, the large transactions indicate that whales are confident in the future of the coin and are willing to make big investments in it.

Ethereum Heat Up in 2023, Average Gas Prices Soar Amid Rising On-Chain Activity: Report

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Analytex, an advanced analytics ecosystem for DeFi 2.0 and beyond, revealed that Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has demonstrated growth in its on-chain activity, as per the February 8th report.

The data shows an increase in Ethereum’s average gas price, and a boost in smart contract usage, despite a decline in the average number of transactions and unique wallets.

The report found that the average gas price, calculated in gwei, increased by 29.27% in January 2023 compared to the previous year. This hike was attributed to a rise in user activity, which was reflected in the increase from 19.2 gwei to 24.82 gwei from December 2022 to January 2023. 

Meanwhile, the average number of unique active ETH wallets per day decreased by 10% to 387,475, the lowest in six months. On the other hand, the number of unique active smart contracts increased by 6.74%.

Ethereum’s Stake in DeFi Grows

Daily ETH transaction data showed a slight decrease of 0.8% from December to January. Nevertheless, the Ethereum block statistics indicated stability, with little to no change in the average number of blocks mined each day and an increase in the total block size per month. 

Analytex suggests that these contrasting data metrics signify an “increased interest of both current blockchain users and smart contract developers.”

Ethereum’s influence in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has also seen a significant rise, with a 26% increase in total value locked across different staking pools in January 2023, according to a report by DappRadar. 

The market hit $74.6 billion worth of staked assets, and Lido Finance dethroned Maker DAO as the largest DeFi protocol due to the popularity of its liquid staking derivative protocols. 

Ethereum’s upcoming Shanghai upgrade has also driven staking in DeFi, as it is expected to open withdrawals from ETH staking contracts.

Ethereum Shines with NFT Boost

Ethereum is also experiencing a surge in popularity, fueled by a rise in non-fungible tokens (NFT) due to the launch of a mini-game by Yuga Labs, according to a report by Bernstein. 

Daily fees on the Ethereum blockchain have skyrocketed, more than doubling since the start of the year to reach $4 million to $6 million, while ETH has gained a substantial 35% in value.

Despite negative ether inflation, analysts believe that both ETH and Bitcoin remain solid investments, with the next big catalyst for Ethereum being the Shanghai upgrade in mid-March. 

This event will allow for withdrawals of staked ether, though some caution may be warranted due to potential supply concerns from unstaked ether.

Related Reading | XRP Lawyer Files Amicus Brief To Support Ripple’s Other Lawsuit 

Solana-based DeFi Withdrew Its App Due To Liquidity Crunch

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Everlend Finance, a Solana-powered DeFi will wind up its app platform, according to an official announcement on Feb 1.

Users have been asked to pull out their assets as quickly as feasible from the DeFi-based lending protocol. The team assured that the software will keep running until all withdrawals had been processed.

Additionally, it would switch the app to withdrawal-only mode.

Further, the team shared its plans to cover all raised and unused funds within the next two weeks.

Conceived in 2021, Everlend is a Ukrainian lending platform that secured financial backing from leading investors such as Serum, Everstake Capital, and GSR.

By the end of the first quarter of 2023, the firm plans to transition into a community-controlled DAO.

The team stated on February 1 that the most recent action was taken despite having ample runway to carry on in the current business environment.

But due to a liquidity crunch, the Solana DeFi lender was forced to reconsider its position, and continuing to operate in these conditions would be a “gamble”.

This comes at a time when another Solana-based DeFi yield platform too wind up its front-end app in January due to crypto headwinds.

Solana Defi ecosystem took a major hit in 2022, being left in a “maimed position,” as Ben Sparango admitted recently.

Sparango, the head of Strategic Business Development at Solana Foundation spoke about the Foundation’s aspirations for 2023. He said his main focus would be reviving the ailing DeFi sector and ramping up the financial use cases such as payments.

Solana Founders Plan To Revive The DeFi Sector

The co-founders of Solana laid out their vision for a decentralized future in a blog post on January 31. They said that Solana’s high throughput rivals that of the New York Stock Exchange and will boost the potential of cryptocurrencies even further.

“We believe that Solana making block space abundant and cheap will leapfrog crypto into its full potential,” they said.

Additionally, several of the data and bear market activities were emphasized. One such these is the significant growth in SOL validators last year. A second validator client developed by a third party is also being tested. In the test simulation, it boasted a staggering 0.6 million transactions per second.

Ethereum’s DeFi To Get Boost With This Upcoming Launch

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After a widely reported DAO voting, Ethereum is ready to welcome the debut of Aave V3 shortly. The decentralized lending protocol has submitted a proposal called “Aave Ethereum V3” and asked its community for votes to activate the Aave V3 Ethereum pool [3.0.1].

As per the proposal, the pool would list pre-approved tokens like WBTC, WETH, wstETH, USDC, DAI, LINK, and AAVE once the initial setup is finished.

A week prior, the platform’s team member Graham informed that the upgrade, which includes a host of new features such as cross-chain asset functions and community contribution tools, was set to occur this week, TronWeekly reported.

However, the highly-anticipated launch of Aave V3 got delayed as community members contemplated two main options:

One was to deploy new V3 contracts while maintaining the old V2, and the other was to update existing V2 contracts to the new V3 code.

Although technically challenging to achieve, upgrading would have allowed the protocol to retain the addresses of important contracts [such as Pool, Addresses Provider, tokens, debt tokens, etc.].

The second solution, which involved installing V3 contracts while leaving V2 contracts in place, was safer, but it required Aave users to transfer deposits to V3 instead.

Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave, wrote.

“Upgrading the Aave Protocol Ethereum V2 to V3 market directly would have indeed created some seamless experiences for the users, at the same time creates an event that would require a lot of security procedures and places substantial assets at risk.”

The community subsequently agreed with Kulechov and voted in favor of this option — deploying a new V3 pool instead — with 99.9% of voters opting for the latter.

The launch is being praised by other Eth DeFi players that use Aave’s protocol to access liquidity.

“A Big Step In Ethereum DeFi Space”

Kethfinex, a pseudonymous representative for Lido, a leading protocol in Ethereum DeFi that plugs into Aave, hailed it a “big step forward for the Eth DeFi space.”

Having said that, Ethereum retraced back to $1,530 in tandem with the broader market-wide dip. After ascending to $1671 on Jan 21, the second-largest crypto witnessed a sharp increase in massive profit-taking transactions before falling back by over 8%.

This drop, as per on-chain data provider Santiment, has led to a rise in ETH conversations that accounted for 21% of crypto asset discussions. “This FUD could benefit prices mid-term,” it noted.