The cryptocurrency market remains range-bound with a slight bearish bias. Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade between $50,000 and $55,000. While writing this article, Bitcoin was trading at $54,632.15, down 1.7% in the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) has gained 0.9% to trade at $2,728. Ripple (XRP) was trading at $1.39, down 3.2% in the last 24 hours.
The only major altcoin, which has gained ground in the past 24 hours, is Monero (XMR-$419.44, 2.5%),
Altcoins, which have lost ground in the past 24 hours, include Tron (TRX-$0.1226, -4.8%), Cardano (ADA-$1.32, -1.9%), ChainLink (LINK-$35.88, -4.6%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH-$891.46, -3.1%), Bitcoin SV (BSV-$283.21, -3.3%), Stellar (XLM-$0.4955, -4.6%), IOTA (IOTA-$2.15, -5.6%), EOS (EOS-$5.91, -4.6%), Dash (DASH-$283.67, -4.2%), Polkadot (DOT-$33.54, -4.1%), Binance Coin (BNB-$566.25, -1.7%), Cosmos (ATOM, $22.49, -5.4%) and Tezos (XTZ-5.23, -5.1%).
Government level initiatives
Norges Bank’s core team study’s CBDC solutions
Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank, has revealed that its core team for central bank digital currencies (CBDC) has started studying solutions based on CBDC. Even though Norway is a part of the EU, it does not come under the Eurozone. Similar to Sweden, Norway uses its currency, the krone, and not the Eurodollar.
Norway, which boasts of the lowest cash usage globally, has been studying CBDCs for the last four years. So, the central bank is naturally inclined to explore advancements in financial technologies.
Regarding the need for CBDC research, Norges Bank Governor Øystein Olsen explained as follows: “Central bank cash provides the payment system with several important attributes that may be relevant to retain and develop further by issuing a CBDC. Additional knowledge is necessary for us to be able to decide whether issuing a CBDC is appropriate.”
Notably, the bank has also published a CBDC paper about its third stage study and has encouraged feedback by June 25, 2021. The latest fourth stage study is anticipated to continue for the next two years. Following the study, the bank will decide on the requisite solution for further trials.
The government estimates CBDC penetration at 3% of GDP. The recent report pointed two kinds of models. The first one was ledger-based tokenized money. The second one was an account-based solution that is comparable to e-money. Nevertheless, irrespective of the selected model, the bank stressed that the system needs to be “DLT compliant.” The bank has also shown interest in programmable (smart contract-based) money.
Private sector initiatives
UAE Trade Connect goes live in the UAE
Blockchain powered trade optimisation platform UAE Trade Connect (UTC), which resolves double financing by identifying duplicate invoices, has gone live in the UAE.
The banks which back the platform are Emirates NBD, National Bank of Fujairah, RAKBANK, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Mashreq, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Commercial Bank International.
Notably, since 2020, the Central Bank is on the steering committee. Among the 48 UAE banks, the platform is expected to gain the reputation of a national network. Participation of international banks is also anticipated.
The platform’s development began in 2017 with a partnership between telecommunications firm Etisalat and tech firm Avanza Innovations. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) was also part of the development team.
The platform permits banks to transmit invoice data to a private permissioned blockchain network via a node on the blockchain.
The data is then scanned via Etisalat’s fraud detection tool, which utilizes AI (artificial intelligence) to match invoice data with other invoices and other outside sources to identify duplication and fraud.
The platform can process 40 invoices per second, as per Zulqarnain Javaid, CEO at UTC. Additionally, the platform can also send a cautionary message in certain circumstances. The platform has been under trial since the beginning of 2020.
Enjin stated that 50 ventures have started using its NFT platform
Enjin, the creator of the NFT platform, stated that 50 ventures started using its NFT platform after JumpNet two weeks before. Concerning NFTs, the firm has gained recognition for aiding Microsoft in developing Microsoft Azure Heroes, which came into existence before the start of NFT mania.
JumpNet platform is based on a PoA (proof of Authority) private blockchain, which functions as a sidechain linked to Ethereum. This prevents the huge gas costs on Ethereum along with wastage of energy. In addition to Microsoft, Binance and OKEx are two cryptocurrency exchanges to use JumpNet for mining NFTs.
Joshua Kim, CEO of Ludena Protocol, said, “Through close collaboration with Enjin, we succeeded in the carbon-neutral NFT life cycle test on JumpNet, which was the fastest in Korea. Thanks to JumpNet, our NFT roadmap, including Ludena World’s Metaverse and avatar Luna, can now be implemented swiftly without gas fees.”
In the meantime, in recent times, Enjin has stated that it is developing a new covenant named Efinity on the Polkadot blockchain network while getting funded to the tune of $18.90 million through the sale of the private token.
Miscellaneous
Cash App increases minimum withdrawal limit
Bitcoin supporting mobile payment software, Cash App (owned by Square), has increased the minimum withdrawal limit for Bitcoin holders. As per the latest announcement, the minimum withdrawal request should be at least 0.001 Bitcoin (or 100,000 satoshis), a 10x increase from the earlier allowed level of 0.0001 Bitcoin (10,000 satoshis).
With Bitcoin fluctuating near $50,000, 001 BTC translates to ~$50. The numero uno crypto, in terms of market cap, continues to decline under tremendous selling pressure.
The withdrawal instructions of ‘CashApp’ read as follows: “You must have a balance of at least 0.001 bitcoin to make a withdrawal.”
There is no change in the maximum withdrawal limit of $2,000 worth Bitcoins per 24 hours and up to $5,000 worth Bitcoins in any seven days.
It is believed that the change has been brought about to reflect higher transaction validation fees. In recent times, the transaction confirmation charges have hit $58, just $4 away from the all-time high of $62 hit in December 2017. The sharp decline in the network’s hash rate is perceived as the reason for high transaction charges.
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